Scratch Repair & Leveling
The fingernail test tells us almost everything.
Not every scratch can be polished out, and any detailer who promises otherwise is guessing. Here is the honest rule we use: run a fingernail lightly across the scratch. If it glides over, the damage is in the clear coat and machine polishing will almost certainly remove it completely. If your nail catches, the scratch has gone through the clear into the base coat, and no amount of polishing brings that back. It needs touch-up or body shop work. We will tell you which category yours falls into before you spend a dollar. For clear-coat scratches, we level the surrounding surface until the scratch edge disappears, working carefully because there is only so much clear coat to give. Common wins: key marks that did not break through, scuffs from a garage wall, bush and branch scratches, and the scuffing around door handles.
How We Handle Scratches
Stage I: Depth Assessment
Each scratch is tested and, where needed, measured with a paint depth gauge so we know how much clear coat is available to work with.
Stage II: Targeted Leveling
Repairable scratches are polished with progressively finer compounds, blending the surrounding area so no dished or hazy spot is left behind.
Stage III: Honest Reporting
Anything too deep to correct is documented and shown to you, along with a straight recommendation on whether body shop work is worth it.
Recommended next step: Multi-Stage Paint Polishing Kingston