Oh No! I just scratched my new car!

[Boongie]

So I was carrying a package with my car keys in my hand and opened the rear door, not realizing the key made contact with the door. I just got the car, a 2016 Subaru Outback in carbide gray metallic, a few weeks ago. Now I have a scratch, about 3/8" long, just above the rear door handle. I can get my fingernail to catch the scratch, but not deeply. What are my best options to deal with the scratch? I was thinking of the following:

1. Ignore it. This is a bit difficult for me, as I have only had the Outback for 3 weeks.
2. Try the Langka paint repair kit with Subaru touch up paint.
3. Take it to a body shop and see if a light compound can remove it or let them try to touch it up.

I don`t want to have a body shop sand and re-spray the door. And if I can just barely catch my fingernail in the scratch, is a compound not the answer either? Pictures below show the scratch and a close-up of it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

http://www.autopia.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31065&stc=1http://www.autopia.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31066&stc=1

[Don]

Before I would panic, I would try some polish (ScratchX, Ult Compound or similar product) to lighten the scratch to see if you can get it to go away, or AT LEAST make it less visible since you said you could catch it with your nail.

[tom p.]

Yeah, I`d agree...a little bit of polish is likely to make that disappear entirely, Boongie.

[rwright]

The first scratch or ding is always the worst one! Doesn`t look too bad so I wouldn`t stress much.

[Boongie]

Thanks for the suggestions. That first scratch is tough to swallow. In regards to a product like Scratch X, I thought that the rule of thumb was that if you could catch your fingernail in the scratch that meant a compound would not be the solution. But I will try it first before touch up paint and Langka.

[PA DETAILER]

SCRATCH X Will take that right out. Done.

[Migue]

Whatever you do, don`t take it to a body shop,not even for them to run a machine over it. You can do it yourself at home, even if you haven`t before, because knowing you care a lot tells me you`ll approach this carefully and it`ll give you the confidence to repair all the scratches , chips and annoyances you`ll get all over your paint down the road.

It`s only a matter of time before you start finding more stuff, I almost always do every time I clean one of my cars that gets driven daily .

Don`t chase every imperfection because you will drive yourself crazy.

[Accumulator]

Even if it`s too deep for safe/complete removal, just making it significantly better might be good enough if you can stifle your Inner Autopian ;)

If I were to do a touchup on it (and I almost certainly wouldn`t bother), I`d probably just do a little clear and then level that with the langka. Eh, I`d be leery of opening a real can-o`-worms, so a "real touchup" or aggressive attempts at correction would *not* be on my agenda, so I`m back to just rounding it off a little bit and living with it.

[JBM]

Blue sharpie.