How much of a problem are scratches and dents

The reality of life is your pride and joy may pick up some minor scratches and dents from errant shopping trolleys, stones thrown up by trucks or other cars, or any of the myriad hazards of modern life on the road. The question, however, is whether to repair or not to repair.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds.

The simple answer is yes.The simple answer is yes.

The simple answer is YES.

It is wise to remove a minor scratch, ding or dent from your car because it will lower the value of your car. If you are looking to sell your car, you want to get the maximum amount of money out of it. Repairing or removing scratches, dents, and other minor cosmetic problems may help you maximise the value of the car, especially if it is a newer car.

Another consideration, especially if you live near the coast, are scratches where the paintwork has been breached. These are havens for the formation of rust as water will seep through to sit directly on the metal body and this rust will spread under the paintwork, often forming bubbles.

In insurance terms, these minor dings are viewed as cosmetic so it is worthwhile considering one of the many secondary insurance options specifically covering the removal of dents and scratches.

By having your scratches repaired right away, you can help protect your vehicle and its paint job.

However, do not rush for the bottle of touch-up paint in the cubbyhole or go out to try and buy some—invariably, especially if yours is an older car, you will not get the paint to match and this may stand out even more than the scratch it was meant to repair.

Touch-up paint is also a lot harder to apply than most people realise and if the surface area on the car is not cleaned and prepared properly, the paint may not stick or there might be rust traces left behind to breed and spread.

If you choose not to repair immediately, it is wise to be careful when washing your car as vigorous washing or high pressure cleaning can lift the paintwork around the scratch.

A scratch is a scratch, right? Well, not necessarily. There are a few different types of scratches your car can experience, with different ways to best fix them.

Hand washing your car can result in paint swirls on the top coat, caused by bits of grit getting stuck in the cloth used for cleaning. Clearly, it’s best to avoid this occurring in the first place, by using high-quality microfibre cloths and a grit guard in the bottom of your bucket. This should stop the cloth or sponge scratching the paintwork and picking up dirt in the water in the first place.

If it’s too late though, run your fingernail over the damaged area and if you struggle to feel it you can apply scratch remover to smooth it out. Add a small amount of the liquid to a cloth and rub gently in circular motions over the swirl to smooth it out. Rubbing too hard can cause more damage, evident if the cloth turns the colour of your car, which is a sign that you’re taking some of the paint off.

You see cars driving around with little dents in their doors, caused by a rogue shopping trolley, careless drivers or passengers in car parks or small collisions with a post or other stationary object. Yet you can easily fix a dent if it’s small or shallow by using a range of different dent removal methods depending on its size and location.

The quickest and often easiest dent removal method is to use a sink or cup plunger, which will work on small to medium sized dents (depending on the plunger size). Wet the plunger and the dent, place the plunger over the damaged area and begin pushing and pulling. This provides painless dent removal if the dent is light enough to pop back into shape.

On plastic bumper dents, pour hot water on the bumper first to make it more flexible then push it out from behind.

Every scratch, ding, and dent on your vehicle — no matter how slight — could knock a pretty significant chunk of change off your car’s resale value. So, you need to get the superficial damage taken care of as soon as possible.

If you keep up-to-date with services, maintenance, and care, you will lower costs, lengthen the lifespan of your vehicle, and increase your resale value. Visit our service & maintenance page to learn more.

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