Has anyone ever managed to do something with the grey trim on a scout? Mine looks pretty yucky but I'm loathed to go at it with the polish just in case!

 

 

I never used anything on our Octavia but, after trying a number of other products I did use GTechniq C4 on two Honda Civics and various other vehicles and have just bought a bottle for use on our Kodiaq.

 

It worked an absolute treat on the Civic's plastic trim and restored the finish completely and lasted a few years until they were sold.

Thanks skomaz. Pretty sure these are painted not bare plastic sure not sure if that would work?

12 hours ago, goatboy said:

Thanks skomaz. Pretty sure these are painted not bare plastic sure not sure if that would work?

No. They are plastic. Rotary polisher and T Cut followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Autoglym Plastic and Rubber Spay lasts 2-3 weeks if applied regularly.

33 minutes ago, Golf-Fiend said:

No. They are plastic. Rotary polisher and T Cut followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Autoglym Plastic and Rubber Spay lasts 2-3 weeks if applied regularly.

 

Thanks. Have you polished them before? Happy to give it a go but was a bit worried about making them really shiny!

You'll be lucky to get them shiny! Even if they do it'll only last a couple of weeks until they dull but they should remain darker/black for longer.

To be honest anything has to be better than what it currently looks like!

2 hours ago, goatboy said:

 

Thanks. Have you polished them before? Happy to give it a go but was a bit worried about making them really shiny!

 

If you are going to try this test a very small patch in an unseen place first as I think you'll find it'll go whitish over time.

 

It actually looks like that's what's caused the problem to start with.

6 minutes ago, skomaz said:

 

If you are going to try this test a very small patch in an unseen place first as I think you'll find it'll go whitish over time.

 

It actually looks like that's what's caused the problem to start with.

 

It's never been polished before for sure. But thanks I will go careful 

Peanut Butter was used years ago and worked, best on a small area as it could be patchy looking, as heating with an appropriate appliance. Heat gun.

Problem is when it ends up looking crap. 

Just as a little follow up on this I decided to experiment on one of my foglight surrounds.

 

I gave it a good clean and then tried heat. For the record heat did nothing at all. I've used heat successfully on plain plastic trim on other cars but here it was ineffective.

 

So I then tried in patches

 

Tyre gel

Plastic trim reviver

Black coloured wax (turtle wax)

Normal wax

Polish

Polish and wax

 

They all made it look better to varying degrees, so I then washed the trim again.

 

 

The trim restorer washed off immediately, no obvious signs it was even there! 

The tyre gel was still doing something but not much and I suspected it would be gone after another wash or 2. 

The polish and normal wax had done well but it looked like the polish had taken off too much colour.

 

The black wax looked good but you could see it hadn't quite covered so many imperfections as the polish and wax.

 

So I tried combining a light polish and the black wax which seems to have come out really well!!

 

 

Now to try on the rest of the bumper! Little nervous as there are some scratches and stone chips that may cause problems but it can't look much worse...

As you've discovered it's a matt grey paint finish with the paint code L7DL

The front bumper is white plastic and the side trims are black plastic, both painted in the above matt grey.

 

 

3 minutes ago, GrizzledBear said:

As you've discovered it's a matt grey paint finish with the paint code L7DL

The front bumper is white plastic and the side trims are black plastic, both painted in the above matt grey.

 

 

 

Thanks. That's what I believed to be true but the amount of people who swear blind that they need heating and plastic trim restorer on them and they have done it before is astonishing. I had to give it a try!

I already have a tin of of the correct paint in the garage!

18 hours ago, GrizzledBear said:

As you've discovered it's a matt grey paint finish with the paint code L7DL

The front bumper is white plastic and the side trims are black plastic, both painted in the above matt grey.

 

 

I don't believe that to be true. If it was white plastic then some of those scratches are deep enough to reveal the base material.

Find a deep one and make it a little deeper with a photo and show us the results.

22 minutes ago, Golf-Fiend said:

I don't believe that to be true. If it was white plastic then some of those scratches are deep enough to reveal the base material.

Find a deep one and make it a little deeper with a photo and show us the results.

 

Some of those deeper scratches have been touched up, they were white before. If you zoom in above the foglight you can see if white in the stone chips, looks like it's full of wax but that is based material, or at least white primer.

31 minutes ago, Golf-Fiend said:

I don't believe that to be true. If it was white plastic then some of those scratches are deep enough to reveal the base material.

Find a deep one and make it a little deeper with a photo and show us the results.

Fair enough, I'm too old to argue on the internet. 

8 minutes ago, goatboy said:

 

Some of those deeper scratches have been touched up, they were white before. If you zoom in above the foglight you can see if white in the stone chips, looks like it's full of wax but that is based material, or at least white primer.

 That's where mine showed white also, around the edges of the fog light opening and lower edges below the numberplate. 

30 minutes ago, GrizzledBear said:

 That's where mine showed white also, around the edges of the fog light opening and lower edges below the numberplate. 

 

I stand corrected.  Why not make it out of the black/grey plastic same as the side trims? If it's paint then in that state only a respray can help. Or a rotorary mop on a drill with lots of t-cut and polish?

50 minutes ago, Golf-Fiend said:

 

I stand corrected.  Why not make it out of the black/grey plastic same as the side trims? If it's paint then in that state only a respray can help. Or a rotorary mop on a drill with lots of t-cut and polish?

 

I've had a go at the polish route but it still needs more work. Looks a fair chunk better though....