Hey guys...hoping to get some useful feedback. In both of these issues, please remember I am a poor grad student; I know that a pro bodyshop job would be the best solution. But, I cannot afford it right now and am hoping to just make these things less visible (but I know I cannot make them invisible!)

2 issues on separate sides of my Hyundai Hybrid Sonata 2011 Sky Metallic Y2U Paint Code

1) Someone side swiped or did something to my car (way too linear to be a keying...unless they did it with a ruler! ). See pics. I stopped by the body shop I use and the guy there told me just to use the factory touch-up paint pen I had, clearcoat it, then wet sand it. I thought maybe it needed a bit of filler, but he said no. Now, I have put about 15 layers of the paint pen and it still looks indented! What should I do? Should I just keep putting layers on? Should I sand it off, put filler in it, then paint it again? Where is this paint going? It seems like its just falling into the indent and not building up at all!

2) About 5 months ago, I had a mobile detailer just do a touch-up job on some areas on the driver's side of the car (I know, I know...I dont like mobile detailers and I know their work is quite shoddy. But, again, I am a poor grad student and am just looking for something to bide me over). Anyway, this morning, I noticed a bit of rust down by the wheel. So, I taped off the small area, sanded it down, put 2 coats of primer on it, then used the factory paint. Problem is, and this I realized afterwards, the mobile detailer used just a blend of spray paints he bought at AutoZone to appoximate the color. And, he approximated a lot darker than the factory paint is (though it doesnt look bad on the rest of the car because it was blended). When I applied the factory paint, though, it really stands out (ignore the rest of the swirls and imperfections - the flash on the camera embellishes them). Again, what is the best approach? I was thinking of trying to mix a bit of my factory paint with a darker color to get a darker tone. What color should I mix it with...just black? Is this even a good idea?

Thanks everyone for your help! I really take pride in my car and it just sucks that we have careless people that bang their doors, etc into cars...and then, there are just environmental issues (ie. rust) that I guess just cant be avoided. I have no idea why this would rust..there was no exposed metal!

Pics here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ef8wxr8l0ymv ... 2vCza?dl=0

I am an amateur so take this for what it's worth. Keeping in mind your limited budget, what I would to is mask off close to the deep scratch and spray a couple coats of rattle can primer on it. After this dries gently wet sand it off with 1,000 grit or so paper until only the scratch has primer in it. Then touch up the primer in the scratch with a couple 2-3 coats of your touch up paint. Then buff to remove any dulling from the wet sanding on the surrounding clear coat.

You'll be at it forever if you try to fill a deep scratch like that with a touch up brush. There isn't much build to that stuff.

Ultimately those panels will need complete repainting anyway, this is just a stop gap cheap method to make it look only bad instead of terrible.

Thanks for the reply, David. Would you spray the primer over the paint coats that I have already put down? Can I do this?

With rattle can primer I don't think you'll have any issues doing that.