touch-up or do i take it to the paint shop?

[MP3Architect]

alright so what should i do in this situation? my neighborhood has always been pretty nice until the last few months when we've had several new families move in all with like 10 kids each. i love kids but not around my car. anyways the day before i left for outa town some kids scrathed my car as well as my neighbors and the house next to his. I was pissed but had 0 time to do anything as i was throwing everything i needed into a bag and leaving for over a month. when i got back i talked to my neighbor and he has an idea which kids he thinks were responsible he doesn't know for sure. he asked around and threatened some of the kids but got nothing out of it. my plan was jsut to kill them. all of them. every kid on the block. i was that pissed. anyways......im over it now and just want it fixed. do you guys think that i can use touch up paint on some or all of these scratches or will i need to take it into a shop to get painted? im picking up my hood tomorrow and i plan on asking how much to fix it. i think i might be able to use the touch-up + buffering to get the small scratches out but there are 4 DEEP scratches where the paint is just gone.
and the scratches are white from when i waxed the car a month back never got all the wax out of them.

btw the huge white spot above the sidemarker isn't a scratch. its just reflection of something

 

[patmaz]

i think you can buff the smaller ones,but for the bigger ones,you wont be able to do a nice job just by buffing with touch up paint applied,i think the best would be to take it to auto body shop to see what they say,they might be able to fix it just by little spot,or to paint the side of the car,damn i know what you feel right now,2 years ago,a kid scratch my back left fender with is bicycle,about 8 inchs long and the car is black,i had to repaint it by mazda s body shop,they did not sand it to the metal,just took of the clear coat,water sand the paint,and spray it back like new,i am really happy,you dont see any difference...it cost me 250$ for 1 fender....


good luck man...

 

[Laser03pro]

If it went through to the primer which it looks like it did it wont buff out so I say just Kill them! lol

 

[Prodigy]

Take it to the paint shop and stick a copy of the bill in the mailbox of each of the kid's parents houses.

 

[julius77]

I had the similiar problem with my car. Ended up posting a "Need body work done" on www.craigslist.com . Had 7 responses to the add within 3 days. Bottom line I got a great deal and the car looks great. Better than I thought. I love craigslist.

 

[un4gtbl]

Ya dontcha just love the little darlins? You have no idea how annoyed i am when kids are near my car, and then to make it worse the parents say "they're just kids dont worry about it" ya ya ya we will see who worries about it when there is damage done...

 

[protojason]

Bummer about the scratches.

I found this link while I was crusing autopia.org, maybe if your a do it yourselfer it might be helpful. Note, I have never tried this but am considering trying to fix some stone chips on the hood.

Heres the link: http://site.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=27

PS. My last attempt at touch up paint on my rear bumper under the hatch looks like crap. Hopefully this will turn out better..

Jason

 

[JOMO]

Just wait and see which kids play around the cars. Maybe you can find the kids who are responsible and talk to the parents. Just an Idea.