Fast Essex
Kerb Damage Repair

Scuffs, Scratches and Kerb Rash: What Is the Difference?

People often use these words to mean the same thing, but they are slightly different. Knowing which one you have helps you understand how much work your wheel needs.

• Scuff: a dull, grazed patch where the paint and lacquer have been rubbed away. The metal underneath is usually not badly harmed.
• Scratch: a thin, sharp line cut into the surface. It can be shallow, or deep enough to go through the paint and into the metal.
• Kerb rash: a rough, wider strip of damage along the edge, or lip, of the wheel, caused by the wheel scraping along a kerb. It often tears into the metal itself.

A simple way to check the depth of a scratch is to run your fingernail across it. If your nail does not catch, the scratch is light and only in the top layer. If your nail catches but you cannot see bare metal, the damage is moderate. If you can see bare metal, it is a deep scratch and needs a professional repair to stop corrosion setting in.

What to Do If You Have Just Kerbed Your Wheel

Most kerbed wheels look worse than they are. But a hard hit can do more than mark the paint. It can bend the rim or cause a small crack that is hard to see. Here is what to do:

• Pull over when it is safe and look at the wheel.
• Check the rim for dents, cracks or chunks of alloy missing.
• Check the tyre for cuts, bulges or a sudden loss of pressure.
• If the car drives normally and the damage looks like surface marks only, it is usually fine to get home and book a repair.
• If the car vibrates, pulls to one side or the tyre is losing air, stop driving. That is no longer a cosmetic problem. Read about our buckled wheel repair and cracked wheel repair services.

Wheels that are cracked or badly distorted can also fail an MOT, so it is worth getting any hard knock checked.

Can You Polish or Buff Out Scratches Yourself?

Very light scuffs on a plain silver or grey painted wheel can sometimes be improved at home. Most DIY kits follow the same steps: clean the wheel, sand the area with fine sandpaper, fill any small dips, then apply primer, colour and lacquer. It takes patience, a steady hand and the right products.

However, DIY repairs have real limits, and they can easily make the damage worse:

• Colour matching is hard. Wheels come in many shades of silver, grey and gunmetal. A spray can rarely matches exactly, so the repaired patch can stand out, especially in sunlight.
• Sanding can go too deep. Pressing too hard or using the wrong grit removes more of the finish and can leave a larger, more obvious mark than the original scratch.
• Diamond cut wheels cannot be repaired by hand. Their bright, machined finish is made on a special lathe. Sandpaper and polish will dull or scratch it further. See our diamond cut alloy wheels page for how these are restored.
• Home lacquer does not last. Sprayed or brushed lacquer often looks cloudy and can peel, letting water and road salt back in.
• It cannot fix buckles or cracks. A cosmetic fix does nothing to make a damaged wheel safe.

Please also bear in mind that a DIY repair is not covered by any warranty. If it goes wrong or makes the damage worse, the cost of putting it right falls on you, and a professional repair may then take more work than it would have done at the start.

Repairing Deep Scratches and Gouges

Deep scratches and gouges go through the protective layers and into the metal. Once bare alloy is exposed to rain, road salt and brake dust, corrosion can creep under the surrounding paint and spread. This is why deep damage should be repaired properly rather than simply touched up.

Where material has been lost, our technicians fill and reshape the area so the edge sits true again, before refinishing it to match the rest of the wheel. If the damage covers a large part of the wheel, or more than one wheel is affected, a full alloy wheel refurbishment usually gives the best finish. Painted wheels can be finished with powder coating, and diamond cut wheels are re-machined on a lathe. Both come with our 3 year warranty on all powder coating and diamond cut wheels.

How Much Does Kerb Damage Repair Cost?

The price depends on the size of the wheel, how bad the damage is and the type of finish. A light scuff on a painted wheel needs less work than kerb rash on a diamond cut wheel. You can see current prices on our price list, and our team will confirm the right repair once they have seen the wheel.

How to Prevent Future Kerb Damage

• Take your time when parking, especially in tight or unfamiliar spaces, and leave a little more room between the wheel and the kerb.
• Watch out for high kerbs, car park ramps and drive-through lanes, which catch wheels easily.
• Consider fitting rim protectors to add a layer of protection to the wheel edges.
• Clean your wheels regularly. This removes brake dust and grime and helps you spot small marks early, before corrosion starts.