To ask folks who know about cars what to do about this scratch! Help! [+ pic]

[SratchyMcScratch]

I'm literally crying at my own stupidity right now: I was pulling out of my driveway (tight space next to a brick wall) when I managed to scratch the front of my car pretty badly (see attached photo* - the wall got a good scrape too). I'm fairly new to driving and know very little about cars, only that repairing them costs a fortune 😖Am absolutely gutted as I was already worried about how the hell I'm going to afford Christmas, and now this.

Looking at the damage, can anyone with superior car knowledge advise on whether this is something I can try to polish up myself (and if so, how/what to use), or whether a trip to the garage is essential? I'm guessing it'll go rusty and cause worse damage if I leave it? Any guidance hugely appreciated!

*(The black scribble is to obscure an identifying reflection, in case anyone's wondering!)

The brown bits are brick (!) rather than rust. The car is 12-13 years old (was second hand when I got it a few years ago). Realistically I won't be able to afford another car for the foreseeable future so I want to look after it, but not too bothered about its appearance, so I'll try and find a quote for 'smart vehicle repair' and perhaps try the pen if it's too costly. Thank you!

If its not dented and the car isn't super new I'd try to T-cut it with a cheap kit, the result is often better than you'd think

I wouldn't use a smart repair unless your car isn't worth much, or you don't think you'll ever sell it. Whilst they are very good at certain things, you will see the difference in the old and new paint in a relatively short space of time.

An alternative option is to find your local second hand car dealer, and ask them if they could give you the number of the bodywork person they use. Almost guaranteed that they will know one. Go and see them and find out if they'll do you a cash deal. You'll get a much better job.

I did this when someone smashed the mirror of my van. I got a new one sprayed up for £60 and the match is perfect.

Thanks @HappiestSleeping - it's actually due a service soon so I'll ask the garage about bodywork contacts. £60 or thereabouts would be amazing - I was picturing hundreds!
@Dotto I had to google what T-cut was! Will def look into this too, thank you.

£60 was for my wing mirror. I suspect you will be looking at a good few hundred unfortunately.

They'll have to rub it down, fill any dents, apply primer, rub it down again, paint it, lacquer it. It's the labour that costs the money as it is time consuming. My finger in the air for your damage would be somewhere between £300 and £500.

I have used ChipsAway before for scrapes and they were quite good all round

@HappiestSleeping Gah, I think my brain optimistically skipped over the wing mirror bit... yes, that's the sort of cost I feared. I could absolutely kick myself for being so stupid!

Thanks for this suggestion @TyneTeas - I've added ChipsAway to my list of people to contact!

Give it a good wash with fairy liquid first so you can really see what the damage is like. Some of that is going to rub off.

Then I would personally wait for you service and see what they say. Hope it's not too much.

It might be worth asking a good car detailer first. They can remove smaller scratches and have machine polishers, as well as just wash/clean cars. The one I use is a miracle worker.

As it is from you scraping a wall and not someone else’s car you have a few options.
I would start with a good wash, then t-cut and polish.
If it’s not down to the metal and you’re not precious about your car you can probably leave it at that until you can afford a repair.
Other option, again only if your not precious about it, wash it nip down to Halfords and get a touch up pen (small tube of paint in colour for your car) or spray can and spray paint into lid then use a brush and fill it in, it’s no more difficult than filling in chips in nail varnish. I’ve done it loads of times over the years especially on alloy wheels.
You’ll get a better paint match if you use the paint code and order from the manufacturer.
edit to add - don’t polish by hand use a drill attachment. There’s some really good stuff around for minor repairs. I think I’ve used G3 but I might have made that up it’s in black packaging.

DH repaired our car with scratches very similar to that, he is out currently so will ask him later what he used. It was a type of paint and then sanding and buffing it did take hours. Our mates son in law is a body shop mechanic he said from a pic mate took £300 and that was as a favour.

For goodness sake, never put fairy liquid near a car. It strips the paint.

Wash with car shampoo only.

My car is he same age and now a matte black colour. I do similar last year on a rusty bollard at work. I polished it best I could and then just spray painted it! It actually worked quite well but only recommended if you intend to run the car until the bitter end like I will. I’ll see if I can find any photos

How old/valuable is your car? If it’s an older car with not much resale value diy is fine.

If there’s more value on it get a detailer to have a look. Very impressed with what a guy locally did for our car - big dent and scratch and it looks good as new.

Maybe I'm in a minority here but honestly if the car functions I would forget it. I don't understand why you would cry over a scratched car? It only costs money if you choose to repair it?
My car has various scrapes and I never give it a thought. Ok it might slightly affect the value if I sell it but I just don't care about cars.

Ok, so this is mine from July 2023. Rubbed it down and spray painted with normal black spray paint (old car, no value but it did look terrible!) second photo is now, so 16 months later. It helps that my paintwork is so dull though 😂😂

Well it's worked fine in the past for scratches on my car.

I wouldn't bother repairing it on my car, but then I never plan on selling in and it's covered in minor scratches from driving down narrow country lanes, plus a dent where someone drove into me and didn't leave a note.

It's a very, very superficial scratch - you could wash the car and use T-Cut if it really bothers you, but I certainly wouldn't be paying money for it to be fixed unless it was a lease or I was planning to sell.

Doesn’t mean it doesn’t damage your paint.

Its a bit of metal, does it matter?

It matters to lots of people - keeping my car nice matters to me.
Just because you don’t think it’s important doesn’t mean nobody else can.
It isn’t a reflection on character or priorities or morals or anything.

Thank you all so much, I'm really grateful for these helpful replies - it seems there are various levels of addressing the problem so I'll start by giving it a careful clean tomorrow and look into ways of fixing it up a bit at home, then get a couple of quotes if that doesn't look like it'll cut it. If I can spend <£200 I can just about take the hit without ruining Christmas, but it couldn't really have come at a worse time (hence the crying!) so am hoping the damage is relatively superficial. I doubt the car's resale value is high anyway and I'm not fussed about its appearance, I just need it to keep working well for the next few years and not turn into a rust bucket!

Just give it a wipe over and worry about it later , once you give it a wipe it will already look at lot better . I’ve got scrapes on both sides at the front of my car (72 reg) both done by other people in car parks , it’s annoying but really not worth getting excited about . My husband will get round to dealing with them at some point . Neither person bothered to leave a note at least you know what did yours .

I don’t think it looks bad enough to cause long term damage but a wash and regular polishing will help protect the metal from rusting if that is your main concern.