Scratch Remover Test

Shift scuffs and bodywork damage, and protect your car’s value, as we put on test 10 top scratch removers

Auto Express Car Reviews

November 2010

Overgrown country lanes, drives lined with bushes and careless car washes – all can take the shine off your paintwork, and the fine swirls and scratches reduce your model’s resale value. Leave marks  to build up, and you’ll eventually need an expensive respray. But you can minimise the cost by investing in a scratch remover.

Car care firms make a range of solutions designed to ease away marks that can  be seen, but not felt with a fingernail.

We tested 10 to find the smoothest operator.

The Test

These products obviously need to do the job of removing or reducing scratches, but they can’t be too abrasive and strip the lacquer, as this will mean you’ll need to polish the body and could cause long-term damage. We divided a car wing into sections, and dragged a fingernail and plastic ice scraper across it. Next, we brushed a set of keys against it a few times to simulate marks found around a door lock. Then, we put a blob of each paste on to a pad or cloth, following the instructions, and applied it to our wing with limited wiping. Ease of use was important, while value for money was our final factor.

Verdict

Many of our products can be applied with a dual-action polishing machine, but we wanted to shift the marks by hand – and the best was Autoglym’s Paint Renovator, which won our last test in Issue 922. In second was Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound – a super-safe, impressive performer that’s also good value. Our final podium place went to the Poorboy’s World SSR2. It’s not the easiest to use, but made up for it with a strong showing on all three marks.