Get rid of a scratch in paintwork
Cars are easily scratched: supermarket trollies, bicycle handlebars or a bit of careless parking can all leave their mark. A scratch is annoying, but usually not worth a trip to the garage or the tiresome business of an insurance claim. (redlinepowdercoating)
The older the car, the more successful the job will be. Modern cars have a thin layer of paint, so you have to be extra careful to not make matters worse.
First, buy a small bottle of touch-up paint or a touch-up pen from a motor shop such as Halfords. You’ll find the paint code for your car either in your service handbook or under the bonnet. Don’t worry if you can’t: point out your car to the sales assistant in the motor store and they should be able to identify the exact colour you need.
Start by cleaning the area around the scratch with hot water and a drop of cleaner suitable for cars. Wear latex gloves if possible to protect your skin. Gently dab paint into the scratch. Don’t worry about getting paint either side of the scratch. Leave it to dry for a day. Now gently use the 2,000 grit wet and dry sandpaper to flatten the paint. Be very careful: don’t overdo it or you’ll go through the surrounding paint. To finish off, give the area a good polish.
Toyota recalls nearly 73,000 UK vehicles over safety fears
Of the 2.8m vehicles being recalled globally over fears of cracks in the fuel emissions control unit, some 713,000 are in Europe
Tens of thousands of Toyota cars are being recalled in the UK for safety reasons, including fears that their airbags could inflate without warning.
The world’s largest carmaker has been forced to recall 2.9m vehicle worldwide, including 72,885 UK-registered Prius, Auris and Lexus CT200h models, over possible cracks in the fuel emissions control unit.
Just under half of the vehicles affected in the UK could also have a small crack in inflators in the airbags in the driver and passenger sides, which may expand causing the airbags to partially inflate.
Toyota said it did not know of any injuries related to the latest recalls.
“There is a possibility that cracks could develop in the coating of the emissions channel due to improper shaping of portions of the channel,” Toyota said. “As a result of this condition, the cracks could expand over time and, eventually, fuel may leak from these cracks when the vehicle has a full tank of petrol.”
The company said it was also aware of seven incidents where a side curtain airbag has partially inflated in parked Toyota Prius cars, but said no injuries had been reported.
Of the 2.8m vehicles being recalled globally over fears of cracks in the fuel emissions control unit, some 713,000 are in Europe.
A total of 1.43m Prius hybrid, Prius plug-in and Lexus CT200h models are being recalled globally over concerns about defective airbags, made by Swedish-American firm Autoliv.
More than 900,000 vehicles are affected by both flaws, meaning Toyota is recalling 3.4m vehicles overall.
The Autoliv airbag issue is not related to a separate recall of more than 100m air bags made by Takata, which has affected more than a dozen automotive firms and has been linked to several fatalities.
The models affected by Toyota’s new airbag problem are sold widely across Europe and out of the 141,000 vehicles affected across the continent, nearly a quarter are British.
The world’s largest automaker said last month that it expects to take a $1.47bn hit for the year ending in March 2017 on “quality-related expenses”.
The Netherlands has the second largest number of cars being recalled (22,319) in Europe, followed by France with 15,260.
Elsewhere, 743,000 vehicles in Japan, 495,000 in North America, 9,000 in China and 46,000 in other regions are being recalled.
All of the 72,885 UK vehicles affected were manufactured between April 2006 and August 2015, with those recalled over airbag concerns produced between October 2008 and August 2012.
