How I fixed my keyed car door myself - steps that actually worked

Had the same sick feeling a few winters ago when I came out of a hardware store and found a long gouge down the driver's door of my F-150. Mine was deeper than a clear coat issue, the primer was showing in spots, so the compound trick wasn't going to cut it for me. I bought a touch-up pen matched to the paint code on the door jamb sticker, which was maybe fifteen bucks, and did a couple of thin layers, letting each one dry overnight before the next. The repair is not invisible if you get close, but from a few feet away you honestly cannot tell. The biggest mistake I made at first was slapping on one thick blob, which leveled badly and left a raised ridge I had to sand back down with fine paper and re-do. Thin coats, patience, done.

One thing I would add for anyone in this spot, take photos of the damage right away and check if the lot has cameras. I filed a police report mostly for the paper trail, and when I later traded the truck in, having that report helped explain the repair on the car history so it didn't get painted as something sketchier. Worth ten minutes of your time before you start fixing anything.

If it turns out the scratches are just in the clear, don't stop at compound. I've done this on three of my own cars now, and on my old Civic I finished with a light wet sand at 2000 grit before the polish step and the panels came out looking factory. Work by feel more than sight, keep the paper wet, and wipe it down between passes so you can actually see where you're at. Also worth checking your insurance before you spend anything, a full side key job on a fresh purchase sometimes counts as vandalism under comprehensive, and I've seen claims approved for way less damage than that.

Something I learned when my old wagon got keyed outside my office: a scratch almost always looks shallower than it really is untill you view it with light raking across the panel at a low angle, so before deciding on any repair, move the car so the sun or a shop lamp grazes the surface, because overhead shade hides the true depth completley. Mine turned out to run through both doors on one side, and since the paint had faded unevenly over the years, repainting a single door would have left a visible mismatch, so the shop blended across both panels. Is one side of yours worse than the other, or roughly even?

Update: moved the car this morning so the low sun hit the doors at an angle like one reply suggested, and wow, the scratches look way worse raking across like that. A couple spots might even be into the primer. So before I try the wet sand and polish route, how do you tell when you've sanded enugh without going through the clear on the good spots?