Whether it’s suffered at the hands of a careless person in your supermarket car park, a coat zip has scraped down the side of the door, or you’ve had to tuck in a bit tight on a narrow country road, scratches happen.
It doesn’t make the fact any less annoying, of course. You may only notice the scratches after cleaning, or unfortunately they may be a little more obvious than that. You don’t have to run straight to the body shop, though. There are plenty of products available on the market to use at home that are simple to use, and effective.
We’ve been looking at the best car scratch removers on the market. Some are specific scratch removers, while others are polishes that are also claimed to remove scratches. After testing the products on a range of issues, from tiny, almost unnoticeable (but not to us!) marks, to some larger and deeper scratches courtesy of a tree branch in Devon, we evaluated how well they had performed, and considered price as a factor.
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BEST BUY: Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Color & Clarity Restorer
Price £13.99
What’s included 450ml
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Although Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound product is a polish rather than specifically a scratch remover, it did a great job on our scratches, swirls and blemishes. We had quite a noticeable tree branch scratch but the Ultimate Compound has all but completely removed it. On smaller or medium scratches, it also works very well. It’s in the middle in terms of price, so is great value for money. It’s also a great polish: it goes on easily, can be buffed to a lovely finish, and lasted a few weeks. Versatile and useful for more than one thing, it’s an excellent product.
Autocar says 5 stars
RECOMMENDED: AutoGlym Scratch Removal Complete Kit
Price £20.98
What’s included 100ml Scratch Remover, 100ml Super Resin Polish, Hi-Tech finishing cloth, scratch removal applicator
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AutoGlym’s Scratch Removal Complete Kit does what it says on the tin, coming with everything you need to remove pesky scratches, while not having to buy anything else. The box contains: 100ml Scratch Remover, 100ml Super Resin Polish, a Hi-Tech finishing cloth and a scratch removal applicator. We reckon it would make a good present for friends or family, although they may not appreciate the sentiment behind it. We found it helped to reduce how visible larger scuffs were, but due to the size of the products, wouldn’t be suitable for massive scratches. Used to spot-treat smaller scratches, it worked very well. After using, finish with the Super Resin Polish for a great shine.
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Megulars has a specific scratch remover.
Meguiar's G10307EU ScratchX Car Paint Scratch Remover 207ml, Fine scratch, swirl and paint blemish remover. Now with wax protection
Why didn't that fair in the test?