It's virtually impossible for car owners to avoid the inevitable dings and dents caused by hockey bag zippers, airborne rocks and wayward shopping carts.
Most of the time, the resulting damage is little more than a harmless eyesore. But occasionally, professional repairs are required to prevent more serious problems.
When it comes to scratches, Brad Green, shop manager at Elite and Elite Xpress Body Shops in North Vancouver, advises drivers to determine whether the mark runs deeper than the car's primer, which is usually grey or white.
"If the body colour is gone and you can see grey below, that is generally OK, you could most likely leave that (scratch) long-term because the primer is the actual sealant for the sheet metal," Green says. "However, if that primer's scratched away, you will potentially develop rust."
Once a car has rust, it's tricky to eliminate.
"It's almost impossible to guarantee that rust will never come back," Green says, explaining a car owner might notice a rust recurrence six years or six months after having it removed.
In addition to having deep scratches repaired before they rust, Green also advises car owners to regularly clean the wheel wells, undercarriage and other parts of the car that are not usually visible.
"The more you let dirt build up, the more issues you're going to have in the future," he says.
To treat very minor scratches, Green will polish the blemish with 2000-grit wet sandpaper and apply a clear topcoat. But he says car owners can easily buff out shallow scuffs on their own using a rubbing compound and a bit of elbow grease.
Fixing dents can be simple or complex, depending on the severity of the damage. A smooth, concave dip can likely be popped back out. But if the dent contains a crease or a sharp inverted point, repair is more complicated.
Green tells his customers to envision what happens when you pinch either side of a soda can.
"Just think how hard it is to get that back out of the pop can. You can't just pop it out, because you're left with substantial creases all around the edge and it stretches the metal too," he says.
The labour and cost associated with repairing creased metal causes many car owners to leave their dents unfixed.
"Most of that stuff is superficial or cosmetic; it's pretty rare that a minor dent would affect the overall usability of the vehicle," Green says, but adds that a dent which has changed the shape of the metal around a door or trunk, causing it to open improperly, should be fixed for safety reasons.
Green admits he often talks car owners out of repairing scratches and dents for cosmetic reasons because of the associated expense.
"That may sound counterintuitive when you're running a business, but we're not necessarily here to try and nickel and dime our customers," says Green, noting the cost to repaint just one car panel is about $350. "We just try to give them as many options as we can."
The first ding on a brand new vehicle can be cause for grief, but Green says most car owners soon realize the inevitability of incurring wear and tear.
"It's hard to avoid. Unfortunately that's part of owning a car, unless you put it in a bubble and park it in your garage, it's going to have damage no matter what," he says.
MYTH:
DISHWASHING AND LAUNDRY DETERGENTS MAKE GOOD CAR WASHES.
REALITY:
DETERGENT CAN STRIP OFF A CAR'S WAX FINISH. USE A CAR-WASH LIQUID, WHICH IS FORMULATED TO CLEAN WITHOUT REMOVING WAX.
SOURCE: CONSUMER REPORTS
