Ack! I just discovered a 5 inch swath of white paint on the fender (actually right on the edge of the wheel well) in the drivers rear quarter panel. I'm pretty sure someone nicked my car in the parking garage.

Can anyone tell me the best way to take this off and repair the area? Damn, my car is only 1 month old! Sheesh.

 

Is it white paint from the other car that is just rubbed off onto your fender, or is there damage to your paint?

The first thing I would try is to claybar it. If it is just rubbed off paint from the other car, the clay should remove it. I did this to my brother's car and it cleaned it up perfectly.

 

Yes, I think that it is white paint from the other car. I don't know if there is damage to my paint underneath the white paint.

Can I use the clay bar directly on that white paint w/o using any sort of wetting compound, or do I need to use something like the zaino z5 along with the clay bar?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Vortex

 

I will try the clay bar tonight... Thanks!

 

Wow! The clay bar worked! I had some old McGuires detail spray and a fresh clay bar, so I went to work on the offending paint. I was worried at first, because nothing came off right away. ("Hey, I've been at this for 30 seconds and nothing has happened! What gives?") But fortunately after a few minutes of scrubbing it became clear that it was working... very... slowly... It actually took about 45 minutes of heavy-duty clay bar scrubbing, but all of the paint finally came off. Now all that is left is a fingernail-size scratch along the rim of the fender, and a few small horizontal scratches. I'm hoping they'll come out with a bit more clay bar action (after my hand uncramps), or with a wax.

Thanks 96lude and wanabe for your great advice!

 

welcome vortex...
my guess is that the scratch that is left might require a bit more than the clay- you are on the right track to keep claying until the clay doesnt do anything more. at that point you might need a polish- i would use the lightest first (either a paint cleaner or a swirl remover- yup a swirl remover will get light scratches!). if neither of those work, then you would be on to a heavier compound- but one step at a time!

 

No Problem, glad to hear it worked out for you.