Choose between a brush-on bottle kit and a spray aerosol kit based on three things: damage size (coin or smaller favors a bottle, larger favors an aerosol), depth (visible metal or plastic means you need primer), and location (highly visible spots and removable parts favor aerosol). Walk through all three before deciding.
Which Kit Do I Need?
Which kit you need depends on scratch size, depth, and location. Evaluate your scratch this way:
Size
If the scratch or damage is smaller than a coin, you should be able to use a bottle kit. Anything larger than a coin is a good candidate for an aerosol kit, such as a scrape from a concrete pillar.
Depth
If the scratch is deep, through the factory primer, so that you see metal or plastic, you need a kit with primer to replace that factory primer. Paint doesn't stick directly to metal or plastic; it needs primer applied first. The Preferred and Complete kits include primer.
Location
Highly Visible
For a location like mirror, or hood, etc., where you want a perfectly invisible repair, even small chips and scrapes would benefit from an aerosol repair because a brush repair won't have the same texture as a sprayed finish.
Less Visible
For a larger rock chip on the rocker panel, you could use a bottle kit because your priority is more about protecting against future rust, and less about visibility.
Many Small Chips
For a cluster of many small or tiny rock chips, you should repair them with an aerosol. Otherwise, that many brush texture repairs so close together could be very noticeable.
Removable Location
For a removable part such as a mirror, gas cap, motorcycle tank, side panel or wheel fender, or a helmet, you should spray the paint. It can be removed or the surrounding area masked, and sprayed with aerosol paint without worrying about blending the paint or clear coat to the factory finish.
Below is an example of a gas cap on a 2017 Jaguar F Pace that was keyed, and sprayed with ScratchesHappen aerosol paint and clear coat.
FAQ
What if I have a mix of small chips and a larger scratch near each other on the same panel?
If both kinds of damage are visible together, treat the panel as one job and pick the kit that fits the larger or more visible repair. An aerosol kit handles both small and larger damage in the same session; using a bottle on the chips and an aerosol on the scratch leaves the chip repairs with a different surface texture than the surrounding sprayed area.
How do I know if my scratch is "through the primer"?
Look closely at the bottom of the scratch in good lighting. If you see the color of bare metal (silver on most cars) or unpainted plastic, the damage has gone through the factory color and primer layers — you need a kit with primer (Preferred or Complete).
What if my scratch is right at the edge between sizes — coin-sized but not clearly smaller or larger?
Either kit can work in the borderline case; let location and visibility tip the decision.
If the scratch is on a highly visible panel (hood, fender, door), go aerosol for the texture match.
If it's on a less visible area where you're mainly protecting against rust, bottle is fine.
But, if there is rust in the chip that needs sanding to remove, the sanding will make the damage larger, and often a good candidate for an aerosol repair.
Can I use brush repair on a removable part to save the cost of an aerosol kit?
You could if it's a tiny chip or two, but the surface texture will differ from the surrounding factory finish.
The advantage of removing or masking a part for aerosol repair is that you don't have to blend into the existing factory texture — the whole repair area gets one consistent sprayed surface.
For parts that are easy to remove or mask, that's the cleanest result.
Is there a guided tool that helps me match a kit to my scratch?
Yes — try ScratchMatch™. Instead of evaluating your scratch against the size, depth, and location framework above, you browse real customer scratch photos until you find one that looks like yours, and ScratchMatch recommends the matching kit.
Same underlying logic as this article — just delivered as point-and-pick instead of read-and-decide.