Interior plastic panel scratches repair?

juareze16 said:

I have noticed that the plastic parts in the interior seem to get scratched fairly easy but have never cared too much about the scratches. Recently a friend sat in the passenger seat and rubbed his book bag along the glove compartment as he was getting in and scratched the plastic. Does anyone know how to repair/cover up scratches on the plastic interior? Does anyone else have issues with the plastic scratching easily?

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If it's a deep scratch there's nothing you can do as it's textured. You might be able to buff down rough patches with something akin to crocus cloth. For light surface scratches I'd just clean it and apply some sort of interior detail spray and it should become almost non-existent. I actually just use my leather conditioner on the rest of my interior to keep it looking nice and dark.

I only suggest this method AFTER you have practiced on either some spare plastic pieces or somewhere it won't be seen!
One trick we use to do back in my competitive stereo building days is to carefully heat the plastic up (we used very small butane torches) just enough to get soft, then take a piece of textured abs plastic and press on it just enough to transfer the pattern onto the soft plastic. As I original stated tho, this takes some practice on technique and getting a matching picece of textured abs helps as well. *DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!*

Dadsreward said:

I only suggest this method AFTER you have practiced on either some spare plastic pieces or somewhere it won't be seen!
One trick we use to do back in my competitive stereo building days is to carefully heat the plastic up (we used very small butane torches) just enough to get soft, then take a piece of textured abs plastic and press on it just enough to transfer the pattern onto the soft plastic. As I original stated tho, this takes some practice on technique and getting a matching picece of textured abs helps as well. *DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!*

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Yea that sounds kinda risky. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Pics of the scratch?

Rambl3r said:

Pics of the scratch?

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I'll take one after I get off of work.

Honestly it's not that big but it's deep. To me the car was totaled after I noticed that but then I got myself together and realized that's just what happens to a daily driver.

...That?

You're just going to have to live with that one. Clean it and put some detailer on it and you won't even remember it after a week.

BlueThunder said:

...That?

You're just going to have to live with that one. Clean it and put some detailer on it and you won't even remember it after a week.

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Yea I figured. Hopefully that's the worse that happens to it.

BlueThunder said:

...That?

You're just going to have to live with that one. Clean it and put some detailer on it and you won't even remember it after a week.

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Yup! Doesn't look too bad though, OP.

Rambl3r said:

Yup! Doesn't look too bad though, OP.

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Maybe my eyes are bad, but it don't look bad to me.

CCCP1999 said:

Maybe my eyes are bad, but it don't look bad to me.

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Honestly it's not bad at all, you can't notice it unless i point it out. But I know it's there!

what about those scuff marks that end up on the lower part of the doors when getting out. well, when you wife is getting out. simple water didn't wipe it off as it is a light scuff. not a deep scratch.

aham23 said:

what about those scuff marks that end up on the lower part of the doors when getting out. well, when you wife is getting out. simple water didn't wipe it off as it is a light scuff. not a deep scratch.

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Clean them off then apply some interior detailer. Or something thicker like a leather conditioner. It should bring the dark color back to it and make it less likely to happen again.

Ugh... How to fix this one?

I don't want to point fingers and there is virtually nothing they will do about it, but I'm pretty sure this was caused by the dealership when they performed the TSB for the seat climate control. My passenger seat is very rarely used and most that do use it are very particular about being careful. I haven't actually looked at the passenger side since the work was done, so I can't place a specific timeframe of when it happened. Carelessly wielded tools (or parts) during the TSB service is the only way I can fathom anything hard enough to cause this coming in contact with the center console. Especially since the gap and the sides of the seat make a buffer zone several inches wide between the console and where a passenger would be.

Regardless of how and when it happened, I need some ideas for making it look better... Thanks for your help