Parking in the Sun for 30 Minutes Could One Day Make Your Car's Scratches Disappear - Gizmodo

Protective coatings exist that help protect a vehicle’s finish and minimize the risk of a scratch going deep enough to damage paint, expose the underlying metal panel, and increase the risk of rusting, but even a protective coating will show scratch marks that either need to be buffed out or remedied by a professional with the right tools.

Materials that exhibit malleable properties to facilitate the repair of scratch damage are also not very durable, so a vehicle would actually be more prone to scratches more frequently, while harder materials that are less prone to being damaged also exhibit less effective self-healing tendencies when a physical impact is strong enough to produce a visible scratch.

The healing process can be accelerated using a high-intensity light source like a laser or by going old school with a magnifying glass, but testing with a small model car treated with the coating found that simply leaving the vehicle with visible damage out in the bright midday sun for about 30 minutes generated enough heat to completely heal the scratches.