When you dent or scratch your car (or both!), it can be very tempting to ignore the situation and put off bodywork repairs for as long as possible… but, while this might well seem like a good idea to avoid the added expense, procrastination is actually a false economy in this circumstance, as the problem is only going to get worse – and more expensive to resolve – as time goes on.

If scratches go through the paintwork and expose the metal on your car, you run the risk of it rusting if you don’t deal with it swiftly – and this can ultimately affect the value of the vehicle (important if you ever want to sell it), as well as potentially making it unsafe to drive if the rust starts to spread.

But it’s not just scratches that you need to be mindful of and rust can happen for all sorts of reasons. 

For example, regular exposure to the elements can increase the chances of moisture oxidising with metals on the vehicle, which can cause corrosion. The older your car gets, the more likely it is that your paintwork and protective coatings will start to degrade and this can expose the vehicle’s metalwork, as well.

There are three kinds of rust familiarise yourself with:

Surface rust

Here, the top layer of the car is affected, with bumps and nicks appearing in the body panels. Deal with this as soon as you spot it to prevent it from spreading.

Scale rust

This is what you get when surface rust isn’t dealt with, leading to corrosion of the metal on the body panels.

Penetrating rust

This is what happens if you don’t deal with surface and scale rust. In this instance, it is possible that you’ll have to replace entire body panels and car parts.