Car owners are always eager to try out quick-fix auto detailing products, especially when it comes to repairing cosmetic defects such as car paint scratches. Car scratch repair pens claim to offer a quick and effective repair job but do they really work as advertised? Let’s evaluate these products against the traditional method of removing clear coat scratches by sanding and buffing.
What Are Car Scratch Repair Pens?
Car scratch repair pens are applicators that are filled with clear coat resin. This is basically the same resin that forms the outer layer of car paint. They claim to give professional results in a few easy steps; fill the scratch with clear coat, let the area dry, then buff or polish the surface. There are many brands such as Turtle Wax Scratch Repair Pen, Simoniz Fix it Pro Clear Coat Scratch Repair Pen and DuPont Pro Fusion Color. These pens cost around $10.
What Do the Advertisements Claim?
All car scratch repair pens are marketed as an effective, easy and inexpensive remedy for clear coat scratches. Supposedly, they should also work on all car paint colors. Both Turtle Wax and Simoniz pens contain a colorless pigment. Meanwhile, one can purchase the DuPont pen in a variety of colors such as red, blue, silver, black and white. The professional results provided by these pens, they say, will save you from a very costly bill at an auto body shop. But do car scratch repair pens really live up to these claims?
Do These Pens Work?
Using car scratch repair pens is not very easy when it comes to achieving precision. This is so because evenly filling up a scratch takes a steady hand and experience. Also, the width of the tip of the pen should be the right size. Because there is a good chance that the scratches you are dealing with are smaller than the pen tip, there will always be excess product that you need to buff. Also, the results are not very invisible as the advertisements claim. In fact, they can accentuate the scratch and make the area look messy.
These pens will not work for scratches that have penetrated the clear coat and gone down to the primer. Because the instructions do not specifically state this, it can create some confusion among the consumers. Repairing a deep scratch should always be done by a professional auto detailer who will sand the scratch, buff it and repaint the area if necessary.
Is There a Better Alternative?
If you are still on the lookout for a DIY car scratch repair method, then products such as Nu Finish Scratch Doctor and QUIXX High Performance Scratch Remover will deliver great results for a dollar or two more. They will hide/remove the scratches as opposed to the visible repair offered by car scratch repair pens. You will save yourself the trouble of having to buff the scratches later to remove imperfections. The traditional method of wet sanding a scratch is a very aggressive method, so unless you have experience doing it, we recommend you seek the help of a professional service.
Car scratch repair pens do not live up to the claims of the manufacturers. So, as mentioned above, you can get better results from a different scratch removal product.
For a professional car scratch repair service check out DetailXPerts’ convenient locations.
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