Got a weird scratch on my hood from who-knows-what sometime last week. It stands out too much to just ignore and is deep enough to lightly catch my fingernail. Any suggestions on removing it? I don't have access to a rotary buffer or anything, but I hear Meguire's Scratch-X works really well by hand.

Sorry, wrong sub-forum. Any mods want to move this to the Maintenance & Detailing section?

i would try scratch X, it works great. Your scratch may be too deep to get it out totally, but def worth a try.

if scratch X isn't enough, i'd take it to a pro unless you have experience with a buffer

i would try scratch X, it works great. Your scratch may be too deep to get it out totally, but def worth a try.

if scratch X isn't enough, i'd take it to a pro unless you have experience with a buffer

In my experiece, Scratch-X does absolutely nothing. I had a clear-coat scrape, not even felt by touch and it did nothing. Don't wast your money -- in all likelihood, you cannot fix that without repainting some of the hood.

Any other possible solutions out there that don't involve taking it to a body shop?

http://www.quixxusa.com/ ?

I know its not what you want to hear....but....
I had a similar scratch and tried every scratch remover I could find in the autopart store.
Nothing worked. I ended up having to get a scratch compound and an orbital buffer. Took some elbow grease but now its barely noticable.
You can tell up close that there is a scratch but you can no longer see white through out it, its just the same color as my paint. Good luck (but by no means should this require you to repaint, unless you want absolute perfection.)

Maybe you can get a pro detailer to do some work on it for you. It shouldn't cost too much and they most likely have the right tools if they are reputable. My take though is that it will probably take some compound and a buffer...don't think Scratch X will do anything for it. I had scratches like that on my Prelude, Scratch X hid it ok for a day or 2...but it wore off. Plus if you wash it, Scratch X will just uncover the scratch again.

You have two choices.......reduce it it or repaint it. A combination of wetsanding then bringing the finish back with a rotary and the correct polishes (done professionally) should level the paint well enough so that you will be the only one that knows the mark is there.