My first scratch!! (I hope I'm posting in the correct forum...)

[enigmar]

OK, my 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Route 66 Edition is less than 2 months old, I just went over 3000 miles, and lo and behold, I discovered a scratch! O-my-gosh! The scratch isn't on the paint, but on the right side rear-view mirror housing, made of some kind of hard plastic. The scratch's position is not what one would expect if a shopping cart or car door hit it, I have no idea how it got there. Of course I tried rubbing it off, tried some detailer on it, but that ugly four inch scratch is there for sure.

Is there anything that can be done? Perhaps rub some black shoe polish in it or something?? Please help, the scratch is at such a viewable location, to me it almost spoils the whole car!!



Billy

[Murr1525]

Is it that gray/black textured kind of plastic?

[enigmar]

Whoops, I guess I could have been more specific. Its a very dark grey or off-black plastic with a grainy texture.

[Mike Phillips]

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...


In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the surface is level or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or scratches.

The below diagram if for paint, the the same thing applies to just about an surface material or coating.



In essences, you don't really remove a scratch, you remove material around a scratch.

Then the big question is, is the material or coating workable, as in can you abrade small particles of it and leave behind an original looking surface. For example, some things you can abrade, (remove the scratch), but you can never completely remove all of your abrading marks, thus you can't really fix the problem, all you can do is exchange one set of scratches of a different set of scratches.

The next questions is, how thick is the surface material you're working on or the coating. You are limited to what you can do by the thickness of these to things, (surface coating or surface material), and whether or not this surface is workable.

Sometimes you don't know what you can so until you try. It's always a good idea to test your choice of products, applicator materials and application process, (By hand or by machine), to an inconspicuous area. If you cannot make a small area look good with your product, applicator and process, you will not be able to make the entire surface look good. It's always a good idea to test first and error on the side of caution, versus make a mistake you cannot undo.

[Mike Phillips]

Moved out of Meguiar's Automotive FAQ and into Detailing 101

[enigmar]

Thanks Mike for the reply. I understand quite well what you are saying.

I've spent some time evaluating the scratch, and I'm convinced that there's little that can be done. I can lessen the contrast of the scratch so that its not as visible from a distance, but beyond that, I've begun looking for a replacement mirror/housing. Knowing that many owners replace the mirrors with custom mirrors, I suspect I'lll find one eventually.