Best way to conceal this deep scratch?

Around 6 months ago I put in this scratch in an underground parking garage while backing in (lesson learned). There was some exposed pipe with with some duct tape wrapped on it as a cushion and I didn't even know I grazed it until I got out.

Waited until winter was over to contemplate options but the key for me is not making it look worse or removing more original paint than I need do. All the detailers I spoke to said they couldn't do anything to blend it in as the scratch is too deep.

I have consulted some bodyshops and scuff repair places as well and the option seem to be;

1) Full respray of spoiler, $500-600~. Want to avoid this as who knows how well that will match the original paint or if it hold up over time but in theory this would be the only way to get rid of the chip/scratch completely and professionally.

2) Scuff place said they could fill it, paint it and blend it in, $200. Again, wary of how that will look after a few years of the sun beating down on the area they work on.

3) Have my Toyota paint pen, $20. A detailer suggested I use a toothpick to just dab it after sanding down the scuffed edges. Super cheap but I am afraid of doing an amateur job that might make it worse.

4) do nothing, usually my go-to option given it's only plastic. I have already found a bunch of other rock chips and scratches but knowing this is one I put in myself makes me unable to unsee it. Truck as 7000km on it still so still want to maintain a decent appearance for at least another 20K km.

Any thoughts, advice or experience with this kind of thing?

 

It's hard to tell from the picture. Where on the vehicle is the scratch?

 

It appears to be on the top of the spoiler from what I can see. Looks like the back of the roof rack just past the scratch.

OP, leave it or use the paint pen. No one will see the scratch. Any of the other options seem a little crazy for it. The first few dents/dings/scratches make the next few a lot easier to get over.

 

For an interesting look, you could try using black plasti-dip. I plasti-dipped the valences on my bumpers, and it looks great. If it ever gets scratched, touch it up or peel it up. Check the link to my build page for how I did it.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/cowboys-first-4runner-and-chronicle-of-mods-upgrades.18688/

 

yeah it's the edge of the hatch lid spoiler, honestly never seen that piece platidipped before, not sure how it would look.

 

I agree with the others, a picture farther out would have been a help.

I’d just get touch up paint at the auto parts store and call it good.

If you spend $200-500 getting it “professionally” fixed, in two months you’ll have another ding.

Forever chasing your tail. Karma

 

I agree with @Jareds Toyota ... Leave it or use paint pen. All other options could end up down the road being worse than what you have now.

I’d get out my reading glasses and use a drop from a paint pen and kinda smear the paint around with a super small, fine tipped brush. Multiple very thin layers with ample drying time in between coats.

 

Since not metal and hard to see I wouldn’t obsess over it. But if you want to attempt it yourself, find a Utube with professional doing it. I saw a guy fix 12 rock chips on the hood of a Ferarri. He put tape around the spot with about 1/4” beyond the scratch. He sanded the chip with 2500 grit sandpaper. The sanded area looked like it was cloudy compared to the factory paint/clear coat. He cleaned with alcohol. He then put multiple layers of touch-up paint on scratch, letting it dry 30 minutes between applications. Then followed up with clear coat touch-up paint. When about 4 coats were applied, the paint applied was thicker than the crevice (scratch) before he started. He then used the same sandpaper to remove the raised edges of crevice , even with factory paint. He then removed the tape. Then he bugged it with mild polishing compound to blend away the cloudy (sanded) area. When done you could NOT tell where it was. Being plastic vs metal, I would do this myself and I am normally squeamish about screwing up touch-up attempts.https://youtu.be/4f9zqVbcZDQ

 

BTW: If you have never dealt with very fine sandpaper, don’t let it scare you. I have some 1500 grit 3M foam backed sandpaper. I had a tool mark scratch on the countersunk muzzle of a Remington 700 5R 300 Win Mag rifle. I used a drill (vs orbital sander) and this 1500 grit sandpaper and polished the scratch out completely. Furthermore it left an extremely bright , mirror polished finish like I never expected. My main point is our first thought about sandpaper is “no way”. This stuff is so fine you can’t hardly feel any abrasive. It’s polishing instead of sanding.

 

Even your "amateur job" with a paint pen will look way better than the scratch. If you think you did a terrible job and it bothers you, you could always take the next step having someone do one of the repair options you mentioned. BUT I would never paint over factory paint on 99.99% of a panel to fix a tiny blemish!

 

I am the opposite type of dude I am OCD on finishes. I’d probably have it fixed depending on how much it bothers you. I have had some areas of cars fixed then have the painter touch up minor spots with fresh paint since it’s mixed.

In reality it’s plastic and won’t rust obviously it’s what helps you sleep at night. Personally getting any body work done for $500 seems reasonable.

I have an Acura that I dinged the rear door on and wheel well. I was stupid rushing backing out my Explorer of garage and Acura was outide of next spot in garage. Anyway it was windy and I had some covers and sheets outside that started blowing and I thought I put Explorer in park and did not. I got out as Explorer kept going in reverse with door open hit Acura. Luckily I jumped in and stopped it before it hit my house.

The old Explorer door was so heavy it only had a small paint chip. Love the old school heavy doors and panels.

I used a paint less dent removal on Acura door then had the inner rear fender well Resprayed where paint was missing. I could have put touch up on it but the car only has 20k miles and pristine.

My lesson learned is don’t rush and now I always double check the gear shift. Modern cars today I don’t think will move if in gear and door open. I know the 4R won’t I tested that before buying lol.

 

thanks for the replies guys, agree the pictures could have been better, maybe this helps give a sense of the size relative to the paint pen.

Thinking on it now I agree the nuclear option of respraying the whole piece seems a bit insane given the size. I just don't want to mess around with sanding and polishing. Maybe I will dab some paint on it, wipe the excess and call it a day.

 

I'd clean up the scratch to make the area as smooth as possible and apply a small piece of color match wrap. My wife's week old Lexus was a victim of a parking lot incursion while the car was parked and we were shopping. The area impacted was the corner of the rear bumper, about a 4" x 4" area where there was a significant abrasion and some of the paint removed down to the black plastic underneath. After a lot of research on different methods I decided to go the color match wrap (https://www.colorxlabs.com/) route and couldn't be happier. That incident occurred in 2018, the wrap is holding strong and no one notices unless I point it out. In hind sight the only thing I would have done differently was find some to fill in the area where the paint was removed so the deeper areas of the scratch were not as apparent through the vinyl patch.

Here is a before and after:

 

That vinyl patch idea seems very cool. I would think that might like Xpel and resist future chips as well

 

If your only chip is where that pen is then yeah I would not respray. I have also had success using the back of a match stick to apply touch up paint versus the pen or brush. Try it a few times see how it looks before drying. That touch up paint will wipe right off within a minute or so if not in the sun.