Maintaining Painted Plastic Surfaces

[dab]

I am trying to clean up the painted plastic surfaces on my car, some with deep scratches.

Are the detailing techniques discussed here applicable to these surfaces? Specifically, I am speaking of the front and back bumper of my Maxima, which are painted the same as the metal parts of the car, but are actually plastic.

Thanks,

Dave

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Maintaining Painted Plastic Surfaces

Hi Dave,

You treat the painted plastic parts just like you would any paint on the car. What's under the paint doesn't really matter as you're not working on this material. We get this question from Corvette and Viper owners all the time.

Always treat the surface coating, not the underlying material. That would be Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Wash
Clay if needed
Prep if needed
Polish - Optional
Protect - Apply a wax or paint sealant
Maintain - QD or UQD in-between normal washing and waxing.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Maintaining Painted Plastic Surfaces

Ive always read that it will heat up quicker than metal when buffing. I suppose this would only be a problem with a rotary.

How do you plan on removing the scratches?

[christian6984]

Re: Maintaining Painted Plastic Surfaces

Hiya Guys i came across a newer version of my Renault Clio recently and looks like the trim (if you see front bumper strips, they are dull incomparison to the rest) is the black pebbled sort and just a light spray of paint is placed of the top still giving the textured surface. How would you tackle this, surely cant be polished as the polish will get stuck in the tiny dents, and cant apply trim detailer or would see no point. Any thoughts

[dab]

Re: Maintaining Painted Plastic Surfaces

Thanks for your comments Mike,

I have had great success with Scratch-X on the metal sections of the car so I will use that on the plastic sections as well.

Thanks,

Dave