Yellow 2005 ZX3 Hatchback (how to make it look cooler and cover up some scratches)?

[Squishy Crayons]

I have a yellow 2005 Focus ZX3. At first I didn't mind the look of the car but now it's got some bad scratches on the passenger do from scraping against a pole.

Any cheap stickers/decals that I can put on it to make it look nicer/sportier? I'm not looking to spend more than $100

This is basically what it looks like, but the passenger door is all scratched up down the middle. The rear bumper also has scratches on it. I'm trying to get pics of it right now, but this is the best I have so far.

[Sponsor]

[DEMENTED SVTF]

Lol.

[Squishy Crayons]

OK I got some pics. Here are the scratches.







I was thinking of something like this, but was advised against vinyl. Is there a particular reason not to put vinyl stickers on the side?

eBay LINK

[TerryB]

We fix stuff here, not hide it.

[Squishy Crayons]

Yeah I agree, but I live in a little town called Baton Rouge and it's gonna be kinda expensive to get that fixed here. I could always try spray paint + chemicals route but that's not exactly an elegant solution. Honestly, I don't think I can spend more than $100 on it at the moment

[old1030]

Originally Posted by TerryB

We fix stuff here, not hide it.

He speaks the truth.

[zetecDon]

Why cover up something that you are going to have to eventually fix anyways? And adding vinyl does not make it more "sporty" at all. For about another $100 more you can have those scratches resprayed and your problem is resolved a lot better than wasting money on vinyl to cover it.

[iminhell]

Originally Posted by TerryB

We fix stuff here, not hide it.

*wish we could


Looks to me like there was a graphic on the car previously. I can see the outline of large letters, possibly a company car of some sort.


I would say that with a good quality detail much of the scratches can be hidden, or at least dull them so they aren't as visible.
The deep scratches you can't do much for though. You can try some touch-up paint and then wet sand to blend it in / smooth it out. But chances are the touch-up will stick out more than the scratches.

There are quite a few How-To videos on the internet of how to detail a car. Watch a few of them and see if it's something you think you would want to do yourself.
If not, maybe think about hiring someone local to do the work for you. If you find someone who's not a pro but does good work, I'd imagine they'd be willing to do the car for $100 or less.
If you do decide to take it on yourself just make sure you're using quality tools and products. You do not want to damage the paint any further. Finesse and patience are key here.

[Squishy Crayons]

Originally Posted by zetecDon

Why cover up something that you are going to have to eventually fix anyways? And adding vinyl does not make it more "sporty" at all. For about another $100 more you can have those scratches resprayed and your problem is resolved a lot better than wasting money on vinyl to cover it.

I don't know if I'll fix the scratches though, the car's already got about 150k miles so I don't think I'll be reselling it. I'll probably give to my little brother.

As far as making it "sportier", I was thinking of doing that as soon as I got it. It's a nice color, but I was just wondering if some inexpensive black stripes or something would make it look a little better. Not really looking for something showy or gaudy. Now that I scratched it I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. The only thing is I don't know what kind of design/paint choices will make it "sportier."

Originally Posted by iminhell

*wish we could


Looks to me like there was a graphic on the car previously. I can see the outline of large letters, possibly a company car of some sort.


I would say that with a good quality detail much of the scratches can be hidden, or at least dull them so they aren't as visible.
The deep scratches you can't do much for though. You can try some touch-up paint and then wet sand to blend it in / smooth it out. But chances are the touch-up will stick out more than the scratches.

There are quite a few How-To videos on the internet of how to detail a car. Watch a few of them and see if it's something you think you would want to do yourself.
If not, maybe think about hiring someone local to do the work for you. If you find someone who's not a pro but does good work, I'd imagine they'd be willing to do the car for $100 or less.
If you do decide to take it on yourself just make sure you're using quality tools and products. You do not want to damage the paint any further. Finesse and patience are key here.

Thanks for the tips. The outline you see is the price of the car, $3995 from a user car lot. Eventually talked him down to $3200 . I think that will easily come off with a good buff

[Tarmac]

Save your money until you can get it repainted. Otherwise, leave it.


Decals will make it look worse and cheap. I.e. you will be buying something that will decrease the value of your car. Pointless.