Scratched your car? Here's how to fix it with Touch Up

I scraped my Prius against my dad's car as I was backing out of the garage the other day. My mind was busy, my dad's car was parked in an unaccustomed spot, I was late... and <scccrraatch>, it happened.

 

Luckily my dad's car came out unblemished. At first glance, there was a disturbingly large white streak on it, but it was just the paint from my Prius, and the residue came off with a cloth.

But I was super depressed over the scrape on my Prius. I was worried about rusting and the aesthetics. After doing some research (it's great to have engineering colleagues who work with cars), I discovered that the Prius bumper is made of plastic, not metal, so it wouldn't rust. If I did absolutely nothing to the scratches, my Prius would still be ok. What a relief!

As for the aesthetics, I wanted a minimal amount of effort-and-equipment type of fix. A little bottle of touch-up paint was the way to go. You can buy touch-up paint online and at the Toyota car dealer service department. My car's color is "Classic Silver Metallic" and I purchased it from the Toyota service department (TOUCH-UP PAINT, 1F7, P/N 00258001F721) for $14. It's cheaper online.

This bottle is both a pen (roller ball tip) and brush. The roller ball tip dispenses less paint so it's easier to manage. However, I found that it doesn't work as well if the pen is horizontal or angled up because paint doesn't flow to the tip due to gravity.

The sales rep didn't recommend using the brush because it applies too much paint and can get messy. However, the brush is just like a nail polish brush, and I am "steady-hands-Tam," so I found it easier than using the pen horizontally.

Steps:
1) Park your car indoors or in a shaded area - so paint doesn't dry as easily and is more forgiving
2) Clean and wipe down the scratched area
3) To use the pen, first, remove the orange insert.
4) Shake the bottle for 1 minute. When using the pen, the sale rep recommended starting at the outer perimeter and filling into the center.

I switched to the brush applicator for more slanted scratches and applied in a similar manner.
5) Wait to dry for at least 20min. I waited a few hours.
6) Apply the 2nd coat. I just used the brush applicator for this. Sometimes the roller ball tip would scratch through the delicate 1st coat.

Here's the outcome!

The color match is great and at a quick glance, I don't even see the scratches! I'm very happy with the results.