Would a body shop repair a deep scratch without a total repaint of the affected area?

Question

A steaming pile of human excrement left a nice key scratch on my trunk lid that pretty much goes coast to coast from left to right. If I take it to a body shop, is it standard industry practice to insist they strip and repaint the whole thing? I would rather have someone touch up the scratch rather than repaint the whole thing, and of course I would be willing to accept that that wouldn't be as good as totally redoing it. I wouldn't have a problem paying to have it redone, but in this day and age of antisocial behavior I don't think it's reasonable to think it won't happen again.

Answer 1

If the paint is brand new, then probably.  But the older the paint, and thus the more sun exposure it has, the more it fades from the original color, so some blending will be necesary to mask the work.

Answer 2

take it to a reputable auto body shop in your area. the scratch can be spot repaired and painted to match. of course, the older the vehicle, the more of a challange it will be to match. do get a few estimates.

Answer 3

Sorry to hear that.  Ahhhh, people can be great, can't they?  Like they have nothing else to do, other than going around keying cars.  Disgusting!  Why don't you try the paint pen.  If it doesn't work, you'll have to take it in to get it touched up.  But, at least you know you tried.  Good luck!