how to repair keyed car?

[Tom Nas]

Condoleances on the damage.

Get a touch-up paint can from the dealership, you can order it by paint
code. Assuming it's a clear-coated metallic:

Use VERY LITTLE paint to slowly build up in the scratch. It might take four
or five tries to fill the scratch until it's absolutely level with the
surrounding paintwork. Try to get as little paint as possible around the
actual scratch, just try to fill it.
If you do get any paint on the surrounding paintwork, use a mild rubbing
compound to take it off. Also use this to remove any high spots in your repair.
Now do the clearcoat. Again, use very little paint- two or three coats
rather than one. Once again, use the mildest abrasive compound you can find
(designed for metallic paint) to get the repairt to come out even with the
surrounding paintwork.
WARNING: Doing it properly might mean that a 12" scratch can take as much
as two-three hours to fix. If you do it well though it will be neigh-on
impossible to see where the scratch was (depending on the paint colour-
black and pearl are notoriously tough to repair).

I've done a few in this way, fixed an almost-new car that would normally
need a full flank respray in a couple of hours, saved $1500...

HTH!

Regards, Tom