Help with this scratch (newbie question)

[comma]

I used Scratch-X a very long time ago before I knew anything much about tetailing and I did some serious damage with it by hand. Take your car to someone you trust and let them try to remove the scratch before you do something you will regret. A good detailer or a body shop won’t charge much if this is just a surface scratch.

What damage did you do and how did you do it?
Isn't scratch x just a polisher? By hand, it seems like it would be hard to seriously damage anything.

I have no idea how to find a good detailer or body shop. I've heard so many horror stories and I don't want to end up worse than I started. At this point I'm leaning towards just leaving it and trying to ignore it

[Powerman]

I just bought a Honda Element (black). After owning it for a few weeks I noticed a scratch along the entire passenger side of the car. Looks like a branch or something side swiped it at some point. Not sure if it was there when I bought it or not honestly.

Pics attached here. Sorry for the reflection. It doesn't seem that any of the scratch can catch my fingernail.

Couple of questions.

Does this look like a clear coat scratch, or through the paint?

I tried Meguiars scratch x, vigorously for about 30 minutes (by hand) with only very slight noticeable results, if any. I also bought Meguiar's G18116 Polishing Compound I plan on trying before a wash/wax.

By doing this, did I harm all of the clear coat that the scratch x touched?
Should I keep going with the scratch x?
Is there another safe option for a newbie like me to try by hand?
If not, does anybody have any idea how much a paint shop would charge to fix this?

Thanks!!

That looks like a deep scratch. If by chance it isn’t and there was paint transference it might polish out. I’ve removed paint transference scuffs and scratch’s with a light application of goo gone before buffing it out.


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[LSNAutoDetailing]

What damage did you do and how did you do it?
Isn't scratch x just a polisher? By hand, it seems like it would be hard to seriously damage anything.

I have no idea how to find a good detailer or body shop. I've heard so many horror stories and I don't want to end up worse than I started. At this point I'm leaning towards just leaving it and trying to ignore it

Where are you located?

[DaveT435]

IMO this looks very easy to repair. I would compound and polish to get that out. I recently worked on a BMW which had a deep scratch. It was corrected with my Flex 3401 with an Orange Lake country Pad with Menzerna FG400 and followed up with a White Pad and Menzerna Super Finish 3800. I will try to figure out how to upload the pics from my new cell phone. But my method worked fine.

I agree. You can't be sure judging by the picture, but it appears to be a fairly light scratch. You not being able to catch your nail on it further indicates it is a light scratch.

[UncleDavy]

I have had good success with Scratch X and an orange light cutting pad on my Porter Cable. Your hand cannot generate the amount of rotations necessary to get the abrasives working for you.

[PaulMys]

I have had good success with Scratch X and an orange light cutting pad on my Porter Cable. Your hand cannot generate the amount of rotations necessary to get the abrasives working for you.

Unless you're a lonely guy in your teens.........

But, yes. You are 100% correct UD.

[rlmccarty2000]

What damage did you do and how did you do it?
Isn't scratch x just a polisher? By hand, it seems like it would be hard to seriously damage anything.

I have no idea how to find a good detailer or body shop. I've heard so many horror stories and I don't want to end up worse than I started. At this point I'm leaning towards just leaving it and trying to ignore it

Scratch-X is just a polish, maybe more of a compound. I put some on the end of a towel and used my finger to rub in one spot and I wore through the clear coat. This was before I knew anything about polishers or polish. You can do some damage by applying pressure and rubbing hard.

[comma]

Scratch-X is just a polish, maybe more of a compound. I put some on the end of a towel and used my finger to rub in one spot and I wore through the clear coat. This was before I knew anything about polishers or polish. You can do some damage by applying pressure and rubbing hard.

How can you tell that you've worn through the clear coat?

I think most people use an actual polisher on a drill. So if that doesn't wear through, you must have to rub very very hard and very very long haha

I applied a lot of pressure and rubbed hard but can't tell any difference in any of the areas I did it. Even the swirl marks look exactly the same as everywhere else on the car (where polish has never been applied)