Cosmetic Repair

A cosmetic repair is a repair where typically paint is applied to hide a scratch, chip or blemish. It doesn't make the damage disappear, but will improve it by making it less noticeable.

Cosmetic Repair
Cosmetic repair on the underside of a bumper.

For example, if you have a scratch which is too deep to polish out, it would require repair-and-repaint in order to fully rectify. However, these repairs are expensive, especially on larger panels such as the roof or bonnet. Many people would not consider it worth paying hundreds of pounds to respray a roof in order to correct a scratch which is half an inch long.

Carefully touching in a scratch with a matched paint will not be an invisible repair, but will help it be less obvious, and can be considered an improvement.

This kind of repair can be very effective when it is low down on a car because when you are close to the panel, it's well below your eye-line, making it harder to see, and when you are further away it is perfectly camouflaged.

It is possible to get a 60-90% improvement with a cosmetic repair, at a fraction of the cost of repair and repaint, making it a very attractive alternative.

Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 12/07/2022 13:01