4 Wheel Drive/SUVs: removing a scratch from my car, body paint shop, scratch removal

Question
Hopefully you can answer this, or maybe refer me to someone who can--the car wash put a scratch on my driver's side door yesterday.  How can I remove it by myself?  Is there a kit, or some sort of application?

Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Kathleen and thanks for the question.  It depends on how deep the scratch is for the correct answer.  If the scratch is through to bare metal you can go to your local dealer and get "touch-up" paint which will keep the metal from rusting, but to repair it correctly you will need to have the area of the scratch repainted.  There are some companies out there who do this kind of work and will come to your home or work to do so.  However, if you decide to do this investigate the company, and especially the operator, very carefully and ask to see some of the work they have done to other vehicles.  That is the worst case and you might also go to a body/paint shop you know and ask them their opinion even though this will be the most expensive.  If the scratch is not that deep you can go to your local auto parts store and get what is called polishing compound to even up the scratch and then cover that with a good coat of wax.  If you live in a fairly large city there is probably a company there that does auto detailing and you could go to them and ask their advice.  They will use polishing compound with a high speed buffer and then wax the area.  I realize this is a very complicated answer to a simple question but scratch removal is not easy.  If you have further specific questions please let me know.  Best of luck, Bud