# How Much Does Scratch Repair Cost? | DG Collision > Published rates: clear-coat scuffs often buff out, spot repair $200–$500, panel refinish $500–$1,000 — and the fingernail test that tells which one yours needs. - Canonical page: https://dgcollision.com/answers/how-much-does-scratch-repair-cost/ - This file: Markdown twin of the page above (clean text for AI assistants and crawlers) - Business: DG Collision Center, 693 Metro Park Cir #20, Lewisville, TX 75057 — (972) 219-0864 (text: 817-907-2822) — since 1978 - Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm, Sat 10am–1pm, closed Sunday · 24/7 towing · 4.9/5 on 500+ Google reviews - Full site index for assistants: https://dgcollision.com/llms.txt - Last generated: 2026-08-14 --- # HOW MUCH DOES SCRATCH REPAIR COST? Quick Answer It depends almost entirely on depth, and your fingernail is the first diagnostic: drag it across the scratch — if it doesn’t catch, you’re likely in the clear coat, and polishing may erase it for the cost of a detail. If it catches, paint is cut: at our published rates, a spot repair runs $200–$500, a full panel refinish $500–$1,000, bumper scuffs and scratches $300–$800, and when a metallic or pearl color forces blending into neighboring panels, multi-panel work runs $1,200–$2,500. One depth matters more than money: a scratch down to bare metal starts rusting in weeks, not months — that one shouldn’t wait, whatever you decide about the cosmetics. Get a Free Written Estimate By [Shah Jiwani](https://dgcollision.com/about/shah-jiwani/) · Owner, DG Collision Center Updated October 1, 2026 4 min read I-CAR Gold Class · PPG Certified The Longer Answer ## THE DEPTH LADDER — AND WHAT EACH RUNG COSTS Automotive paint is a sandwich — clear coat over color over primer over metal (or plastic) — and a scratch costs whatever it costs to rebuild the layers it cut. Rung one: clear coat only. The scratch looks white-ish, your fingernail glides over it, and it often disappears under machine polishing because no color was lost — the cheapest fix in bodywork, and sometimes free advice at the estimate counter: “that’ll buff.” Rung two: through the clear into color. Now refinish work exists — a contained spot repair at $200–$500 when the scratch sits away from panel edges, or a full panel at $500–$1,000 when it sprawls. Rung three: through primer, to metal or plastic. The repair itself prices the same way — panel refinish — but the clock starts mattering, because bare steel rusts fast in Texas humidity, and rust converts a paint job into a metal repair. Two multipliers decide which rung your estimate lands on. Location: bumper covers are their own lane — scuffs and scratches there run $300–$800 at our published rate, partly because plastic prep differs from metal. Color: solid white hides a repair edge; metallics and pearls don’t, so an honest shop blends the new color partway into the adjacent panels — that’s the $1,200–$2,500 multi-panel blend row, and it’s the difference between paint that disappears and [paint that reads two-tone in sunlight](https://dgcollision.com/answers/will-new-paint-match-the-rest-of-my-car/). A word on the drugstore fixes: touch-up pens are legitimate rust protection for rung-three chips and scratches — dab, seal the metal, done — but they’re not a cosmetic repair, and the “scratch remover” compounds only work on rung one, because that’s all polishing can ever reach. The money math, honestly: a single keyed line or parking-lot scratch usually lands near or below a typical deductible, which makes it [cash-versus-claim arithmetic](https://dgcollision.com/guides/file-claim-or-pay-out-of-pocket/) — and when it was vandalism, [comprehensive covers keyed cars](https://dgcollision.com/answers/does-insurance-cover-a-keyed-car/) with the deductible applied, so the written number decides whether filing makes sense. Either way the number comes free: the estimate takes minutes, the fingernail test is honest, and if the verdict is “that’ll buff,” we’ll say so rather than paint a panel that didn’t need it. Related Questions ## ASKED ALONGSIDE THIS ONE Can a deep scratch really be spot-repaired, or is that a corner cut? + A: It depends on where it sits. A contained scratch mid-panel, away from edges and body lines, can take an honest spot repair at $200–$500 — the repair zone gets rebuilt and the clear carried to a natural break. A scratch that crosses panel edges or lives on a metallic where the eye will catch a blend line deserves the full panel at $500–$1,000. The estimate says which, in writing, before anything is sprayed. How fast will a bare-metal scratch actually rust? + A: In Texas humidity, surface rust can show in a couple of weeks and start creeping under the surrounding paint within months — and once it creeps, the repair grows from refinish to metal work. If you can’t repair promptly, a clean touch-up-pen dab over the bare spot is legitimate first aid: it seals the metal and costs almost nothing. It just isn’t the cosmetic fix — that still takes refinish work. Someone keyed my car. Should I file a claim? + A: Get the written number first. Keyed cars ride comprehensive coverage with your deductible applied — so a single-panel key line near $500–$1,000 may barely clear a $500 deductible, while a key job down the whole side (multi-panel, $1,200–$2,500 and up) usually makes the claim worthwhile. The keyed-car answer walks the coverage detail; the estimate makes the decision arithmetic instead of guesswork. Why do scratch quotes vary so wildly between shops? + A: Because they’re often quoting different repairs: one shop prices a mid-panel spot repair, another prices the full panel with a blend into the neighbors, and a third prices a quick scuff-and-shoot that reads two-tone by summer. Comparing quotes only works line by line — what’s being refinished, whether adjacent panels are blended, and what the warranty says. Ours is written, lifetime on everything except mechanical. Go Deeper [All paint repair pricing](https://dgcollision.com/answers/how-much-does-car-paint-repair-cost/) · [Keyed cars & insurance](https://dgcollision.com/answers/does-insurance-cover-a-keyed-car/) · [Paint & refinishing at DG](https://dgcollision.com/services/paint-refinishing/) · [All quick answers](https://dgcollision.com/answers/)