having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

[link626]

there are so many microscratches on my rear spoiler lip that it looks white under the sun.
the color is charcoal.

I polished in a perpendicular direction to the scratches, and it seemed to help a little, making it look a little shinier, but it seems i'm introducing more scratches.
This is even with Plastx.

the spoiler is made out of plastic or something, and painted from the factory. But it seems like the polishing technique i use for the rest of the car does not work on the spoiler. Someone on a prius forum said toyota makes these spoilers unpaintable. Perhaps my spoiler doesn't have paint on it, even though it matches the color of my car.

I tried to polish lightly, but that doesn't help either. I'm stuck.

Has anyone dealt with this? I was wondering if it has to do with the material...

[Evan.J]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

What product did you use? What application type did you use? How much pressure?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

So the color of the car is charcoal gray? Can we assume that's a metallic color? Is the spoiler lip also a charcoal metallic? If so, it is most definitely painted, and since it's the paint you're working on you don't really care what's under the paint. For example, on a Mazda MX-5 Miata the hood and trunk lid are aluminum, the doors, fenders and quarter panels are steel, and the front and rear bumper covers are urethane - but they are all covered in paint so they are all treated exactly the same way.

The PlastX you are using is designed for clear plastics, like headlights, tail lights, instrument clusters, etc. You're still working on paint, even if the substrate is plastic, so you want a product designed for paint. That means you should use the same products you're using on the rest of the car. Now, it is quite possible that the paint on the spoiler is actually a bit different than the paint on the rest of the car since these parts, along with the bumper covers, are usually supplied under contract and are painted before they arrive at the factory. Whether this is true or not with the small spoiler on this car we can't say for absolute certain, but it is quite possible. That means they aren't being painted with exactly the same paint as was used on the rest of the car. Yes, the color matches, but the exact chemistry of the paint could be a bit different and that could make the paint respond a bit differently. Or it could just be your product choice here, which, as we've already mentioned, is the wrong product for a painted surface.

What did you use on the rest of the car?

[link626]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

What product did you use? What application type did you use? How much pressure?

yeah. the whole car, spoiler, is metallic charcoal.


i was using a regular car polish (i don't know what brand, but it works on other stuff) equivalent to 1000 grit, put on a cotton cloth, and i tried hard pressure and light pressure, moving rapidly side to side. Also tried circular motion.
If i do lighter pressure, it doesn't seem to remove any scratches.

when i do the exact same thing on the metal, it doesn't create more scratches. But on the spoiler lip, it does, and it's very noticeable.

[Evan.J]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

yeah. the whole car, spoiler, is metallic charcoal.


i was using a regular car polish (i don't know what brand, but it works on other stuff) equivalent to 1000 grit, put on a cotton cloth, and i tried hard pressure and light pressure, moving rapidly side to side. Also tried circular motion.
If i do lighter pressure, it doesn't seem to remove any scratches.

when i do the exact same thing on the metal, it doesn't create more scratches. But on the spoiler lip, it does, and it's very noticeable.

What about scratch X 2.0 with a foam applicator or microfiber applicator? Seems like maybe it was the cotton cloth that was doing the damage. You should take a look at the brand of what you used.

[link626]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

i will try scratch x with microfiber cloth.

[Evan.J]

Re: having trouble with rear spoiler micro scratches

i will try scratch x with microfiber cloth.

Do a test spot and see how that works Report back and let us know. You wouldn't be about to get a foam applicator pad would you. That my hlp you out more as well.