A stray cat took a nap on my hood as I parked my car in a lot. One day, I got in my car and noticed paw prints all over my windshield as I drove off. Later, I noticed scratches on each corner of my hood. You can see the white primer, but they're real thin.

How do you guys suggest removing these feline scratches?

Same thing happened to my wife's burgundy Lexus GS300. I was able to get the scratches out using 3M's Finesse-It II with a [yellow foam] mild cutting pad on a Porter-Cable 7424 DA buffer. Followed this up with Klasse All-in-One polish and Zaino (use whatever wax or sealant you prefer). It took some time and patience, but it came out fine.

Cats taste like chicken, BTW... :)

Same thing happened to my wife's burgundy Lexus GS300. I was able to get the scratches out using 3M's Finesse-It II with a [yellow foam] mild cutting pad on a Porter-Cable 7424 DA buffer. Followed this up with Klasse All-in-One polish and Zaino (use whatever wax or sealant you prefer). It took some time and patience, but it came out fine.

Cats taste like chicken, BTW... :)Is this a permanent fix or temporary? Temporary meaning, I've used a fine clear coat safe polishing compound to remove bird doo on my other car, but it dulled the paint and left fine scratches. In order to hide the dullness and scratches, I had to keep it freshly waxed all the time.

Cats N' Birds & Rodents. Off all the land on this planet, birds just have to poo on a car. As for cats, can't they sleep elsewhere? Rodents...the worst. :flamethro:pikachu

No, this is a permanent fix. Basically, the fine abrasives in the Finesse-It II "grind down" the clear coat in the area of the scratch so the lowest point in the scratch is level with the surrounding clearcoat, removing the scratch. When you're done with this step, the area you worked will have kind of a "brushed haze" appearance to it, especially if your car has a dark color. Don't freak out - once you've polished it with the Klasse All-in-One, this will be gone, and you'll just have the shiny clear-coat, with the scratch removed.

This isn't as radical a procedure as it sounds. The FI-II works pretty slowly, and you'll see the scratch getting smaller (shallower). You can quit any time you're satisifed with what you see, if you're worried about taking off too much clearcoat.

Reading back over what you did with the polishing compound - you were on the right track. The step you skipped was going back over the compounded areas with a finer polish (i.e. Klasse All-in-One) to take out the micro-fine scratches left by the compound. It may take more than one pass with the AIO. However, when you're done, you'll have good, shiny clearcoat with no scratches of any kind, and the wax or sealant is used to protect the finish, not conceal scratches or other defects. It takes patience, but you can achieve a good result.

Reading back over what you did with the polishing compound - you were on the right track. The step you skipped was going back over the compounded areas with a finer polish (i.e. Klasse All-in-One) to take out the micro-fine scratches left by the compound. It may take more than one pass with the AIO. However, when you're done, you'll have good, shiny clearcoat with no scratches of any kind, and the wax or sealant is used to protect the finish, not conceal scratches or other defects. It takes patience, but you can achieve a good result.Thanks for the info Hotswimmer.

Is there anything that is more abrasive/works faster than 3M FI2 that I could use before it? I've PCed some cars in really bad condition and I had to go over each panel about 5 times it took FOREVER.... ??

I know I'm awfully late in answering you, but "Perfect It" is the next step up from "Finesse It" in terms of aggressiveness.

1 problem..

If you can see primer, buffing will do nothing. You will need touch up paint and some experience with sanding and/or langka.

If you see the primer, you can't just polish it out. Remember polishing removes layers of paint to get to unblemished paint. The best and cheapest thing you can do is to find someone that can use an artist airbrush and paint those scratches. After it fully cures, then you can go back and polish and level the paint.

1 problem..
If you can see primer, buffing will do nothing. You will need touch up paint and some experience with sanding and/or langka.I forgot to mention that I had the scratch checked at a shop and they said all they need to do is wet sand it. Also through regular cleaning and waxing, the scratch is now less noticable. The scratch looks like it just affected the clear coat. That's why it looked white like primer. On the M5, I'm not sure if I want to risk polishing it myself, so I might just get it professionally done.