You have three options:
- Take care of it yourself
- Have a shop take care of it
- Make peace with it and watch some T.V.
These options are listed in descending orders of stress.
Option 1 will involve the most work, and unless you’re a patient person who enjoys thorny problems, it will almost certainly cause the most anxiety as you research, gather tools, attempt a solution, and evaluate the result. Who knows, perhaps it will look a lot better—good enough, even—and you’ll have saved a trip to the body shop. Popular Mechanics has an excellent primer on how to fix a car paint scratch.
Option 2 will involve less physical work, but still some effort overall. If you have vandalism coverage with your insurance, many companies will require you to file a police report. Then, you might have to meet up with the insurance adjuster. It’s not back-breaking labor, but it will take time. Eventually the shop will do its part, and you’ll be done.
Option 3 is a more existential, philosophical approach that asks what a scratch really is anyway since there are 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Are we not all damaged in some way? If the scratch isn’t allowing rust to eat away at the body, this might be the approach for you. However, if you live where rust and weather elements are a concern, you might need at least the $25 scratch kit from the auto parts store, if only to protect the rest of your vehicle.
Whichever route you take, we would be happy to provide a second opinion or the names of local shops we know and trust. Stop by or call and we’ll get you on your way in a jiffy. There’s no problem we haven’t seen at some point.