nolanative Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 I have a 2007 Edge in Light Sage Metallic and unfortunately, have put my first scratch - well, it's more than a scratch, I scraped the side of a pole a couple of weeks ago. Anyone know if touch-up paint would work in this case, or is a trip to the paint shop in order? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 (edited) I have a 2007 Edge in Light Sage Metallic and unfortunately, have put my first scratch - well, it's more than a scratch, I scraped the side of a pole a couple of weeks ago. Anyone know if touch-up paint would work in this case, or is a trip to the paint shop in order? Hi nolanative. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. For starters. to give you any sort of reliable answer, we would need to know: How deep are the scratches? Are they just surface scratches (i.e not all the way through the clearcoat)? Are they all the way through the clearcoat? Are they all the way through the color coat? How many scratches are there? How long are they? How wide are they, etc. etc.? There is absolutely no way for us to answer that question without more information an/or some pictures, so we can see how much/what types of damage there is. Posting some decent quality pictures would help. Or just go to a body shop and ask their opinion. You may want to see how much of the damage you can Polish/Compound out on your own first, if you know how to do it properly (or have friend who can help). Once you have done that, then you can decide if you need further correction. Good luck. :beerchug: Edited June 6, 2008 by bbf2530 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgey1 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Try running your thumbnail across the scratch, if it doesn't catch it will probably buff, but if it catches your nail pretty good you are probably going to need a bodyshop. I would not recommend even trying to touch it up as it will likely look worse when you are done. Also with light sage if the scratches are close to an adjacent panel it will probably have to be painted also to ensure a good color match. Like the person above said, if you could post some pictures it would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Try running your thumbnail across the scratch, if it doesn't catch it will probably buff, but if it catches your nail pretty good you are probably going to need a bodyshop. I would not recommend even trying to touch it up as it will likely look worse when you are done. Also with light sage if the scratches are close to an adjacent panel it will probably have to be painted also to ensure a good color match. Like the person above said, if you could post some pictures it would be helpful. If you do want to repair it yourself (even if it's temporary), just use a touch up brush and only fill in the scratch. I bought the spray can touch up kit with color and clearcoat and tried to touch up some scratches on my 2000 Lincoln LS (Autumn Red). I started with a small section right around the scratch, then ended up going wider and wider to blend it in. By the time I was done I had almost repainted the whole side of the car. When I traded it in I had to convince them that it hadn't been wrecked. They ended up repainting the entire side of the car. Unless you're a professional painter, don't do more than just fill in the scratch and buff it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgey1 Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 Be VERY careful if you are going to try and "fill in the scratch". Wherever you get your touch up paint it would take a minor miracle for it to match especially if it is closer to the top of the panel where you look more often. There are several alternates to factory paints and with the lighters colors such as this it just makes the odds worse that it will match. The light sage color has alot of metallic in it and if the metallic doesn't lay the same it won't look right. There won't be clear coat over the touch up paint also so it won't have the shine of the rest. There is a big difference in touching up a scratch vs touching up a stone chip or a chip of paint off the edge of a door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanative Posted June 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi nolanative. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. For starters. to give you any sort of reliable answer, we would need to know: How deep are the scratches? Are they just surface scratches (i.e not all the way through the clearcoat)? Are they all the way through the clearcoat? Are they all the way through the color coat? How many scratches are there? How long are they? How wide are they, etc. etc.? There is absolutely no way for us to answer that question without more information an/or some pictures, so we can see how much/what types of damage there is. Posting some decent quality pictures would help. Or just go to a body shop and ask their opinion. You may want to see how much of the damage you can Polish/Compound out on your own first, if you know how to do it properly (or have friend who can help). Once you have done that, then you can decide if you need further correction. Good luck. :beerchug: Thanks for the responses - as you requested, here are the pictures. As I was taking them, I began thinking I need to take it to a body shop! What are your thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the responses - as you requested, here are the pictures.As I was taking them, I began thinking I need to take it to a body shop! What are your thoughts?? Hi nolanative. :D Unless it was a silver pole and that is silver paint transferred from it, it looks as