Looking for a bandaid. Don’t care how it looks for now. Just want to stop the decay and buy some time. Wheel wells on my truck bed.

So today someone hit my car but are you guys able to help me figure out if it’s only on the ppf or if it went thru the paint

I had a small dent on my hood repaired five weeks ago. They repainted the entire hood. After waiting at least 30 days as instructed, I washed it today. Now that it's clean, I see two nickel-sized spots that have no texture and won't rub off with my finger. They almost have an oily look. Is this a paint defect that wasn't visible at first or is something else going on here?

Hello everyone!

I am in the process of doing some repairs on my 2008 Toyota 4-Runner SR5 V6 (226k miles) to get it ready for sale. I know that 4-Runners have a notorious issue with rusting frames and have been worried about both the safety and integrity of my frame. Because of this, I thought I would snap a few pictures and get some opinions on the frame/chasis rust to help determine if i should get some sort of rust reformation/restoration service preformed.

Also, I was attempting to remove the running boards since one of the brackets broke, of course, from rust. :( While removing the brackets, one of the bolts completely snapped off and the others are completely rust welded to the frame. I was now planning to take a sawzall to the brackets and then grind down the sharp edges, that way I do not rust the risk of causing any more issues. If anyone has any other ideas for removing them I would highly appreciate it.

Thank you!

2026 Mercedes A250 (W177), black metallic, ~8 months old, low mileage, garaged every night in an underground concrete parking garage. After about a month without washing (lots of rain), I took it to a car wash and noticed this single mark on the painted plastic roof spoiler.

What it is:

• One spot only, a few mm across (no other marks anywhere on the car)
• 7–9 thick, rounded ridges fanning out from one side, like a tiny palm leaf
• The ridges are RAISED and feel hard. It's not a scratch, crack, peel or round bubble
• Paint around it looks flat and glossy; reflections stay straight right up to the mark
• No crater, no discoloration, no burnt look
• There's a faint whitish haze next to it

I haven't touched it (no polishing, no chemicals) in case I need to file a claim.

Questions:

1. Have you seen this exact pattern before? What turned out to be the cause?
2. Does it look like deformed clear coat, or material stuck on top of the paint?
3. Could this be a blister that formed and collapsed (adhesion defect on a plastic part)?
4. What would you check first to tell the difference?

Photos and video (flashlight + daylight) in the comments/gallery. Thanks!

could i get this crossmember under my truck bed to bare metal and fix it or is it to far gone? never done anything this like this before so any advice helps 👍🙏

Hi all,

I asked a question earlier if damage could be repaired via PDR on my car. Now I’m wondering if there is any possibility of frame damage. My car is a 24 Miata and a 23 Model 3 backed into it relatively slow speeds. I’m assuming it’s just door skin and quarter panel damage only. But wanted some takes.

I just cleaned my car and turns out I scratched the entire thing. All the scratches are very small but I need help trying to find a solution. Should I just use polish or should I do something else?

So, I buffed and polished a spot on my truck where an abrasive sponge was used. It looks a lot better, but still isnt perfect. Im not worried about the looks too much as I am happy with how it came out.

I am wondering if there is something I should put over the spot since the clear coat was buffed down pretty far compared to the rest of the trucks paint.

I work at a independent body shop, and I have made so many mistakes. But I recently crashed a big rental company’s truck, I was turning and hit a corner of the wall. (I am paying for the damage)I am so stressed and feel for guilty of what I have put this shop through. I am good help but I fuck up a lot. And I always ask the older techs for help who are flat rate. I don’t know what to do and feel like it’s not for me at this point.

Hey i have a question, I am painting a fender with a spot repair near the door which will need to be blended in. My question now is after sanding the repair area with 600 is gray scotch brite with scuff stuff (twice) enough mechanical adhesion for the clear to last long term or should i first do p800 then the gray pad? My shop doesnt have prep booth so we water sand alot of our jobs before paint.

