Help! Somebody keyed my car!

Keyed car? We cover how to assess the damage, what repair options exist, typical costs, and whether to claim on insurance or pay privately.

It has been in the news recently that political activists are deliberately damaging Tesla cars. So we thought it a perfect time to address the issue of cars being keyed.

This is something we often get asked about, so we assume it's something that happens quite often. Sometimes it's jealousy or revenge, or possibly the mindless act of a mindless yobbo, so don't take it too personally!

On the other hand, it might be young children deciding to draw a nice picture for Daddy, as in the case of this video....

Thankfully, in this case, the stone used wasn't very sharp, and the young children were not very strong, so the damage didn't penetrate too deep into the paint, so there was a happy ending.

Key Scratches on Cars: What Are Your Options?

When it comes to key scratches, the first thing to think about is simple: Who’s paying?
If you’re claiming through insurance, and they allow it, the best way to repair the damage properly is a full repaint at a bodyshop -- respraying the entire side of the car. The cost for this is around £200 per panel, so on a typical four-door car, you're easily looking at £800 to £1000, maybe more.

If insurance covers it, it can seem worth it. It’s “buy now, pay later” -- the excess is paid, and the real cost comes later in the form of higher premiums. Of course, if you make another claim in the following year or two, premiums can skyrocket. That’s something worth considering carefully.
We tend to find that by the time customers come to us, they’ve already decided they don't want to make a claim.

Once you’re paying out of your own pocket, you become more willing to compromise a little to save money -- and that's perfectly reasonable.

What Kind of Damage Are We Dealing With?

In most cases of deliberate keying we see, the damage isn’t consistent.
There’s usually a long scratch running down the side of the car, but along its length, the depth varies:

1. Light scratches that can be polished out completely.
2. Deep Clear Coat Scratches are risky to try to polish out.
3. Medium scratches that cut into the colour coat.
4. Deep scratches that go through to the primer.

Every panel is a little different, and so is the best approach to fixing it.

Our Recommended Approach

We nearly always recommend a mixture of repairs, rather than one single solution.

First, we polish out everything that we can. Often, this removes around 80% of the visible scratch.
What’s left is often much less noticeable -- and we can usually improve those deeper sections by around 80% too, making them far less obvious.
Where the scratch has cut through the clear coat, we touch it in with paint, then re-polish.
Touching in isn’t just cosmetic; it’s about protection. The clear coat is there to shield the car's paintwork from the elements, and touching in helps prevent rust from setting in.

For someone with an older runabout, who's planning to drive it into the ground, this might be more than good enough.
For others -- those planning to sell or return the car soon, or those who take real pride in their car -- a more thorough repair might be the right choice.

When a Panel Needs Painting

Sometimes, even after polishing and touching in, there's still damage that catches the eye. In that case, we might recommend repainting one or two panels rather than the whole side of the car.

It's still expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than respraying the whole side of the car.
This option suits people who want their car back to looking perfect without spending a fortune.

Why We Don't Recommend SMART Repairs for Key Scratches

We're often asked if SMART repairs are an option. In theory, they are -- but in practice, we don't usually recommend them for large, flat panels.

You tend to be able to spot where the repair was done, because of slight differences in colour or texture.
A proper bodyshop respray involves blending into adjacent panels (e.g., painting a door and blending into the wing and rear door), so you don't get that patchy look. SMART repairs are great on small panels or the corners of bumpers, but just don't achieve the same quality on large surfaces.

When We Can Get a Bit More Aggressive

If you’re already committed to a bodyshop respray, we can sometimes afford to be more aggressive with polishing.

Normally, with deep scratches, there's a risk that paintwork correction will burn through the clear coat. But if the plan is to repaint anyway, we'll happily have a go.
We sometimes get lucky and manage to polish out damage we didn't think we could -- saving the panel from needing repainting altogether.

Our Guarantee

If we polish the car and achieve a significant improvement, the customer pays for the work.
However, if after seeing the results, they later decide they want a respray -- and can show us proof they had the panel repainted -- we refund the cost of our polishing.

In short, it's worth letting us have a go. You've got nothing to lose.

Conclusion

Getting your car keyed is upsetting -- there's no getting around that.
But it doesn't have to mean an insurance claim and a £1000 repair bill.
There are practical, sensible ways to put things right without breaking the bank, and we'll always work with you to find the right solution.

If your car's been keyed and you want honest advice and a proper job, we're here to help.

Related Blogs

Here are some more of our latest #car-polishing blogs