It was crazy windy here about a week ago. My patio umbrella blew out of its base, around my 3 car garage & hit the hood of my car, making a 2 inch by half inch wide nasty scrape right down to the metal.

I'm upset. But will using touch up paint make it look even worse? The wiener who had the car before me used touch up paint on some stone chips, but he used plain white, not pearl & it looks BAD. What was he thinking?

Do I bother with it or leave it til I decide to get the other blemishes taken care of professionally?

If it is down to bare metal, touch it up with something to prevent rust. If you are talking about White Diamond, it is a tri-coat paint and is nearly impossible to touch up (and look good).

Take this from an auto body guy....

Leave it alone, save up some money and repaint the whole thing. If its metal showing, then i would primer it if I were you so you won't get any rust on the car, rust is a killer.

But to get it diamond pearl, good luck, that is one crazy color to mimic and no way can a touch up fix that, just save money and paint the whole thing, you might want to take it to a one day painter, like Maaco or Earl, they do decent stuff, just make sure you do the prep work yourself.

If you're going to send your car to Maaco, you might as well spray paint it, it will look the same and last just as long :) . Believe it or not, you can get touch up paint for white diamond, that will match properly. I would NOT buy it premade in the auto-parts store, I'd have it mixed. You can get this accomplished by contacting a local paints supply store. The paint is much better freshly mixed because for one it's fresh. Second, they will be able to mix a formula specially for touch up. The paint may run you about $20 for a half a pint, but it's definately worth it. I used to own a lincoln that was Berry red, an extremely rare color code. I couldn't find anything at the auto parts store, so I went to a local place called Sidles, and had them custom mix me half a pint. The touch up looks absolutely amazing for only spending $20 on it. Good luck either way you go...

Thanks - maybe I'll go to a dealer & get some factory touch up paint. There is such a thing, correct? As for getting the entire car painted...No. It's like new the way it is. The hood had been repainted 3 months ago due to an accident. But I also notice my fuel door is a different color. A very subtle difference, but I can tell.

Thanks for the advice!

Lesley.....Save your bucks for a while and have a GOOD shop computer match and repaint the hood and fuel door. You'll never be happy otherwise..........(Observation: From your various posts, I would suggest you latch onto a car person who can help you with your seemingly endless Cadillac problems. If you believe these threads and replies can supply more than the most basic of steering directions, you're doomed to spend a lot of time and money playing Ricochet Rabbit. Educated advice....take it for what it's worth...)

Lesley.....Save your bucks for a while and have a GOOD shop computer match and repaint the hood and fuel door. You'll never be happy otherwise..........(Observation: From your various posts, I would suggest you latch onto a car person who can help you with your seemingly endless Cadillac problems. If you believe these threads and replies can supply more than the most basic of steering directions, you're doomed to spend a lot of time and money playing Ricochet Rabbit. Educated advice....take it for what it's worth...)


Advice taken. :)

If it was storm damage, you might look into the possibilty of having the insurance repair it for you. If you have a low deductable.