though it is scraped down to the sheet metal. If that is correct, then unfortunately a body shop is the only real answer. It is actually possible to see areas where just the clearcoat was scraped off, and the other areas where the color coat is scraped off down to the sheet metal. If it was not a new car, you could try to touch it up and live with it, but not a nice new car. It would not really be possible to touch that up and get satisfactory results (well, not if you are the least bit picky like me). Sorry. Good luck. :beerchug: Edited June 9, 2008 by bbf2530 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 (edited) You can certainly touch it up yourself which will make it much less noticeable AND prevent rust. For that size area you need to mask off just the scratched area, prime it, sand it, then use a base/clear coat spray if available (paintscratch.com is a good source, but that is a rare color). Let the clear coat dry for a few days and then buff and polish it. If done right you won't be able to notice it from a few feet away, but it will be noticeable up close. It will require a body shop to fix properly which will include repainting an entire panel or section. Good luck. Edit - I checked and they do have that paint code (NH) available at paintscratch.com. Up to you whether you want to try it or not. Edited June 9, 2008 by akirby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanative Posted June 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Thank you all for the informative, yet disappointing news! There goes my Economic Stimulus check! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgey1 Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Very good pictures. I write estimates for a living, and based on what I can see in the pictures you should be looking at around $500 depending on labor rates in your area. They will have to repair and refinish the quarter panel and blend the rear door to ensure a good color match. If you have any questions about the estimate you receive, just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanative Posted June 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Very good pictures. I write estimates for a living, and based on what I can see in the pictures you should be looking at around $500 depending on labor rates in your area. They will have to repair and refinish the quarter panel and blend the rear door to ensure a good color match. If you have any questions about the estimate you receive, just let me know. Wow - thanks for the 'estimate' and I will certainly let you know if I have any questions - should I take it to the dealership or just a regular body shop?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) Wow - thanks for the 'estimate' and I will certainly let you know if I have any questions - should I take it to the dealership or just a regular body shop?? Hi nolanative. :D For what it is worth, here is my advice: If you do not have body shop that you know and trust, ask around. Ask friends, family and co-workers if they have body shop they would recommend. Ask your Dealer for a recommendation, if they do not have a collision shop of their own (not all Dealers do). Try to find at least two recommended shops. Once you do, get an Estimate from each shop (and your Dealer, if they have one). Take a look around at the shops while you are there. See how they keep the place, is it neat and clean, or dirty and unkempt. Ak them to show you an example or two of their current work. They should have at least a car or two to be picked up by customers. See how the work looks and the paint matches. Ask them to explain to you what will be done, if you choose them to do the work. Then pick the one that you feel most comfortable with. What you need done is a simple job, if done correctly. Good luck. :beerchug: Edited June 11, 2008 by bbf2530 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanative Posted June 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Thanks for all the info and advice. I went to the dealership yesterday and they quoted me $785 to have it fixed. So I will check with another place tomorrow and see if I can get them to beat that estimate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Thanks for all the info and advice. I went to the dealership yesterday and they quoted me $785 to have it fixed. So I will check with another place tomorrow and see if I can get them to beat that estimate. Hi nolanative. :D I am sure you already know this, but just a word of caution: Do not just look for the body shop with the lowest estimate. Also remember to take a look at some of each shops current work sitting on the lot. Look for obvious differences in quality of work, how the paint matches etc.. Take all variables into consideration. No sense saving $100, but hating the way it looks every day for the next 3 years or more. Good luck. :beerchug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgey1 Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Excellent advice bbf! Also remember the estimate I gave you was with our local rates of $42hr body/paint and $24hr material, your region may be much higher. If you want, take pictures of the estimate (with your personal info covered of course) and post them on here and I would be more than happy to give it a look. Also ask your dealership if they are participating in Ford's new "Owner Advantage" program. It is a rewards card with no cost to you and you should get $10 parts/service credit to start and 5% credit for everything you spend after that. It is a great program that is just being rolled out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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