It has been well documented that the paint on the 4Runner seems to be very soft. I have a several surface scratches that I have not been able to buff out with rubbing compound or normal waxing.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what products have worked for you in removing such scratches. I want to emphasize that these are not deep scratches that would require a body shop.

Thanks for any product referrals. If it matters, I have Galactic Grey.

Dan

My suggestion is GS27. I have used that to get out some pretty ugly scratches on a silver 4Runner. It works great, though it depends on how deep the scratch is. You could find that at any auto parts store.

Meguiar's Scratch X worked well for me, but I've only used it for swirl marks.

Well, you have two choices:

1. Hide the scratches with a filler type scratch remover

2. Polish them out with an abrasive type polish


I have no experience with #1, so can't offer a recommendation.

For polishes, you can get polishes designed for machine or hand use. I don't own a machine polisher, so all I've used are hand polishes. I have had good success with both Griot's "Fine Hand Polish" and 3M "Swirl Mark Remover". Both work well, and I never compounded the problem with either of these products (i.e. they didn't add scratches).

A general rule is that if you can catch the scratch with a fingernail, you won't be able to polish it out.

edit: I just noticed you said you used rubbing compound! Be careful with that stuff as it is very abrasive and can damage the clearcoat. I had a friend that did this (over time) and polished the clearcoat right off his Explorer. Note that this was about 10 years ago, so rubbing compound formulations might have changed since then.

I was not aware the problem of "soft paint" on Toyota vehicles. It couldn't be worse than the finish our 02 Jeep Cherokee had, it developed MANY more chips in 2 years than my Toyota pickup has in 10. I was actually looking forward to a paint finish I wouldn't have to worry about. Hope your wrong.

Thanks for the great suggestions. I went to the auto store today and could find only the 3M. So, I bought it.

Got home and washed the truck . . . and went to work on about 10 scratches.

This product quickly eliminated most of the scratches and minimized the deeper ones so that you can barely see them.

Thanks everyone who took the time to reply. I recommend the 3M product which I found near the body products (ie. bondo) in the auto store.

Dan