How deep it goes decides everything about the price. A fingernail is a surprisingly good measuring tool.
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$150–$600 per panel
Depth decides it. Clear-coat scuffs polish out at the bottom of the range; a scratch through to primer or metal needs filling, spraying and blending at the top.
A typical US range to plan around, not a quote — every professional on Task Masters sets and publishes their own price, and you see it before you book.
Car paint is layered: primer on the metal, colour over that, clear coat on top. A scratch that only disturbs the clear coat can be machine-polished out in an hour and costs very little. One that has cut through the colour into primer, or down to bare metal, has to be filled, primed, painted and blended — the same work as any refinish, on a smaller area. Drag a fingernail across it: if the nail catches, it is through the clear coat and this is a paint job.
Expect $150 to $600 per panel. The bottom of that range is compounding and polishing surface scuffs, often finished the same day. The top is a scratch through to primer or metal on a panel that has to be prepared, sprayed and blended into its neighbours so the colour change falls where nobody looks. Paint is most of the cost either way, which is why the price barely halves for a scratch half as long. Two things belong in the quote: whether the colour is mixed to your vehicle paint code rather than matched by eye, and whether the repair is blended into the adjacent panels. A single panel sprayed edge to edge and stopped at the join is the repair you can pick out from across a parking lot, especially on metallics and on paint that has aged in the sun.
Los Angeles, CA
Prices shown are each pro's own published rates for auto body & paint work. Confirm the exact scope of your scratch & scuff repair job when you book.
Run a fingernail across it. If the nail glides over, the damage is in the clear coat and machine polishing will very likely remove it. If the nail catches in the groove, it has gone through the colour, and polishing will only make the edges shine — the panel needs filling and refinishing.
Because you are paying for preparation, paint and cure time rather than for length. Masking the car, mixing the colour, spraying, and letting it cure properly take the same effort whether the scratch is two inches or twelve. The material cost barely moves; the labor does not move at all.
It should, and blending is how. Paint mixed to your vehicle code is sprayed across the join into the neighbouring panels so any small difference falls where the eye is not looking. This matters most on metallics and on paint that has faded in the sun, which is why a shop that quotes for blending is quoting for a repair you will not be able to find.
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