GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I had decided my car had too many scratches and dings on it, and that I would tackle the task of touching them up.After getting automotive paint on my hands and jeans, I got all the scratches and dings painted over. They would lok great......except that they don't blend in with the rest of the paint.I know that I got the right color, but it just looks awful.It's the same color, but it's not got the depth of color or shine to it.It's very obvious.I think I was better off with scratches and fear that I've made a terrible decision that I'll now have to live with for several years.I'm half considering a trip to Earl Schieb.I've tried everything I can thing of. Is there some way to repair or undo the "fixing" of my Vibe's scratches?

What brand of touch up paint did you get? If you got the exact match color and type of paint, then it may be the basecoat only. Most touch up paints are an enamel so that you don't have to clearcoat over them. That is probably why the repaired areas don't look right. The basecoat is just to put color on the car. The clearcoat makes it shiny, gives it depth and protection. If you have the basecoat only as a touch up paint, then you may be able to make it look better by getting a touch up bottle of clearcoat and go over the repaired areas that don't look quite right.

Dupli-Color. I thought it had the clearcoat built in, but it's looking like maybe it doesn't.I'll have to wander over to the auto parts store and pick up some clearcoat....hopefully that'll help.Thanks : )

What colour is your car?

If you are completely unsatisfied, you can take away some of the obviousness (for lack of a better word) by running a very wet (with compound) buffer over the touch ups. It will level out the paint and maybe even give a little shine to the touch up paint. Just a thought.

That's a good idea too.Next time though...I think I just learn to love the scratches.

Vibe is Salsa.Which would help explain why the paint looks worse in 18 months than that of the Ford Escort I had for 6 years.Thinking of renaming the car "Chips-n-Salsa"