I would appreciate some advice on dealing with minor scratches on paint. I have a 10 year old black XF and there are some scratches on the paintwork. I've seen loads online about how to make them less obvious, can anybody here recommend anything? I live in the UK, so products available in the UK would be preferred.
Thanks.

 

Chouan, I guess for me there is a difference in how the scratches get dealt with based on how deep they are. The defining thing for me is whether you can see the primer and/or bare metal in the scratch. If you have reached that point, then the addition of paint is about your only option. If you are at this point, this is where I see you having 2 options. The obvious one being a complete repaint. I don't think you are at this point, especially if it would be only a few scratches meeting this extreme condition. The second option is to use a very steady hand and a very find paint brush (normally only a few hairs on the paint brush) and you literally get a small jar of paint and you fill in the scratch, filling it just above the height of the paint so as it dries, it essentially dries to the surface of the paint, making the scratch go away. This is where some patience and a very steady hand come in. I did this to a friends Cadillac that his ex-significant other had taken a key to. I spent many an hour filling in all the scratches, but when done, it looked pretty good (enough that she ended up keying the car a second time because he got the car fixed in a very short period of time).

Now, if you have scratches that are say from finger nails (in the door handle recesses) or other scratches like that, I swear by a product called "3M Perfect-It II" (seems to me they are now up to III vice II). This is where you have 3 levels of this product. Stage 1, 2 and 3. Stage one is a liquid 1500 grit rubbing compound. 2 is a 2000, and 3 is a 3000. I normally recommend just getting the Stage 2 and calling it good as the product will do amazing things (more on this). A quart bottle of this stuff is like $50 USD. So, not a cheap product. You can possibly find it cheaper. To use, you simply put a small dab of the product on a soft terry cloth piece of fabric and you rub the area that you are focusing on. Rub in a circular motion for say 20 seconds and then use a second "clean cloth" to wipe away the dried product. If needed, apply a little more to the cloth and do a second application or move to a slightly different area and continue with the rubbing. Once you get the scratches out, You wax with your favorite wax and you are done.

With all this being said, people continually ask if you can use a power buffer/polisher with this product. By definition, yes. BUT!!!!!!! I would be very careful and would use the slowest speed I could. There have been a number of horror stories where someone worked a little too aggressively to get a scratch out and rubbed straight through the paint to the primer. There have also been stories of where a sharp edge (like those on the hood) cause the pad to concentrate its pressure and on the sharp edge eat through the paint in no time flat, getting into the primer or down to the bare metal. At this point you are now to the point of a new paint job. So, I recommend doing the whole car by hand. Worst case, do a body panel or two a day and as you finish up with the Perfect It, you wax those panels and save another part of the car for a different day.

Now for the bonus of this product. It also works really well on the chrome and even on the glass. You treat the chrome just like the paint, but in this case, you can be much more aggressive. You are not going to burn through the chrome unless you really try. As for the glass, you pour some on the glass and then you use some 0000 steel wool and work in little circles to get rid of those find scratches. I know about now that you are calling BS, but give it a try on a piece of glass that you don't care about and see the difference. The glass takes a lot of elbow grease, but when you are done, it turns almost brand new. It also does wonders on damaged headlight lenses. Do the headlight lenses every 6 months and they will stay crystal clear.

I have used this on my truck after a day of 4x4ing and getting the "off-road rash" on the sides of the truck from all the sticks and whatnot scraping the side of the truck. A little bit of rubbing and all the scratches disappeared.

The other product that you will hear a lot of people talk about (and there are tons of posts here, so, do some searching) is a product called Clay bar. As the name implies, it is a very fine grit clay bar that you apply some of the clay to the car and rub it like the Perfect-It and it removes the scratches. then you apply your wax afterwards. some people swear by that. I personally have not used that product as I found the Perfect-It before finding out about the clay bar and having seen what a car looks like that had the clay bar treatment, I could not really tell a difference between the Perfect-It and the clay bar.

 

Thank you for that most comprehensive reply, it is much appreciated. I'll have a look and see if I can get the product here in the UK. Do you recommend a wax? I've generally just relied on the sealant coating at my local automated car wash, but a proper wax sounds like a good idea.

 

Chouan, I recommend 2 different waxes actually. I would call one my long term wax and the other my wash wax. There is all sorts of info out there on ceramic waxes and how they are so great and whatnot. From my personal experience, just not seeing it. Maybe I am not spending the money on the $100 bottle for the "good stuff". So, I am a carnuaba wax person for the long term waxing on a vehicle. I have recently started using the Meguiars Ultimate carnuaba wax. Not sure what is so "ultimate" about it as it went on like any other carnuaba wax and gave the same shine as the Meguairs Gold Class carnuaba wax I loved. I would recommend this for the annual "spring wax" that a lot of people do to get the car prepped for the summer. I then periodically use a ceramic wax for the rest of the summer to top up the shine using a product called Shine Armor. This is nice because in a half hour, you can spray on this stuff and wipe it off and get a gook look again. It just doesn't stay on the car long term. The Meguiars wax should be available at any local auto parts store or your local big box "we carry everything" store. The ceramic wax should be available at the big box store, possibly at the auto store.

With this being said, a trick I have learned is you spray the Shine Armor on your windshield and wipe it off. It works just as good (if not better) than RainX. If you live in an area that likes to mist and whatnot, this is a blessing. You will find that just driving down the road will blow the droplets off of the windshield and you won't have to use the wipers. I find it also helps with getting a better wipe from the wipers.

 

Again, thank you very much for such a full answer.

 

Another vote for 3M Perfect-It compounds. I like them better than the stuff you find in regular stores so you might have to mail order it. I generally keep two products in stock and that line contains a bunch of different compounds.
05973 - Compound
05996 - Polish

Downside as posted by Thermo is the quart container size as that's more compound than most people will ever use.
I also prefer foam pads over cotton but that is open to debate too.
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If the scratches are just in the clear coat like a lot of minor ones are, no "products" are necessary. That is initially anyway. Except for some sandpaper.
starting with some 800 to 1000 grit, lightly wet sand the immediate area keeping it wet so as not to "burn" it or sand too deep.
When it starts blending in, switch to 1500 grit, then 2000 and finally 3000 grit, widening the area as you increase the grit to "blend".
When you're done, using a good "swirl remover" or a polish with minimal "cutting" capabilities(around 3ish) will really start bringing the deep shine back from the hazy look wetsanding leaves once the area dries. I like Meguiar products for over the counter stuff.
Finally, a good wax to protect. Again, I like Meguiars. Their ceramic wax leaves a nice hard barrier and doesn't leave a dust most conventional type waxes leave behind.
Be sure to not sand thru the clear coat! This can also happen using a polish instead of wetsanding btw! But wetsanding or using a polish is the only way to remove scratches in the clear coat. Using only a wax may appear to by filling it but will eventually be removed and the scratch(es) will reappear.
You can use a good carnuba wax first that may leave that deep wet looking shine then use the ceramic last to seal it in and protect it better with a nice hard layer last.

Note: polish and wax are two very different products with very different purposes. Do NOT confuse the two!!!
Getting rid of scratches permanently and the right way is a multi step process!

 

Again, thank you for your helpful response.