Remove/Hide Scratches on Interior Plastic?

[BamaDrewski]

I have been detailing my rig and have found a few scratches in the interior plastic.

I have read everything from rubbing vaseline on it to sanding with 220 grit paper, filling with superglue, sanding again and then spraying on matching plastic dye. And no LittleCaesar, I have not rubbed Liquid Moly on it....(LOL)

HAS ANYONE HAD SUCCESS REMOVING/HIDING SCRATCHES ON THE HARD INTERIOR PLASTIC? If, so - please let all of us know what method you have been successful with! Thanks!.

 

[Hesk11dog]

just a couple of suggestions; matching color shoe polish to blend, have seen people use a sharpie on darker interiors, and the most radical one is to heat the surface up using a hair dryer and blend the scratches when they are malleable. Be careful with that last one. Make sure the surface is VERY clean before trying any of these.

 

[kuyaariel]

I would like to know the answer to this too. My new 4runner is a week and a half old. My garage door open fell on the center console and left a scratch mark. I couldn't believe it. Then I looked on the forum and say this was normal.... Any fixes?

 

[BamaDrewski]

I would like to know the answer to this too. My new 4runner is a week and a half old. My garage door open fell on the center console and left a scratch mark. I couldn't believe it. Then I looked on the forum and say this was normal.... Any fixes?

Kuya: I had hoped more people would have responded on this issue as I am sure we all have them on these old rigs.

The only thing I have found that is rather tricky is to use a windproof lighter or mini torch and carefully warm the scratch and see if it fades or becomes less obvious.

 

[ThorInc]

Subbed....good thread!

 

[mountain mike]

I have not tried this myself, but my dad got a scratch on the wheel flair on his FJ. The plastic is similar to the inside of our truck, maybe a little softer. He took it to a body shop and they heated it up with a heat gun and then laid cheese cloth on it to get the texture back and played around with it until it matched. I have to say it looked pretty good when they were done. Let me see if I can find a pic.

 

[Low-Tek]

I have not tried this myself, but my dad got a scratch on the wheel flair on his FJ. The plastic is similar to the inside of our truck, maybe a little softer. He took it to a body shop and they heated it up with a heat gun and then laid cheese cloth on it to get the texture back and played around with it until it matched. I have to say it looked pretty good when they were done. Let me see if I can find a pic.

Be SUUUUUUPER careful if you try the heat method. Just a little bit too much heat with the heat gun and you can really mess up that interior. That being said there are some people that can make it look really good.

The sharpie trick doesn't look very good imho.

Probably the safest way is the sand, superglue, sand, color method. Done right, this looks almost perfect. I have seen some maaaajor cracks even fixed this way. There are some youtubers that have good videos on how to do it.

 

[mountain mike]

here is a picture after the repair. I can't tell where the scratches were, but was told they were on the outside lip on the down part of the flair.

 

[2003-4x4runner]

I read somewhere to use a blow-dryer to heat up the plastic and use a magic eraser to smooth out the spot and dull out the glossy area.

 

[infamousRNR]

I have been detailing my rig and have found a few scratches in the interior plastic.

I have read everything from rubbing vaseline on it to sanding with 220 grit paper, filling with superglue, sanding again and then spraying on matching plastic dye. And no LittleCaesar, I have not rubbed Liquid Moly on it....(LOL)

HAS ANYONE HAD SUCCESS REMOVING/HIDING SCRATCHES ON THE HARD INTERIOR PLASTIC? If, so - please let all of us know what method you have been successful with! Thanks!.

i definitely hope this thread continues with different ways people were successful with removing scratches on interior plastics...

very interested to hear success stories and before and afters

 

[mark21742]

For deep cuts or gouges in plastic panels I've had luck with the 2 part rubber bumper repair kits (dark gray) then used a brush and some model paint to make marks and repairs less obvious. With a black interior ive repaired then just sprayed the panel

 

[ToyotaBrah]

My glovebox has some really deep gouges that were done by the previous owner being dumb. Thankfully, that's only part of the interior that has scratches. I think I'm going to just buy a new glovebox from Toyota ($145...gulp).

If the panels aren't too expensive, I would just buy them new.

 

[ThorInc]

My glovebox has some really deep gouges that were done by the previous owner being dumb. Thankfully, that's only part of the interior that has scratches. I think I'm going to just buy a new glovebox from Toyota ($145...gulp).

If the panels aren't too expensive, I would just buy them new.

If you buy a new glove box, it's the perfect time to see if you can resurrect the damaged one!

 

[99Runnr]

I had luck many times now using a small torch on plastics. Mine wasn't an interior panel application, but on ATV plastics. Somewhat apples to oranges, but definitely works if you have a steady/slow application process. Obviously the thinner the material, the less heat you need.

Good thread for the meticulous people hiding on this forum.

 

[redneckj]

heat gun. Works great. take your time and dont go over board. The heat gun will not make the scratch go all the way away. it will look better though

 

[cjoymccalla]

scratches on interior plastic door handles

Help! Is there any way to repair scratches on the interior plastic door handles of my 2013 4Runner?

 

[SnowMouse]

Deep gouge in rear cargo panel

I’m curious what people have done to fix deep gouges in the plastic panels. I understand it will happen over time and if I had taken this thing camping at least once I wouldn’t be as upset but it’s a week old 2020 TRD Pro. I was shocked when I saw the damage, I had a friend in college who had a 04 4runner and even with the abuse it held up well.