Scratched day old Fit with garage door - how to fix it?
 

I drove home from the dealer, opened the hatch and it scraped against the metal plate on my overhead garage door. There is a scratch about 3/8" wide, 1/4" high and through all the layers down to bare metal. This is right below the license plate.

It's been so long since I've had a new car, I don't know what to do.

How do I get this fixed so it won't rust?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Body shop.

Pay attention next time.

Touch up paint should keep it from rusting, but won't look too awesome. You can get it from the dealership.

Other option is to repaint the whole hatch, but that's not cheap.

It's too wide and deep to buff out. Sorry about that, good luck.

yah, or touch up paint.

also we talk in metric system here (less diameter of wheels). :D

OK. Touch up paint or body shop. I feel like a dope for letting it happen. I think I will have the body shop apply a bumper protector strip too. I got the car so I could load and unload feed bags, saddles, etc. more easily. Didn't need a full fledged truck and the fit is such a great looking car.

your dealer might have a mobile touchup guy that fix used cars. he will be able to spot putty/sand/spot paint to where it is hidden away at a fraction of the cost of bodyshops repainting the whole gate. might be worth a try.

Touch it up. I've backed into countless objects with the 2012, stumps, large rocks, the side of the barn. Good thing the rear bumpers plastic.

Bumper sticker or badge. No need to repaint -- just hide it!

Perfect for rust!

I have used touch-up paint from the dealer and it worked good. My scrape was low in the Fit, under the license plate similar to your scratch. If you use the touch-up paint don't try to put on in a heavy thick coat. Put it on in several light layers with a day between coats.
A body shop will cost will not be cheap.
Good luck

Sorry to hear this! Hope you can get it fixed so it is not so obvious.

^^^^^^ this is key here. LIGHT COATS, and don't go past the scratch with the touch up paint. If you JUST paint the scratch it will be way less noticeable than painting past it and trying to "hide it".

Don't feel bad if you have to try a few times to get it right. Have a dry paper towel on the ready to instantly wipe the touch up paint off if it goes too far, or it is too thick, air bubble, ect. Be quick with wiping and it won't leave a residue.

Also, if there is a scratch leading up to it be sure to buff/clean the scratch before you touch it up. The paint should be the last step

I feel SO bad for you...all cars eventually get blemishes like door dings, but on day number one and at your own hands? Bummer!

Have you considered talking to your car insurance? Even if you hadn't contacted them about the new purchase yet, most insurance companies I know of give you a grace period when you purchase, during which you are covered, while you wait for your plates to come from DMV. Even though it may risk a rise in your rates, it may be worth it to get the whole hatch painted and done "right."

Unless you have a particularly oblivious insurance company, any claims you make will have a negative impact when your policy renews, plus of course you must pay your deductible in order to get something fixed. Given that the cost of touch up paint is like, who knows, $10 or less? And your deductible is probably $250/500/1000 depending on what you picked. I would say just fix it yourself, realize that at some point you would incur some sort of first dent in your new car, it's unfortunate you have done it to the car yourself in the first week of ownership, but that will just make you more careful in the future. Hardly the worst thing that could happen, even if far from ideal You'll be fine :)

if it makes you feel any better, my less than 10 day old '12 at the time was keyed last week.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/pict...pictureid=6457

Cover it with a fat racing stripe?

shit if it makes u feel better the 3rd day i had my 2012 fit they keyed my 2 drivers doors :( its 18in long : / everytime i open door i gotta see that shit lol then a week after that a old man in anahiem in a m6 brand new no plates as welll love tap my rear bumper i got a min dent : / on the tip coner of my bumper he gave me 200 bucks tho :whoo whoo

betty- you should move to texas and get this to cover up the scratch.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...out-there.html

:rotfl:




btw, on my key'ed scratch, i was able to polish it away. :p

Check your dealer packet some dealers offer discounts new car purchases for maintenance and accessories. If not take it back to the dealer sometimes they will go out of their way to make a new customer happy. A few years back my local Toyota dealer was offering free minor dent and scratch repair in the first month of ownership. I notice this is no longer offer when my wife got her 2012 Camry this year.