How to Fix Minor Scratches and Dents on Your Car

Getting scratches and dents on cars is inevitable. Whether a shopping cart hit, a loose key or a little bit of a bump, even small scratches can lower the beauty and resale value of your vehicle. If that is the case then lucky for you some of these issues can actually be fixed from the comfort of your own home without needing to call a professional in for help.

This guide walks you through how to repair minor scratches and dents from the comfort of your garage with inexpensive tools and techniques.

Types of Scratches and Dents Explained

First of all, you need to assess how bad the scratch or dent actually is before you go through the process of repairing it.

Types of Scratches

1. Clear Coat Scratches:

• There are scratches that only goes into the top protective layer.
• These show up as light marks and can be easily remedied with polish or wax.

2. Paint Scratches:

• They go right through the paint layer to the base primer.
• Repair involves some touh-up paint or a scratch repair kit.

3. Heavy scratches (Bare metal/Primer shown):

• Well, these scratches go all the way to the metal body of the car.
• This means that a repair has to sand, prime, and repaint

Types of Dents

1. Superficial Dents: (Paint Not Damaged)

• Typically as a result of soft impacts such as hail or small car door dings.
• Generally able to be repaired using suction cups or hot water techniques.

2. Non Structural Impacts (minor paint damage)

• These can have light scratches in the paint work.
• That gives you repair options like body filler, heat, or suction methods.

3. Severe impact with paint loss or deep dents

These need bodywork or body panels replaced.

How to Fix Minor Scratches on Your Vehicle

For superficial scratches which do not expose the metal, they can be remedied using the following ways.

1. Toothpaste (For Surface Scratches Only)

Mild abrasives are present in toothpaste and they can buff out some light scratches.

Steps:

• Any scratched surface area should be cleaned with soap and water.
• Directly apply the whitening toothpaste onto a driest microfiber towel.
• Wipe the toothpaste in small circles for 30 seconds or so.
• Clean the surface with a wet cloth, and then see the effect.
• Repeat if necessary.

Good for: Minor scratches on the clear.

2. Apply Scratch Removal Product

Their use is to polish out light to medium scratches offering commercial scratch removers.

Steps:

• The first step is to wash and dry the paint surface of the car.
• Put some scratch remover compound (for example Meguiar’s ScratchX or 3M Scratch Remover) on a microfiber towel.
• For 2-3 minutes rub in circular motions.
• Clean the area with another cloth.
• By applying some car wax on the area that was repaired.

Ideal for: Clear coat and small scratches on the paint.

3. For paint scratches – Using a touch-up paint pen

If the scratch got down to the metal, a color match and touch-up pen will cover the mark.

Steps:

• Use some rubbing alcohol to give the scratch a clean wipe.
• Shake the touch-up paint pen and apply a thin layer over the (hairline) scratch.
• Let it dry for 10-15 minutes.
• Apply another coat if needed.
• When it is dry, buff the area with some car wax.

Ideal for: Small paint scratches that have not reached the metal

4. Deep scratches are more hard to fix and require sanding and repainting.

If the scratch goes through to the primer or metal, then it will need to be sanded, primed, and repainted.

Steps:

• Clean the area thoroughly.
• If the scratch is much worse, first, clean it, and then sand it with 2000-grit sandpaper to get rid of any rough parts along the edge.
• Primer (if metal is exposed) and cure
• Use thin layers of matching touch up paint
• Protect it with clear coat.
• Polish and buff the area to get a smooth finish.

Ideal for: Deeper scratches that reach primer or metal

Repair Minor Dents on Your Car

If you have a dent that needs fixed, it possible that need some costly repairs. Some great do it yourself options are highlighted below.

1. Plastic Bumpers and Hot Water: How to Fix It

Heat can help your plastic bumper return to a state of flexibility if it has a dent.

Steps:

• We boiled a pot of water and poured it over the area in which the dent occurred.
• Speedily pull here on the backside of the bumper to straighten out the dent.
• Then throw cold water on so it can hold.

Ideal For: Plastic bumper dents.

2. How to use a Suction Cup Dent Puller

The suction cup tool helps in taking out the small to medium dent.

Steps:

• Clean the dented area.
• Put the suction cup on the dent
• The key is to pull with a firm constant pressure until the dent pops free.

Ideal For: Dents in the metal without scratched paint.

3. Home Method For Small Dents (Plunger)

For shallow dents, a household plunger can serve as a suction cup.

Steps:

• Dampen the Plunger for a Better Seal
• Put it on the dent and push in [Push it in with a Note].
• To use this dent removal kit: Pull hard until the dent pops out.

Good For: Shallow dents and dings on plastic or metal.

4. The Hair dryer and Compressed air method

It works by expanding and contracting the metal to get the dent to rise.

Steps:

• Grab a hair dryer and heat the dent area for approximately 30 seconds.
• Now spray compressed air on it right away.
• The shift in temperature should allow the dent to pop right back into place.

Great For: What it says on the box — medium-sized dents, ideally without paint damage.

5. Using Body Filler to Repair Dents (For Small Paint-Damaged Dents)

Before repainting, if the dent has any damage to the paint, you can also fill it.

Steps:

• Use sander to sand the dented part to get rid of the rough edge.
• Spread body filler using a putty knife.
• Let it dry completely.
• Sanding it smooth with fine sandpaper.
• Put some primer, and the paint and clear coat to match the car.

Ideal For: Small creases with missing paint.

Final Touches: Buffing and Waxing

Once you have patched a scratch or dent, spritz on (or buff on) some car wax to protect that area and help restore its shine.

Steps:

• Use a clean microfiber towel to apply car wax.
• Polish the area in circular motions.
• Allow it to dry and remove the excess.

When To Get Professional Help

Most scratches and dents can be repaired at home while others need professional repair.

Seek Professional Help If There Are:

• The scratch or dent is deep or large.
• The car's frame is damaged.
• The blending of the paint job needs to match the color of the car.
• You hate sanding or repainting.

Conclusion

Repair Minor Scratches and Dents at Home — Save Hundreds In Repairs With the proper tools and techniques in place, you can maintain the appearance of your car as if it were the first day you obtained it.