Scratch Repair

Wouldn't advise using the touch-up pen.You won't get good results.

Barry

Agreed... might as well use nail polish.

What do you guys recommend? Whats the problem with the touch-up paint?

If that's the touch pen that has a tip like a magic marker, don't use it, it's a piece of crap. Barry

We used touch up paint on our 96 4Runner, not a pen but the bottle with a brush. I opted to use a fine bristle artists brush over the included cheap-ass nail polish brush to apply the paint, so it would look less like a kid did it and fill only the scratches and rock chips. I cleaned the areas carefully with a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab after giving the entire truck a good bath, then applied the paint.

The problem with touch up paints is that it doesn't look "brand new"- it can be a little blobby if you're not extremely steady-handed putting it on (oo, big deal, not everyone's worried about a dent or blemish) and the touch-up paint has a tendency to wear off over time, sometimes within a couple of washes. It won't always match color perfectly either.

The only reason we messed with it was because we don't want premature rust, and this seemed a good idea until we're ready to completely re-paint the beast. Right now it looks pretty great (when clean) and the few scratches or chips are relatively unnoticeable. The artist brush allowed me to keep the paint IN the nicks without a lot of globbed paint on the edges. Someone had used a touch-up paint on our car before we bought it, and it looks horrible- probably worse than the scratches did without anything on them.

Check out

Nothing's wrong with it that this stuff can't fix:

Not to be nit-picky, but this sounds like a rip, and possibly paint damaging. Might be just as easy to fill in the chips with a careful touch, layering as necessary to build it up to the level of the rest, and running a bit of scrap windshield wiper (or other flexible rubber squeegee-like material) over the paint surface each application to clean up the excess. Heck I bet even the edge of an index card would work just fine.

How does it 'soften' the blob? Acetone? Acetone (hardware store, $5) will thin, soften, or remove nail polishes and touch-up paints and won't really "harm" your original paint (but it will at least strip every last bit of wax off, making it great for getting down to the actual surface of the vehicle to apply trims.) Alrighty. But does the blob-smoothing-chemical change the touch-up-paint in any way, like make it more susceptible to fading or flaking off?

And then you use their special tool to smooth it out? But they have you supply your own fabric to wrap around the "buffing card"? What's this card, just a flexible piece of plastic, possibly with a handle? Nail buffing block ($2 beauty supply store) or a rubber backed sandpaper holder, wrap a rag around it and there ya go. Smells like a worthless gimmick.

looked at the page... they sell a "fine-tipped brush" on there for $4.95... i wonder if it cost them more than 5 cents. And .5 oz of primer for $5.95?? .5 oz of clearcoat for $5.95??? That's a bit much for me..

"Ripppppp Off" Barry/Austin

Touch up pen + langka = good results.

One thing I do differently than the instructions: I don't let the touch-up paint completely dry and you don't have to buff as much. Practice on some less-noticeable areas first to perfect your technique.

Take THAT, naysayers!

Like I said the first time, Lanka works. Believe it or don't.