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How to fix Pearl White scratches?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by grush, Apr 25, 2016.

  1. grush

    grush Junior Member

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    I am a lousy driver and I just scratched my Prius in an empty parking garage.
    How do I fix this?
    [​IMG]
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This will not buff out. Looks about $1000 damage

    SM-N900P ?
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Talk to a body shop. That won't "buff out", just let them work their magic.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Hah, we both channeled John Candy.
     
  5. grush

    grush Junior Member

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    Damn.. gonna wait til some idiot driver bumps into me and I'll get insurance to cover it

    Thanks guys
     
  6. grush

    grush Junior Member

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    On another note, instead of opening a new thread - gen 3 five - does it have HID or LED by default? and can I just change the lightbulbs to make it brighter or I have to change the entire electrical something something (that I saw on gogole images)
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    They should "feather out" the colour coat, not stop abruptly at a seam.

    And you can see it's pushed in at one spot. They'll have to pull that out. Our place spot rivets nails by their heads at dimples like that. Then grabs the nail and pulls straight on them, to raise the sunken zone. Then hits them sideways to dislodge them. Then fill/sand and so on.
     
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  8. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Yes that's damage.
    Options:
    1) Insurance claim
    2) Body shop visit where you pay.

    For a DIY, I don't think you can make this damage disappear.
    It is up to you what remainder damage you can live with.

    a) Polish out the area to remove any plastic, rubber, paint transfers.
    b) With your artists size 00 paint brush fill in the scratches/ chips slowly over a few days.
    c) Sand and polish your brush touched areas.
    d) Remove the inner fender liner and take the car to a "dentless" repair shop to smooth our that impact above the wheel and perhaps the lower door area.

    Then as for which is better...well you tolerance for imperfections, your budget insurance deductible and claim history vs out of pocket costs.

    FWIW In the "golden days" with pearl white paint we had to zone the car...not feather.

    So the entire side of the car between styling lines (zoned) would be painted.
    Maybe a painter from today can chime in and clarify the correct procedure with today's modern products and techniques.

    This sucks I feel your pain.

    Good luck.
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Not sure but I'd suspect there's double layer sheet metal where the dent is, ie: it can't be hammered out from the inside. Again, they have tricks for dealing with this.
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    The car is still fairly new, I would suck it up and pay to get it fixed. If you were to sell the car, you would lose more than $1000 value from the damage......so why not just fix it? It'll cost you either way
     
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