Some idiot scraped the side of my car with his bumper, I believe, and left me this lovely present.

http://myweb.usf.edu/~gahernan/side.jpg

Just wondering what would be the best way to see if I could get some of the scuff/paint he left on my car. I might eventually take it to a body shop, but I was just curious if there is any wax/method that someone could recommend to see if I could get some of this off.

 

Use some dishwashing detergent first. It should take off the last coat of wax and anything on top of it. Then give it another generous coat of wax. If that doesn't take care of it... it's time to call the body shop

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TxTuner &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Use some dishwashing detergent first. It should take off the last coat of wax and anything on top of it. Then give it another generous coat of wax. If that doesn't take care of it... it's time to call the body shop </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do not do that. Dish soap softens the paint. I would buy some 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper and a 3m softpad thing and very lightly wetsand that. Let the sandpaper do the work! Make sure to keep it wet all the time, use cold water and rinse the sand paper often. After that wash it clean with water and dry it, put some 3m hard wax on the surface you sanded, let it dry for 2-3 minutes, buff it out.

 

I used some rubbing compound and buffed the crap outta mine. Took a little time, but I got it all off, and it started off in worse condition than yours.

 

I was told that rubbing compound is really dangerous, but it could be a possibility. I will also consider the other options. Anyone else?

 

yeah, you'll need to be careful with it... if you're not careful you can start taking your paint off with it. if you take your time, don't use too much pressure, you should be fine. you'll need to wax afterwards of course...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by philadd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, you'll need to be careful with it... if you're not careful you can start taking your paint off with it. if you take your time, don't use too much pressure, you should be fine. you'll need to wax afterwards of course...</TD></TR></TABLE>

And you're afraid of Dish washing detergent (Dawn)!?!?!?

 

It will soften your paint bro, one of my auto collision instructors went to wyotech and ran the bodyshop at our toyota-jaguar dealership for 11 years, he knows whats up.

 

Thanks for the correction.

 

Soap? Sandpaper?! OUCH!! You people are crazy. Go to your autoparts store, and buy something called TurtleWax Rubbing Compound. The can looks like a can of war, but it's red. Rub it on, wait a second, rub it off. Good as new!

 

3M Rubbing Compound works great.

 

Well about a month ago I bought the 3m rubbing coupound, but would like to know how hard should I rub the stuff in and for how long?

 

try to use a microfiber cloth to apply it. It depends on your paint and what condition it is in in. When I got scrape from another car..I rubbed the compound on the paint until the paint came off.

 

I had some scratches worse than that and went out and bought some Meguier's wax. I bought it from a shop that sells painting equipment (automotive) and it's safe on clear coat (to an extent if your not careful) and the scratches came right out. It's worth a try, I don't know about rubbing compound from my own experience it (turtle wax) it cut into the clear coat.