Surviving a Scratch
the first thing to do is to determine if the insult to your car's shiny exterior is actually a scratch. Then decide on the proper course of treatment.
Deciding whether It's a Scratch or a Scuff
Place your fingernail on the surface of the car. Don't bear down, but slide the fingernail perpendicularly across the presumed scratch. If your fingernail doesn't catch, it isn't a scratch, it is a scuff-whatever collided with your car didn't penetrate the clear coat all the way to the car's painted surface. You should be able to buff out the scuff with a lamb's wool buffing pad designed to fit on the end of an electric buffer. With care and patience, a buffing pad on the business end of an electric drill will work, too, but you'll have to be more careful.
If the abrasion is a smudge and you choose to buff it out, be certain not to press down hard on the spinning lamb's wool pad while holding it in one place, or you may burn the car's finish.
If your fingernail catches when you run it across the blemish, it's a scratch. If it is just a scuff, you'll feel a roughness, but you will not feel an exact line.
There are three ways to repair a scratch.
First touching up the scratch yourself
The least expensive way is to do the job yourself. This does not necessarily mean that the job will be done poorly, but there is an art to scratch repair. If you grew up painting intricate models, or if you simply have the knack, your efforts may yield a fine result.
Second way is going to A detailer.
Third, taking your car to a body shop.