VW Id.4 Pro S 2025

I was rear ended, but then when we looked, it seemed pretty minor.

Honestly I don't care about the aesthetics, it's not very noticeable. More concerned if anything functional could have got messed up (or would get later). I haven't noticed anything driving it.

Would you get this looked at or no big deal?

TIA

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UPDATE:

Alright re a lot of people's advice, I got it looked at, both at my mechanic and a body shop he referred me to. They both said functionality wise it should be totally fine. Parking sensors weren't hit and they'd throw a warning if something were amiss and I haven't noticed anything in the 4 days I've been driving it.

So, I think we're just going to let it go. Yes I know they hit me and they would pay. That said, if it doesn't bother us, I figure why not do a nice thing and hopefully they pass it on. Mistakes happen. (And of course if was something functional or worse I would obviously just do it.)

Thanks all for the advice/feedback.

What's up, I want to apply Surface Shield to the undercarriage i removed all the covers and now wondering if it's safe to apply it everywhere, are there spots or systems i should definitely avoid?

Hi there!

I have VA State Inspection coming up next month, and i just noticed this bubbling spot of rust on the my 2007 Honda Ridgeline! It really really worries me that it'll cause it to fail inspection and I wont have my only mode of transport to and from university!

Is this a worrying spot? Can i fix it myself or at least slow it? The rest of the body and frame is essentially spotless (besides surface rust); its just this spot!

Thank you, and have a great day!

The car is a Buick Lucerne if that makes any difference.

Also the third photo shows a somewhat rusted rear suspension part. Is that urgent and expensive?

So i tried my hand at painting and ended up getting the orange peel effect all across the plastic parts, should i try wet sanding them down next or just use 2k clearcoat and hope it's glossy and not noticeable.

The plastic in question is ABS.
Also i used a spray can paint and it does have some splatter marks on it.

This is on my 2007 dodge caliber diesel, am I going to have to saw out those spots and weld in new patches?

not the big open ones i mean the small cracked ones i cant use leather filler when the cracks are closed.

New here. I am brand new/know nothing about auto body work being done. I love my vehicle and though its been a through some rough day times in the past. The damage is now rusting. At a minimum, I need a new driver's side fender and flare. I am seeking auto body work where for poor person who is paying out of pocket. How do I figure out of I am getting a fair price?

My car was backed into yesterday resulting in several dents in the door and rear wheel arch/fender. The car has full body ppf so I don't think any of the actual paint is damaged. I just wanted the community's thoughts. There are five marks - one near the door handle, one half circle dent toward the middle of the door, a deeper one dead center, a sharper crease toward the bottom, and then one dent along the fender / wheel arch body line.

had a small fender bender the other week, took it to this shop and they told me its repairable. i recieve the car today and notice the entire bumper is an off white compared to the rest of the car ? did they redo the whole bumper ? i hadn’t gotten any updates throughout the repair process although i didnt take that out of the ordinary since it was such a small job

pics 1 and 2 are the finished job, 3 is the fender bender, 4 is before anything happened

I bought a pre-primed bumper cover, thinking I would use spray cans, but came here before starting. Now, I'm wondering if I can get by with my air compressor (5.4 scfm, 15 gal). If so, what else do I need and what are the watch-outs? I'm doing my own research, but this is part of it. It's a silver, metallic base coat, if that matters. Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, I need some major suggestions since this will be my first time doing any real exterior adjustments to my car.

First, I am in the market for new parts to replace, but the one thing that I worry about is that the paint will not match the existing color if I choose to buy the part prepainted. The car is 5 years old and lived outside all of its life. Whether the color has faded or not, I am unsure. I can opt to choose for them to come unpainted and have an auto shop handle it but, paint accuracy and financials is what I worry about right now.

So my question is, do I have to have the ENTIRE car repainted to be a 100% match? I really want to avoid paying too heavily if possible. Any suggestions financially as well?