'21 TRD Pro Scratch Repair Question

[4034Runner]

Hoping someone can steer me in the right direction here...

Last week when my wife was driving my 4Runner it looks like another vehicle scraped the rear passenger wheel arch (see attached pic) in the parkade of her office building. I was able to buff out the majority of the scratches on the panel between the tail light and the wheel arch myself, but I'm at a loss for how (or if its even possible...) to fix the scratches remaining on the plastic wheel arch.

I called my local Toyota autobody shop and they advised that there's little they can do aside from removing the entire wheel arch and repainting it. It didn't sound like they offer any other solutions.

My 4Runner has seen a lot of mud and trail time since I bought it in August, and if this happened on the trail it wouldn't really bother me. It bothers me that another vehicle did this so I'd like to repair it as best I can if possible.

Any tips, products or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

JG

 

[Too Stroked]

Without seeing that damage in person and laying hands on it, it's tough to say. The general rule I use is that if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, you're into a re-paint situation. You can try buffing more, but you risk buffing right through - and then you're also into a repaint situation. Look at the bright side, at least it's only the flare.

 

[prospect25]

^Agreed with this logic. You could try to wetsand it with a very light abrasion paper and soapy water on the area and then buff, but until you get a divorce your wife will probably put more scrapes on it (sarcasm but true)