Matagorda Beach driftwood scuff - advice on removal

Looking for some advice on how to get this scuff out. I was driving along Matagorda Beach in Texas and I think I ran over a piece of driftwood which popped up and tagged the truck. No dent, just this white scuff on the metallic silver paint (2017 TRD OR).

I've searched and seen WD-40, clay bar, some Mequiars scratch remover, polishing, and even Goo-gone. I washed the truck yesterday but figured I would get some advice before I tried any of these things...obviously I would like to go go from least extreme to hiring a pro. I have a cheapo Harbor Freight random orbital but I am not too versed in using it.

Thanks!
-Mike

 

Can you feel any scratches with your fingernails when you run them across the area? That will have a lot to do with any advice I would offer.

 

I've got to step out for a while, so I'll offer some advice for both if you can and if you can't feel the scratches with your fingernail. And BTW, some of the methods you read about (WD-40, Goo-Gone) are used for paint transfer. That generally happens when you rub up against something with paint on it and some of that (softer) paint transfers to your vehicle. I might be wrong, but most driftwood doesn't have any paint on it, so those methods are probably not going to work.

Assuming you cannot feel any scratches, you're in luck. What you probably have is just a serious case of marring and that can be removed / corrected by polishing. We generally recommend a process called "least aggressive method first" in that case. That would mean polishing with a fairly mild polish and pad so as not to make things any worse. If the least aggressive product & process doesn't work, it's time to step up a bit in aggressiveness. And yes, that does mean using a machine to both make the job go a little faster and to do a more complete / even job of blending the area out. You can polish by hand, but it gets old pretty quickly.

If you can feel some scratches, you have a bigger issue. Scratches deep enough to feel with a fingernail are generally deep enough to penetrate the clear coat and thus cannot be removed / blended out by polishing. That generally means some paint work. I'm going to guess (based on your picture) that you can get most of that out with polishing and have maybe one or two deeper scratches that might require professional help.

As for products to try, Meguiar's makes a product called Scratch-X that does a pretty decent job even if applied by hand. Follow the directions carefully though since you don't want to induce more marring while attempting to remove marring. (Yes, it can happen.) And beware those products shown on TV that claim you can just wipe them on and the scratch will disappear. They're just loaded with fillers and although the scratch may appear to disappear, it will return after the next car wash.

No matter what you do to correct the issue, make sure that when you're all done you apply a good coat of wax / synthetic sealant to the whole area to protect it.

 

Clay bar the area to get everything off the paint. Then assess if anything further needs to be done.

Follow @Too Stroked advice.

 

@Too Stroked thabka for the thoughtful reply! So when I run my fingernail over the area i can definitely feel the scratches. It doesn’t get caught on any but I can feel the roughness for sure. So it’s looking like maybe it’s scratched the clearcoat.

I’ll get some the Mequiars scratch x remover and try that by hand. If that doesn’t work or you think it needs an orbital I may break out the machine or take it to a pro. I think we have a few reputable guys here in Austin that specialize in touch ups like this with great review. I’d rather pay to get it done right than make it worse with the orbital.

 

I highly recommend getting your own dual action polisher. A good one will run between $100-$200 bucks but totally worth it when you may pay someone that much money to fix these scratches except you have a machine you can use in the future (because this stuff is bound to always happen).

I have a Porter Cable I love. Great entry level machine.

 

Sounds like a very reasonable plan. Some folks would just "have at it" with a rotary buffer, a wool pad and Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound - and would just make a bad situation way worse. Knowing when to seek professional help is a good thing! Glad we could help, but sorry about the first scratch in your new truck.

 

I have a Harbor Freight random orbital polisher. I could give a go. What color pad should I try if I do? I plan to try it by hand with some Scratch x first.

Now that I have polished it some it may actually be slightly dented. It did get better with just some Mequiars stage two polish I had around. I think the scratch X will help. It may just be a scar I live with. It is a truck after all, but I plan to keep it a long time and like to take good care of my stuff.

Appreciate the help!

 

adding to this... clay bar the area...this worked for me to eliminate some minor surface scratches. for the more moderate scratches I did the following after the 1st clay bar pass: do a touch up paint job as neat as possible on remaining scratches...then clay bar again to blend... seemed to work for me.

 

As @Too Stroked said, start with minimally abrasive and slowly get more abrasive. It's hard to recommend anything with a photo when you can't get up personal and touch it to judge what pad you'll need.

Be careful with using Scratch X with a machine, that stuff flies everywhere LOL go light on the product at first.

 

A clay bar does not remove scratches. It is designed only to remove surface contaminants. Your clay lube may have temporarily filled some scratches giving the impression that it removed them.

 

I'm not familiar with the Harbor Freight pads, but I'd start with a medium pad first. Remember, theoretically, you can eventually polish out a "fixable" scratch with even the least aggressive method. It's just going to take a lot longer. But if you go to aggressive, you'll create a bigger mess that requires more polishing. So we always recommend that anybody who hasn't done this kind of work before start with what we could also call the safest method.

 

that was 4 months ago...still gone. perhaps my clay bar was full of contaminants which acted as a mild abrasive.

 

Hmmm, that's a new one on me. Perhaps some of the "scratches" on your truck were actually "paint transfer." A clay bar might remove some of that.