bernardomd

Oh boy. I did it this time. I was walking by the wife's car this morning with a couple poles from our volleyball net and i wound up swinging them into her car (a brand new grey 2005 Jetta). When i\I looked at the car I saw and 8" scratch down the driver's side door!!! I panicked and tried to use some gentle rubbing compound to get out the scratch, but this didn't do much since the scratch was fairly through the paint. It did remove the white mark that was left when the paint from the white pole rubbed off on the door. Then I decided to get out the tough compound and this wound up rubbing away the clear coat!!! I tried to wax over the area several times, but you can still see the difference between the rest of the door and the area I compounded. The scratch is still there, but not quite as noticable. I think the bigger problem is the clear coat. Please, please, please help!!! I know this has nothing to do with my C5 Corvette, but if I don't fix this scratch, who knows what she will do!!!

Lancer033

If your wife is out of town for about a week, you're in luck.

If the scratch is down to the primer or worse, you won't be able to fix it right. The whole panel is going to need to be repainted.

boatboatboat

Lucky when you tripped and fell with the pole, you didn't get hurt. I suggest you clutch your knee, and limp into the house and tell her what happened.

Try a power polisher, with a polish, and then 2-3 coats of quality wax.

Humanoid 2.0

Before you make it even worse then you have, take it to a pro at body shop, from what you described it needs to be painted and re-cleared.

SeeFiveOhFun

Forget waxing and polishing. That is nothing more than trying to put a band aid on a shark bite. No offense, but the fact that you would ask what to do for this tells me you are not a 'paint and body shop kinda guy'. So that means take the car to a reputable aforementioned shop or to the dealer. That is your only hope, Obi Wan.

StingR

Sounds to me like your know an *** woppin is coming!

c5BlackBeauty

What would you do if she scratched the Vette? Be honest, let her know what happened and get it fixed. Avoid the drama and all well be okay.

VRROOOM2

Honesty is the ONLY way... Think about it, you're likely more upset at yourself for doing this than she will be that you did it in the first place.

You tried to fix it, it was too deep, so now you have to have it repainted. Haven't you ever purchased a new car that it had a ding or two on it that you had them fix before you picked it up for delivery?

Relax, tell her and get it fixed.

Breathe man, breathe!!!

EdsC6Z06

You're basically F'ed now that you over compounded it. You should have left the scratch. She probably wouldn't have seen it for a while and then who knows where it happened? Fess up and go buy flowers.

JLA

Move...NOW!

Kris072

Try this.. she'll never notice

PS it was nice knowing ya

bernardomd

Lesson #1 - never panic!!!

Yes... I should tell her, but I know I'm going to pay!!! On top of this, we just got into an argument last night about something, so she's in a bad mood today to beging with.

What would I do if things were reversed??? I'm not sure. I think I'd handle it pretty calmly, but you never know. I actually do have a few scratches in the door jam area from her swinging her shoes out carelessly, but I never made a big deal out of this. Of course, my car is not BRAND NEW either.

Dumb, dumb, dumb

Biker Bob

if she hasn't seen it yet maybe she won't notice....... then when she leaves the house follow her and after she parks throw an egg against the door.. she will just think someone egged her car and your off the hook

besides it's just a VW

Rans03

So just go tell her....then post what she says Good luck

VRROOOM2

Oh I LOVE this idea...

YES, YES, YES!! POST what she says... Except for the swear words...

Of course, your neighbor will have to type it for you... after your wife BREAKS your arm!!

We'll be waiting... no pressure...

sailohio

Just tell her "Lok at it this way Honey. It could have been worse. It could have been my Vette."

Rogue Wave

Get in the Vette and leave town as fast as you can.

Tino

Buy her a diamond ring and I can assure you she won't say a word about the scratch. It works all the time ...

bernardomd

OK... Here's the latest... I wanted to get another opinion from someone who could see the car in person, so I called my brother and had him stop over to look at it with me about half an hour ago. It had been overcast all morning, which helped to hide the scratch and haziness, but now the sun is out and you can see it pretty clearly. After looking at it he said "oh brother, you screwed up this time". He also told me that I should just tell her. She actually came outside when we were talking, so we were looking at each other thinking "oh boy... she's going to see it". But she didn't, and he wound up leaving.

Soon after, I decided to tell her the truth. She was still outside and I said "I did something stupid, but I'll make it right". She looked over my shoulder at her car and said "you didn't do something to my car, did you"? I said, "well... yes, but it's not that bad and I'll do whatever I have to to make it right". I explained how I scratched it while moving these poles to get ready to cut the grass. Then we walked over to take a look. She's not a car or paint expert (obviously, neither am I), so I don't think she could tell just how bad it is, but she did see it. I explained that I thought it was just on the surface and that I tried to get it out and made it worse instead. I said I feel so bad, I feel terrible, I can't believe I was that careless, etc. I also said "hey, it's just a VW" (just kidding). She took it fairly well. When I told her I would call the VW dealer on Monday, she said "just write me a check for $1,000 and I'll forget about it".

Whew. She did handle it better than I thought she would. What a tough Saturday morning!!! No more moving large objects around the cars!!! Thanks for all the moral support.

jabez

Run, don't walk to your nearest body shop.

Or tell her you foiled a carjacking but the car didn't fair so well. Get some kinda sympathy.

Or while car is at body shop tell her you got a recall notice and you took it to dealer to get it fix. Might take a week or two.

Or let her find the scratch and freak out together saying " How did that get there"?

Or ...Its a Jetta. Don't worry about it.

Prepare to sign the Divorce Papers.