If your car is starting to suffer from scratches, dents, dings probably want to do something about it. You may have already been searching for where to find Volvo touch up paint or some other type of automotive touch up kit. If you haven’t, you probably should be. Here’s why and how to do it.
Why You Need To Keep On Top of the Scratches
Scratches on your car can result in serious issues later down the line. In the first place, you’re talking about a loss of value to an important investment. The resale value of cars drops precipitously once you drive them off the lot, and every scratch is another drop in that value. For another, even a small scratch can be quite serious if you let it go on too long. Even if the scratch doesn’t get down to the paint job you can still have problems. The clear coat is there to protect the paint from the elements, and when there’s a scratch through it that protection is gone. Eventually, you’re going to have rust, bubbling, UV damage from the sun, and other issues.
Forget Those Youtube Videos
If you go hunting for a way to fix the scratches in your car, you going to run into a lot of home remedies, like rubbing toothpaste on the scratch. Most of these are just temporary fixes and are not going to last. In some cases, they can even make the situation worse. Not only that, but scratches are not necessarily the same from start to finish. At one point the scratch may be very deep while at another very shallow.
The Paint Touch Up Kit
You can find an auto touch up paint kit in a lot of places, but in many cases it’s a good idea to buy the specific kit you need. This means getting Volvo touch up paint, GMC touch up paint, Lexis touch up paint, or whatever kit is made by the specific manufacturer of your car. The reason that Volvo touch up paint kit is a good idea is every car manufacturer’s color combination is unique. Unless you’re talking about one of the neutral colors–white, black, silver, or gray–it can be really hard to match the colors perfectly. If you get a Volvo touch up paint kit you can be sure that the paint you buy will perfectly match your Volvo’s original color.
How to Apply Your Paint
Now that you’ve got your Volvo touch up kit, how do you use it?
- Sand down the spot. It may kill you to do this as you watch your beautiful clearcoat get all smudgy, but sanding is essential to make sure the primer and paint properly adhere. Don’t worry, you’re going to fix this later.
- Wash everything carefully. Make sure there’s no dirt, wax, or road debris of any sort on the area and then let it dry.
- Use primer, or don’t. You may or may not need primer depending on how deep the scratches and what type of paint you bought. Some paints will indicate that they do not need a primer. For a lot of surface scratches you’re probably okay without it, but if there’s any bare metal visible you definitely need primer. If you do use primer, make sure it’s completely dry before you move on.
- Apply the touch up paint. Put on the paint working from the edge inward to the middle of your scratch or spot. You can even use a toothpick or Q-tip at this point. The paint on the scratch should not be thicker than the paint job of the car or it’s going to peel off.
- Let it completely dry.If you start the next step too early you’ll undo everything you’ve already done. You’ll be tempted not to wait because of the swirly sandpaper marks all around the scratch, but ignore this temptation. It’s going to take a couple days, so just reconcile yourself.
- Wax and polish the entire car. If you really want the newly painted area to match the rest of the car, it’s a good idea to use an electric polisher.
Follow these tips in your car will be back to new in no time!
