Came out of the liquor store and found this on my bumper. Since my P-C 7424XP comes in today, is there something I can do with it to buff this out?
Yes, I was crying in my beer...

 

THat doesnt look too bad and you can probably get that buffed out. Check your local scratch and dent guys to get an opinion.

It probably hurts more a little emotionally than it really is but then again I am only looking at the pics.

I think you will make it o.k. on this one unless the scratches are deep.

 

No that can't be buffed out, its through the clear coat. Thats a deep scratch. You have to trust me on this. If you try and use the PC you will end up burning through the clear coat around the scratch. I have done it.
Turn it in under your hit and run coverage on your insurance. Sorry. The PC is a wonderful machine but you will be frustrated trying to get that out.
Pat

 

With all due respect to Pat, I have to say I don't think that looks all too terrible. Sometimes at first glance these can be deceiving, especially if they haven't even been just gently wiped over with a towel. What can look like a scratch into the primer isn't always so.

When your buffer comes in slap a foam polishing pad on it and get some ScratchX 2.0 or Ultimate Compound. Run the machine on speed 5 and put just moderate pressure on it while moving it slowly over the area.

Do NOT lean on the machine hard enough to stop the pad from rotating.

Do NOT just keep the machine in one place for more than 15 seconds or so.

Do NOT move the machine back and forth quickly like you would if you were sanding a piece of wood.

If you need a couple of applications, so be it. But you should be able to remove 90% or more of that. If you can feel these scratches with your fingernail you will not be able to remove them 100% - in fact, don't even try. Seriously. But you should at least be able to minimize the appearance to an acceptable level.

Again, if you remove 90% of the issue after 2 or 3 passes with the buffer, do NOT just keep going and try to correct it 100%.

 

Thanks, all. Those deeper looking scratches at the top were put in a couple days before, I don't know what happened there! The diagonal marks are frm the guys bumper sliding across mine and I hope will come out.

Mike, my buffer came in yesterday and I hope to get at this this weekend. I got the white, black and blue Lake Country pads with the buffer - should I buy the orange one for this job?
Also, while you're there...in terms of washing and waxing I think I'll go with Meguiar's to start - had good luck with everything so far. What compounds and waxes do you recommend?

 

Mike I hope you are right but that looks deeper than the one I tried to get out. Midlife by all means try it but like Mike says don't put any pressure on the PC. I had a similar scratch and worked on it for a good 25 minutes. Not using much pressure on the machine but using the left to right motion the PC suggests. The scratch was minimized but I also burned through the clear coat. Eventually I will have to get it fixed. The car was obviously keyed so its an insurance issue anyway. Give it a try but be very careful. Let us know how you make out.

 

I had some similar scuffs like the lower ones and was able to get them out easy with the PC and a LC yellow pad. Used scratchX 2.0 then ultimate compound, waxed it up and cant see anything. The top ones look pretty bad, I have a couple similar gouges in my bumper, not as long but the PC and same process covered them up fairly well. I can always see em but I have had a few people look over the car and comment on how black usually shows a lot of scratches but not mine. I personally find it to be a swirly mess but I may be expecting to much :P Ill try to snap a couple shots of my amateur job for reference but for a black 04 daily driver I think its in better shape than most other black cars I see driving around. My neighbor has a black c5 vette and mine puts his to shame for sure.