[Schwartz]

Today marks one week of Malibu ownership and already tragedy strikes!

Before we could stop him my 18 month old ran up to the Malibu with a rock and proceeded to pretend he was writing on the door with a ROCK! By the time we got to him which was pretty darn quick he put two scratches in the door. I wanted to cry.

Now they are just there jabbing at my eyes every time I look at it. I don't think they are very deep because I can barely feel them but enough to show up. I have seen Meguiar's Scratch X and Nu Finish Scratch Doctor but am unsure if I should try one of these products as I don't want to mess things up any worse than they are. What would you guys recommend to try and get the scratches out?

 

[jaymista]

I have a friend whose little boy took the rock and drew a line all around his Grand Am, at least twice if not three times. He had to get the entire car repainted! Don't feel so bad ... just make sure the paint shop has paint that matches your car.

 

[Amge63]

I use scratch X regularly on my cars. It won't mess it up. Although it's only temporary and it only does well on fine scratches - you can still see the deeper ones. You'd have to reapply after every car wash to keep it up.

 

[dsrtdukone]

This may sound silly, but I think I'd fork out the money to have it repainted. Chances are there has been little or no fading of the factory paint. The factory (Dupont I'm assuming) basecoat color code should match it perfectly. If the scratches are isolated to one panel (ie. door or fender), then you could get off pretty cheap.

 

[Malibooboo]

In the first few weeks of my Grand Am ownership back in 1999, I was at a family picnic at my sis-in-law's house. She has a really long stone driveway, and I parked far out and away from everyone else. During the picnic I walked around the side of the house to see some kids throwing stones at my car. I checked for damage and there were a couple tiny pock marks in the paint. My brother-in-law offered to repaint my car for me since he felt so bad. I declined since it wasn't his fault. These punks were kids of one of their friends, not even relatives. Which ticked me off even more.

 

[Schwartz]

I probably made it sound like things were worse that they really are. I can't see the scratches until I am right up by the car. I can barely feel them so I will try one of the scratch removing products when I can pick some up and will report back.

I'm definitely not going to get it repainted. The car isn't going to be scratch free forever. With the roads around here like they are in the winter it is just a fact of life that your vehicle will eventually end up looking like someone shot it with a shotgun in the front end.

 

[NJMalibuman]

Try the Scratch X stuff. I use that on my car to take out small scratches in the paint. After you apply the Scratch X apply a coat of wax to the car because the Scratch does shine the area your fix up so you will have one shiny spot on your car, also it just protects it better to. For wax I use the Megiures Glod Class or cleaner wax.

 

[08MalibuLeaser]

How did you punish the kid - make him ride in the trunk? Make him drink castor oil? The horror man - you can't let that happen to your baby (and I mean the car) shame on the toddler, shame, shame, shame!!!

 

[Schwartz]

How did you punish the kid - make him ride in the trunk? Make him drink castor oil? The horror man - you can't let that happen to your baby (and I mean the car) shame on the toddler, shame, shame, shame!!!

He got yelled at, promptly removed from the vicinity of the car, and to him a very terrible punishment, he got taken inside. I think he cried for a half hour. Last summer he wasn't old enough to do anything himself and during the winter he started walking but couldn't exactly be outside with the cold weather. So now that he can go outside it is all pretty new to him and he wants to be outside all the time now. So being taken inside was pretty bad.

 

[08MalibuLeaser]

Schwartz - you need one of those dog leash things or atleast and electric tazer collar -- just kidding ofcourse...all these posts make me NOT WANT TO HAVE CHILDREN...if they're going to DAMAGE MY RIDE!!!

 

[MiracleMalibu]

Kids are going to be kids! Years ago my oldest was swinging keys on a neck strap nad they broke free and hit out new van. It looked like someone had shot it with a shot gun!
We used some type of scratch remover on it but i ma not sure of the type.

 

[Pizza Man]

Schwartz, you better hope he doesn't get car sick!

 

[Schwartz]

Schwartz, you better hope he doesn't get car sick!

Oh man stop it! I don't want to think about it.

You aren't the first one to say that.

When I told my parents what he did they said (with a smile) it was payback for all the things I did to their stuff when I was a kid.

 

[MiracleMalibu]

You know what was under that car seat when you removed out of the last car that it was in don't you! Lets see.....Crums from what ever he has ate since he was able to eat in the car, stains from his sippy cup that he drops after you give it to him to quiet him up and chunks from...well we wont go there! Unless you line your Malibu with plastic on the inside it is going to get stained and dirty! Just keep a can of stain remover close by.

 

[Schwartz]

You know what was under that car seat when you removed out of the last car that it was in don't you! Lets see.....Crums from what ever he has ate since he was able to eat in the car, stains from his sippy cup that he drops after you give it to him to quiet him up and chunks from...well we wont go there! Unless you line your Malibu with plastic on the inside it is going to get stained and dirty! Just keep a can of stain remover close by.

Actually he has never drank or eaten in the car. When he is in the car he is normally quiet or sleeping. There wasn't anything under the seat when we took it out of the last car. I did buy a mat that is made to go under the car seat and covers the bottom and about halfway up the back of the seat. I did pick up a pack of interior wipes for minor cleanups.

I know it is inevitable that the car is going to get dirty and marked inside and out. I know its a loosing battle to try and stop it but right now the car is new and I am on the winning side of the battle so I am going to do my best to make this war last as long as possible before giving up.

 

[08MalibuLeaser]

I was in a parking lot today - there were no other cars around me for about 7 to 8 spaces in each direction. I'm using my cellphone and then all of a sudden I hear "WHAM!!%" I look in my driver side rear view mirror and wouldn't you @#%#@% know it - a shopping cart was blown by the wind across the entire parking lot right into my car! Holy @#%#@. Luckily the rear driver side tire took most of the blow - I didn't see any damage above the wheel well or surrounding area, I'll check more today - but man I hate people who don't return shopping carts - assmunches!