Well I put my first scratch on my truck. I was backing up my boat trailer with the tailgate down and the winch scraped a 3" by 3/8" scratch right down to the metal. Idiot! I'm not sure if I should buy touch up paint and do it myself or take it to an auto body shop. I'm pretty **** about having things done right but I can't spend a whole lot of money to fix it. Has any one used the touch up paint?

 

Go get a quote from a paint shop, around here its about 50-100 bucks.

 

I've used it, but it still doesn't look very good. Admittedly I did not apply in the proper manner. Done properly, there is quite a bit more to it than grabbing the bottle and go--[like I did.]

Instructions for using a paint pen.

1. The area is cleaned with wax and grease remover. You can also use detergent but the wax and grease remover works the best. Prime any unpainted areas using a primer paint pen and sand the primer smooth.

2. The (color) basecoat is applied. Use thin light coats and let dry between coats. Do not try to cover the scratch with one coat and remember to depress the paint pen off the vehicle to start the paint flowing. Wipe the excess paint off the tip before applying.

3. Once the basecoat has dried, the clearcoat can now be applied. You can use rubbing compound on the basecoat to smooth the paint before applying the clear if necessary.

4. Once the clear has dried, you can apply rubbing compound to smooth and shine the area.

 

Do a google search for "langka" and you will find a kit that looks simple and seems to yield good results.

 

I would do the paint shop route...thats just me...

 

>>>I would do the paint shop route...<<<

I'd have to try and screw it up worse than it is first.

 

3/8 inch wide down to the metal? You will have a very hard time getting that to look decent doing it yourself, filling, sanding, rattle can'ing and then sanding and polishing.

 

2 words...paint shop. It's a little more pricey, but using touch up is going to look like Fido's *** unless you use MANY small coats then wet sand (don't sand thru the paint) and buff it. When I worked for a dealer in parts I sold many bras to people who wanted touch up paint to fix bumper scrapes because of how hard it was to get a decent fix and still be able to see it. good luck.

 

 

I'll probalby take it into a paint shop for the work. I'll get even more disturbed if I end up doing it myself and it looks even worse. At that point I would want to replace the whole tailgate.

 

There ya go......Hell I think Maaco could even hadle something like that.

 

Talk to a reputable body shop. Get some opinions from a couple of them. Another option may be the airbrush chip-fix route. Not sure if you have one of those around your area but, again, I'd check with them.

If you're into the base or color coat, I'd not try to touchup paint it... it will look worse and you'll end up taking it somewhere.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments. I took it to a paint shop I've used before.... $150 to do the whole tailgate. As a "bonus" I got to get rid of the two stickers from the dealer. I'm happy again.

 

Well, that's not an awful hit to the wallet. Glad to hear that you have it pointed in the right direction. Best of luck to you!

-RP-