Scratches on Platinum White Pearl

[Left4Cookies]

Hi,

So I'm in the unfortunate situation that my poor boot lid has been scratched by something/someone and I'm a little inexperienced in this area.

I'm aware you can clean/polish away a lot of scratches as long as they're not too deep, so I've ordered some car paint cleaner (Meguiar Ultimate Compound) to see what I can do with it, but I'm worried the scratches are too deep for it to make sense (I've inserted some pictures below). Do anyone in here have experience with touch up pens, as a worst case solution? I know the Platinum White Pearl is NH883P (https://www.coxmotorparts.co.uk/honda-s ... nt-nh883p/) but I have no idea how easy it is to apply properly if it should come to that.

As there's a lot of car enthusiast veterans in here, I'm curious about your input on something like this.

There's at least 3 scratches, two of them being rather large. I've tried to get some pictures of them but the lighting can be a little tricky to work with. If this was your car, how would you approach getting something like this mended? It's in a very unfortunate place, as I get reminded about it every time I open/close the boot..

[londiniumperson]

TLDR:
Don't use touch up pens, especially as as you say you're inexperienced in this area. I can guarantee that on those scratches you'll make it significantly worse.
Those marks, though difficult to see exactly how bad they are from photos, should 'buff out' quite easily, I think that you'll be surprised.

The longer answer:
A touch up pen should be your last resort and is only to be used where the damage is at least through the top coat and either undercoat or metal is visible and to be used as an emergency to stop further damage, i.e oxidation (rust).

You have a couple of options:
a) Ask for a car detailer to look, advise & fix (i.e. compound/polish). They can then give the whole car a good clean all over and a decent one will tell you if anywhere else needs further attention, though this is more relevant on an older car.
b) Do this yourself.
Watch some YouTube videos on removing minor scratches/defects, pick recent videos with a good number of views.
Work out what you need, i.e. polish, compounds, cloths etc, don't just use what you have lying around the house/garage.
Ensure that the whole panel is scrupulously clean, you don't what to create additional scratches.
Use plenty of clean water & rinse cloths regularly.
Start with the least aggressive option first to see if this can solve the issue and only work up to cutting compounds of they are actually needed gradually.

I would suggest going the car detailer route, one that can do this at your home because as you say you're not experienced in this area and probably don't have any equipment (cloths, polish, etc) already and the initial cost of these items can add up, which unless you use them regularly is not worth the investment. The reason behind my thinking of paying someone that can do this at your home is because you can ask him if you can watch as he removes the scratches because this will give you an insight as to what can be accomplished with some experience and the right products and tools.

[Left4Cookies]

Thanks a lot for your input.

I've booked half an hour with a detailer who will check it out together with me and we'll see what he thinks about it.

I'll update this thread when I know more on Wednesday.

[Left4Cookies]

A brief update as promised.

I went to a detailer today and got it confirmed I'm a newbie. He took a brief glance at it, then at me like "is this it?", and offered to polish the area.

20 mins later and it's virtually gone. You can still see some of the biggest scratch if you *really* want to and the lighting is JUST right, but it's basically spotless and I can't feel the scratches with a fingernail either. I'm probably the only one in the world who will ever know they're there at this point.

It was pretty cheap as well. Around 60£. The materials I initially wanted to buy to do it myself would be about 30-40£, so I'm satisfied with it.

[londiniumperson]

It's good to hear that everything's turned out well.

Initially £60 sounds a lot, but as you've discovered it would probably have cost you at least half that amount in materials alone the first time. You're paying for someone's experience. It's not difficult to remove most marks and scratches but then again it's also quite easy to make a costly mistake.
I wouldn't hesitate doing this on an older car but it's a different matter on a new one.