Repairing interior plastic

Gaygle · 11 Mar 2021 at 13:43

Armageus said:
Polish with toothpaste or a very mild abrasive like AG SRP - it will likely improve it to some degree, but as others have said only real option is to replace.

Polishing textured interior plastic with a mild filler polish?! Definitely do not do this! You'll never get the white polish out. It's bad enough when you touch exterior plastics with polish let alone working it into soft textured interior plastics.

red eye · 20 Mar 2021 at 17:18

Hot air gun, you won’t get it perfect but it will be less noticeable.

disclaimer
Be careful too much heat can put a shine on or melt the plastic.

mom sure there’s some YouTube vids on fixing textured bumpers

theone8181 · 20 Mar 2021 at 19:28

I just bought a new doorcard from ebay. Fitted it today and it only took half an hour. Am going to try to sell the used one on ebay (cheap).

Scania · 20 Mar 2021 at 19:41

red eye said:
Hot air gun, you won’t get it perfect but it will be less noticeable.

disclaimer
Be careful too much heat can put a shine on or melt the plastic.

mom sure there’s some YouTube vids on fixing textured bumpers

I know the OP has resolved the problem but just wanted to say I use a heat gun to remove the frequently acquired scratches to the trim in my HGV, works perfectly so long as your careful.

nlel1975 · 24 Jul 2021 at 16:55

I’ve got something similar on my February 2019 Smart Fortwo which I’ve owned from new. I did it with the ignition key when I was getting into the car one day...

I’ve searched google and the only options are to try some toothpaste or use a heat gun, there’s no products out there which can specifically tackle this. Basically once it’s there it’s there for life.

Definitely not going to buy a heat gun and there’s zero chance of getting one from the scrap yard, just going to live with it, it’s not that bad.

Nasher · 24 Jul 2021 at 17:33

I found recently that ceramic coating hides it quite well (the stuff used on headlights and windows etc, not the one for paint). I think it just changes the way the light reflects off it so it isn't as obvious. It does make the surface slightly shinier though.

nlel1975 · 26 Jul 2021 at 08:12

Just got a quote for a brand new drivers side door card from the main dealer, it’s £ 186.90. I’d have to pay to have it fitted as well as I wouldn’t be able to do it.

There’s a used one on eBay for £ 54.99 + delivery to Jersey but there’s no guarantee it would be in as new condition. So I’m just going to live with it, it’s not worth replacing over such a minor scratch.

Demon · 28 Jul 2021 at 07:43

Why not try a heat gun?, we had bad scratches on the passenger glove box door on a Nissan Xtrail, way in excess of anything shown and the heat gun reduced those down to pretty much nothing.. quite impressive.

If it fails then you can look at complete replacement..

nlel1975 · 28 Jul 2021 at 13:54

Demon said:
If it fails then you can look at complete replacement..

It’s a case of stick or twist. I think I’ll stick as I don’t want to make it any worse or shiny. Don’t fancy replacing it at a cost of £ 186.90 + fitting costs. I’m fortunate not to have OCD.