I just brought home a brand new 2011 Prius base model (it was the dealership's last one...their showroom model...=D)! Unfortunately, I forgot that the hatchback door opens up REAL high and the spoiler kissed my garage door. Now there is this white mark and I was wondering if I can fix it at home? What is the difficulty level? I'm not really a handy-man so don't want to try to fix it and end up making it looking even worse (unless it's super easy to do). The mark is not too too noticeable...it's about the size of a pencil tip. It just happens to be white so stands out slightly against the black. Also, most important, will this small blemish get worse over time and cause the mark to get larger over time (I'm thinking of how a crack can propagate and eventually cause a failure...except this won't be as serious) ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I would try using a Sharpie or other permanent black marker to color over the white blemish. Given how small this is I would guess that doing that type of a quick color-over would make it pretty unnoticeable. If you don't want to try that you could get some black paint that Toyota uses on the Prius line and try that. One issue with paint is that you will be adding material and could make a bump or ridge around the repair area. The third option is to take it to a repair shop and have them do the repair. I would try the marker first and then go from there. Good luck.
It looks fixable. First of all, make sure it's actually a scratch. I know with my old RSX, I kissed some shrubs with the front bumper and thought I had some nasty rash. I used a few drops of Meguire's rubbing compound on a micro fiber cloth and scrub the heck out of it and the scratches were gone. Give that a try! If it's indeed a real scratch to the paint and you're -really- bothered by it (i.e. losing sleep over it), I'd use a touch-up paint pen available at your Toyota dealer or through paintscratch.com followed by a touch-up clear coat pen, and maybe some gratuitous dolup of rubbing compound to even out the touch-up job (once everything is 100% dried, that is). Good luck!
I bought a used 2011 as well and didnt notice some scratches when I bought it. Unfortunately they are fairly noticeable (wish I knew this before I bought it) But I am very happy with the car otherwise. When I got it washed I showed the scratches to someone there and they said nothing could be done because the spoiler is plastic - is this true? Please help
It's hard to judge from the pic, but if it's an isolated chip, it'll be dead-easy to disguise with a dab from a touch-up paint applicator. I've used gloss black lacquer Dupli-Color NS SF 100 with decent results. Use the brush end. Dupli-Color :: Scratch Fix 2n1
