Unsightly scratches to your pride and joy are a sad inevitability of taking your car onto the open road. Many scratches can be dealt with during your cleaning regime. Before you deal with a scratch to your paint work you need to assess how deep the scratch goes. The cars finish comprises a primer, coloured paint layer and a clear coat. Minor scratches to the clear coat will generally polish out with a resin polish. Deeper scratches into the coloured paint layer can be polished out as well but you’ll probably need to use a cutting compound. This should be done with care to avoid inadvertently damaging the finish further, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
For deeper scratches that penetrate into the primer or down to the metal, polishing is no longer going to be effective. If left, rusting may occur and you may need a costly professional repair. Scratches in the primer should be thoroughly cleaned and painted with the appropriate touch up paint. Polish when the touch up has hardened (at least a week). Deeper scratches will need a coat of primer before touching up.