Today, a small dog jumped on the side of my 300SE and made some scratches in the paint. What can I do to fix this?

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Warren, it depends how deep the scratches are. If they're not thru to bare metal and simply in the paint try using some polish, either by hand or random orbital buffer. I've had success with Griot's Garage Fine Hand Polish. Follow up with wax.

If the scratches are thru to bare metal it's time for touch-up paint.

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Fred Hoelzle

hi warren, does your car still have oe paint. this type of paint is normally stronger than anything else. hope this small dog does not live too close. some of these critter love to jump. i have to watch some times to head off this type of critter. i park and get out real quick.
if you have comprehensive insurance they may be able to help, and you rates should not go up for this type of problem
good luck
rich

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88 300E White, sold 9-04
88 190E Black 2.3 sold
90 300CE White, Grey sold 12-24-04
92 400E White,Grey Sold 5-06
90 300CE 91K Signal Red,Black Sold 2007
1989 300CE Smoke silver,Tan Sold 1-08
1993 300E 3.2 M104 motor
1991 300CE White,Grey
1994 E420 beautiful car,gone to new home
1994 E320 Smoke an Parchment.Beautiful car

I hate this, same thing happend to my 1 week old Honda a few years ago. I never did get the scratches out (100+lb dog )

Since this is a small dog I have to assume the scratches aren't too deep. Essentially what you need to do is level the paint around the scratches to make them less visible, as Ferdman already suggested I would start with a quality hand polish first and step up to a more agressive product as needed. The Griots is excellent and Meguiars Scratch X might work ok. Otherwise Meguiars Dual Action Cleaner Polish with a Porter Cable works very well followed by a ligther polish.

If you feel it's over your head bring it to a body shop and ask them to buff it out, they shouldn't charge too much for that.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Hi Warren,

Sorry to hear of the scratches. I'm sure it won't come to it, but if you decide to get the door or the enitre car painted, I can recommend an excellent guy in Mt. Airy MD. He just repainted the front end of my E-320 and did an excellent job. Color matches perfectly and was described by my mechanic as "factory spec".

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Buffing clear coat finishes is the best approach so long as the scratch has not penetrated throught to the color coat. However, proceed with caution, these new finishes are only a few thousandths of an inch thick. Unless you are well skilled with a buff you may be better off having a good detail shop do this for you. ROBs are real good for applying oil polishes and waxes and also clay bar cleaning, but their orbital action makes them less suited for real buffing with a cutting polish. That's why good detail shops and body shops use regular buffers.

Just a thought...

230/8

Several years ago, I managed an Auto Leasing operation for a bank. I saw a mechanic heat a scratch on a car and then "roll the paint" with his hand. He was able to make a sratch completely dissapear. I wonder if there are others around who know how to do this?

Bob

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BobH 90 R129

Hi Bob,

I've heard that this technique will only work with Single Stage Paint. It will not work with clear coat.