The plastic body-coloured bumper of my (reflex silver) '02 Polo has got scratched through to the black plastic; not a large scratch but deep enough to have removed the paint right through.
If anyone's got a suggestion/suggestions for covering this, I'd be grateful. Can VW supply spray paint, or something like that? It certainly not serious enough to replace the whole bumper for.
Many thanks,
frmarcus
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Chipsaway or similar can repair the scratch. They did a minor repair to my bumper after nudging a wall and it was only noticeable if you knew were to look - and that wasn't easy!
Should be about £80
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A VW garage should be able to supply a paint touch up kit to match your paint exactly. Scrape out the bottom of the scratch and brush in several thin coats until the new paint is at the same level as the surrounding paintwork. Let it harden for a week then lightly rub down the repair area with a rubbing compound and spray on some clear laquer. Should be almost invisible after the laquers hardened and polished with t-cut.
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I have a silver car and found with Halfords, that their paint packs didn't blend in with the surrounding paintwork at all that well, even after good mixing. I think you're better off spray-painting. Choose Holts, as again the halfords stuff needs sanding down before laquering which can leave streaks and patches if not very carefully done.
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Metallic paint should never be sanded or heavily compounded as the metallic content will shear and leave a blotchy finish. Tryed it before and spraying in a scratch on metallic will probably do more harm than good.
Even if the colour match is spot on, it will be very difficult to achieve a satisfactory result because the tone of the paint changes depending on spraying technique.
Best to touch in a small scratch on metallic imho and accept that the repair won't be 100% perfect but un-noticeable to most people.
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I\'d pay a good, reputable back street paintshop £50 to put it right rather than mess about wasting money on touch ups.
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I'd try your local Chipsaway, my local guy did a good job of front offside corner deep bumper scratches for £50, filling and spraying at my home.
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>>I'd pay a good, reputable back street paintshop £50 to put it right rather than mess about wasting money on touch ups.
Depends what sort of a car it is. If it lives on the street, one bump is followed by another. When I bought my latest old thing, previous owner had wrapped one door round a concrete post, bending it and scratching it very badly. Intending to buy a new-old door, I got the car at bargain basement price. After a can of spray paint, nobody notices or comments. I do, when I remember, but I think of the saved money...
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Metallic paint should never be sanded or heavily compounded as the metallic content will shear and leave a blotchy finish.
As on spray can: "Clear lacquer must be used on metallic and pearlescent paints to achieve the best colour match. Allow 24 hours for the paint to dry, rub the area down and then apply clear lacquer."
I presumed the meant rub down with wet-and-dry, as they specifically tell you NOT to use rubbing compound on metallic paint.
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>>As on spray can: "Clear lacquer must be used on metallic and pearlescent paints to achieve the best colour match. Allow 24 hours for the paint to dry, rub the area down and then apply clear lacquer."
>>I presumed the meant rub down with wet-and-dry, as they specifically tell you NOT to use rubbing compound on metallic paint.
Wet and dry must NOT be used on the final metallic finish coat as the layer of paint is removed from the metallic flakes ruining the finish. Not to be confused with solid colours that can be rubbed down with 1200 grade paper + soap if the paint has enough depth then polished.
It is ok to use a very mild rubbing compound very lightly over the repair area and is essential on the surrounding paintwork if the laquer is to adhere properly. If you rub too hard you will take off the laquer and shear the basecoat if you don't have enough experience.
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Apparently the term "gelcoat" describes a coloured bumper or can do, and apparently they are or can be very difficult to repair. I have no experience of seeing one professionally fixed, but I can say that I've seen the bumper on a Volvo v70 after an attempted DIY repair and it wasn't too good.
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was kev_is_here
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Look in your boot, my friend.
OK, try the boot of your car.
There you will find the exact paint code for your Polo.
It will probably be pearlescent paint, or similar.
Your VW dealer will charge you, but you will get precisely the right paint. (From the original manufacturer).
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Reflex silver is a very common VW colour - my 1999 Bora is the same shade.
It was in immaculate condition (apart from an odd touched up stone chip) until about 10 days ago, when some unknown b-----d damaged the front offside bumper whilst doing a U-turn.
I haven't done anything about it yet - being plastic there's no risk of rust - but know such touchup work can be undertaken successfully.
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This happened to my wife's Toyota Avalon, and the touch up paint didn't work (probably in part to my lack of knowledge of how to do it). Anyway, she bought some self adhesive stickers (flowers I think), and this covered the problem fairly well. Her car now appears to have a driver who likes flowers rather than a driver who doesn't want to pay several hundred dollars to fix the problem.
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