touch up paint

paul2louise

I have some small scratches on my toyota yaris (red paint non metallic) and am not sure what the best way to repair them. I dont know any reasonable repair places and i am reluctant to pay £100 to the dealer to fix them. How difficult is it to use paint yourself and does anyone know where to get it from.

sorry for all the questions can anyone help

louise

I live in nottingham

IvanOpinion

Louise
You should be able to get those little touch-up paints either from Halfords or, better still, from you rlocal Toyota dealer. Since your car is non-metallic it is probably no more difficult than painting your nails ... however I have always found that it looks like a touch-up job.

There are some waxes out there that claim to fill in minor scratches (again available from Halfords etc.) ... I have heard very mixed reports about their effectiveness though.

If the car is newish or the scratches are deep (i.e. into the metalwork) then it might be better to get the dealer to fix it ... at least then you can shout at them if rust starts appearing in the area.

Ivan

paul2louise

thanks
the car is quite new but the scratches are not deep ie they have not gone through the primer.
I may have a try first and if it looks crap then i could take it and have it done properly

Louise

owey

Try https://www.maplin.co.uk they do a scratch repairer kit for £7.99 the code No is N80BL and if it doesn't work just take it back .

blue_haddock

The colour of your car is Chilli red but there is often several shades of the same colour and getting an exact match from a touch up pen is not always possible - plus unless you are very good the repairs often look more noticeable than the scratches did.

You may well be best off speaking to a local smart repair firm - Chips away etc as they usually do a very good job at lower cost than the dealer would charge.

vansboy

Have you tried to polish the scratches out??

If they're not deep, there's a good chance that using whatever car wax/polish you've got, with a bit more pressure & effort, will do it.

If not, then you could try 'cutting' polishes, but if you've not done it before, I'd ask someone who has.

&, as mentioned for other, relativly simple repairs, a crisp £10 note, neatly folded, to your local paint/body repairshop guys (NOT big insurance repair place) would have them polished away in no time!!

VB

Silent_Bob_3

How old is the car as red is prone to fade quicker than other colours. therefore touch up sticks may not match.

First off I'd try using some T-Cut if they are surface scratches.

If it's new(ish) get a touch up stick from the official dealer or get Halfords to match it (might take them a few go's though).

The other option as already mentioned is using a "Chips Away" chappie who will come to you house and do it there and then - and they do a darn good job too.

blue_haddock

Silent_Bob wrote:

How old is the car as red is prone to fade quicker than other colours. therefore touch up sticks may not match.

First off I'd try using some T-Cut if they are surface scratches.

If it's new(ish) get a touch up stick from the official dealer or get Halfords to match it (might take them a few go's though).

The other option as already mentioned is using a "Chips Away" chappie who will come to you house and do it there and then - and they do a darn good job too.

The yaris will be a maximum of about 5 years old and generally chilli red holds up fairly well to fading and oxidization.

I wouldn't recommend using T-Cut as modern paints are softer than they use to be and T-Cut is quite abrasive, you would be better of either using Farecla or Auto Glym paint restorer as these coming in a variety of different grades including a very fine grade that would be better for smoothing out minor scratches.

skiddy2k

i dont think halfords do that colour on the shelf in touch up pens, but, halfords mix up colour in touch up bottles and in spray cans as long as you no the name of the colour or the colour code, which, you do!

go down your local halfords and i think it costs £8 for a 100ml bottle of touch-up paint, which is the mixed to order price.

hope this helps!
Skiddy

Nile

paul2louise wrote:

I have some small scratches on my toyota yaris (red paint non metallic) and am not sure what the best way to repair them. I dont know any reasonable repair places and i am reluctant to pay £100 to the dealer to fix them. How difficult is it to use paint yourself and does anyone know where to get it from.

sorry for all the questions can anyone help

louise

I live in nottingham

I bought the Toyota touch up paint when I bought my new car. The paint is in a small pack with the colour match paint and a clear varnish. There is a small wire brush thing (under the cap) too, should you need it.

I'm not bothered about my car winning any 'showroom condition' rosettes. I'm not going to pay a fortune for Toyota to deal with the chips/scratches, I've dealt with the tiny chips in the bodywork myself and saved money.

Buy the paint from Toyota to be certain of a colour match. I hope that helps.

Unstoppable_2

£100 sounds quite good. The only problem with touch up paints is that people who use them haven't got a clue and the touched up bit sticks out a mile.

A hint. Instead of using the little brush they come with, get a tissue, twist it until you have a fine point, dab it in the paint and gently dab it in the scratch until the paint you've applied is flush with the paint surrounding the scratch.