So I found a car I'm pretty interested in buying (pending inspection by a mechanic and possibly price negotiations with the seller), but it looks like he may have tried detailing it himself and scratched the paint. There are little circular abrasions along parts of the body. Is there an easy way to buff that out or something?

 

Ive been able to buff out small scratched, it all depends how deep they are. If its only the clear coat you should be fine.

 

Yeah it depends if its only the wax thats scratched, or if its all the way down to the metal

 

Can you get a pic up?

 

you won't actually be able to really tell if it's fixable from a picture. a picture is two dimensional, a scratch is 3-d. so the only way is to take it to a body shop and ask them if it's fixable.

 

It looked like it was just the clearcoat when I went to see it - just some subtle swirl marks, but they really stood out in the sun. I actually have this guy bringing it to a mechanic for me today just to check out the engine and make sure everything looks ok. I can possibly ask him to check about the scratches while he's there.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

It sounds like its just typical marring (swirls, spider webs, whatever you want to call it). You'll need to start with a deep clean, clay bar, then try and wheel it out with a mild cutting polish. If mild doesn't work, step up to the medium. Use caution, start in an incon****uous area, and only do one small section at a time. Afterwards get some protectant/sealant wax on there.

If the cutting polishes don't work, you can always wetsand.

If you dont feel comfortable with this and/or don't have the necessary tools, call a professional.

general rule of thumb is that if you can catch your fingernail on the scratches, they're too deep to fix.

 

Oooh alright... that's good to know. Thanks!