WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsDOES IT WORK? Fix It Pro

DOES IT WORK? Fix It Pro

MADISON (WKOW) -- The Fix It! Pro pen promises to erase your car's scratches with a quick swipe of the tip.

The commercials make it look easy and effortless.

27 News Consumer Reporter Dan Cassuto put the pen to the test.

We went to the parking lot of WKOW-DT.  No surprise there -- lots of scratched, beat up car paint.

The pen works by dabbing a clear liquid on scratches.  The liquid is supposed to dry in direct sunlight and bond to your car's paint.

We followed the directions and had very disappointing results.

The liquid in the pen dried almost instantly, even in the mild April Wisconsin sunshine.  In fact, it dried so fast, the pen's tip became as hard as a cement block.

We couldn't use the pen anymore because the applicator was hardened in a matter of minutes.  We barely got to apply the liquid to more than a single tiny scratch.

We tried to push the tip back into the pen and re-saturate it.  Unfortunately, this didn't work.  The liquid leaked all over our hands.  It burns!  Not a great idea.

The next day, we took another pen (we bought two) to MATC's body shop in Madison.  We had similar disappointing results.

It was another sunny day.  The pen's tip dried up in about two minutes.  We only had a chance to apply the liquid to two scratches before it hardened and the pen became useless.

We knew that sunlight would dry the liquid.  We didn't leave the pen exposed or open when we weren't using it.  It dried on its own when we had it out, literally, working to erase scratches.

And - to top it off -- the scratches didn't even look that much better.  It did a fair job of covering the scratch, but then it dried in a gel-like gloppy mess.  You would be able to tell the car's owner put some kind of goop all over the scratch.  Messy.

Our verdict?  We didn't like the Fix It! Pro pen at all.  Both pens dried instantly and became essentially useless in a matter of minutes. 

The commercials don't say you'll only have 35 seconds to apply the liquid or it'll be over.  $10 wasted.

We give the Fix It! Pro pen zero stars. 

Email Dan Cassuto at dcassuto@wkowtv.com