Highway debris caused driver door paint damage, advice wanted

[wagood]

Yesterday while driving down the highway, I heard a loud BANG against the driver door.
Looks like something got flung up and left some scratches and a slight dent on the door panel, then decided that wasn't enough and proceeded to take out a tiny chunk of the door handle before leaving.
I'm new to any kind of paint repair. I've looked online and seen dr color chip recommended and I'm thinking one of their kits is probably a lot cheaper than taking this to a repair shop.

Do people think that I can get "good enough to not notice" with something like that with no prior experience? I don't mind going DIY, just want to not have to look at this every single time I go to drive. Any tips/advice appreciated.

Door handle damage (roughly size of a non-thumb fingernail):

Driver door panel damage (main scratch roughly 1 inch long):

 

[Dakei]

That kind of damage would actually warrant a full panel replacement and color-matched paint job. Based on what I can see clear coat, base layer, primer, and even some door panel material was shaved off from the impact. You're not going to be able to DIY, and I doubt any body shop would attempt to repair this without replacement parts.

If you aren't willing to go through with the repair process, you can try to use a touch-up pen (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3031971777...b19c81250437cd47a2f30330f0ed03551c4efdaf3409e). Do keep in mind this won't be a permanent solution and it will leave a fairly noticeable blemish on your door panel.

 

[wagood]

That kind of damage would actually warrant a full ... color-matched paint job

What I expected but I'm still in the denial phase I guess.

I'm curious why you think the whole door panel would need to be replaced, or did you mean just the door handle? Maybe the picture is making the scratch seem bigger than it is, but my understanding was even if the damage extends to the body material it can be cleaned, primed, and repainted.

 

[Frenzal]

It can be fixed with some touch up paint (not a pen).

Will it look like nothing has happened: no.

Will it prevent rust, and look better then with the damage: yes.

It's up to you to know what you want and how much you want to pay for it.

 

[JC-RH]

You said driver door, so this should do the trick. Not too bad for $100, and it won’t look repaired. Door handles are pretty simple to swap out. I would be annoyed if I had to constantly see it and even worse, possible touch it since it looks pretty sharp.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3751000577...YVj_U5eQgO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

As far as the other damage, check with your insurance first. You can also take it to a few reputable places. They might just be able to do a spot repair and blend the color so that you can’t even tell.

 

[MidwestDE5]

I would have it professionally repaired personally. It appears that it has caused dents in the door skin that will always draw your eyes to it even with paint repair. It has also started a chipping of the paint that will allow moisture and debris to get to the metal and cause the damage to spread over time. I would see if a body shop will have a paintless dent removal done on the dented areas. They can sand the paint to a feather edge to prevent spreading and create a new surface for primer to adhere to. I would encourage them to only prime and apply color coats from the doors body line down and then clearcoat the entire door. With the angels in the door shape it will help hide any color variation and prevent the need for blending color into adjacent panels. You will want clearcoat applied in one continuous coat over the entire door skin to prevent any hard edges or rough overlap. As stated above the door handle is an easy swap. With the paint process for these cars you’re probably going to want to have the insurance company foot the bill on this one.