Scratches on paint

[Johnny boy]

Has anybody else noticed how the painted piano black panel between the rear doors and back window are covered in faint scratches, has anybody solved this ?

 

[Chequers]

They are not painted, they are very soft plastic.

 

[Johnny boy]

is there anything that is available to stick over this when it gets worse or would scratch remover help, I have never rubbed this area, only washed the car

 

[JonnyG]

They should polish up OK back to a decent standard. It's a common problem with the B Pillars on a lot of cars.

You could try a fine polish by hand, but it's a job ideally done with a machine polisher and masking off the surrounding areas.

50/50 photo here

 

[siteguru]

That's another thing that changed between MY22 and MY23 ... in the MY22 cars that section is matte black.

 

[JonnyG]

That's another thing that changed between MY22 and MY23 ... in the MY22 cars that section is matte black.

Thanks, did'nt know that !! - I've edited my post accordingly

 

[siteguru]

Sorry - my mistake. I was thinking about the plastic section at the bottom of the doors. The section noted in the OP is indeed gloss on the MY22 cars.

 

[Diggsy]

Those parts of the car are impossible to keep free of swirls and minor scratches. It’s the same material as the piano black inside the car too. As said above, without a machine polisher you’ll never fully get rid of them. Wish car manufacturers would stop using that type of finish!

 

[Johnny boy]

Those parts of the car are impossible to keep free of swirls and minor scratches. It’s the same material as the piano black inside the car too. As said above, without a machine polisher you’ll never fully get rid of them. Wish car manufacturers would stop using that type of finish!

maybe TEMU or Ali Express will manufacturer a stick on cover like they do for the inside surfaces

 

[Diggsy]

maybe TEMU or Ali Express will manufacturer a stick on cover like they do for the inside surfaces

That would certainly be handy, I’d buy a set

 

[dsimpkins]

See my other post about Supagard Paintseal cream. It's meant for paint, but I tried it on a small section of the piano black plastic, and it came up a treat. Has not removed the scratches and swirl marks entirely, but it certainly has improved them considerably.

Post is here:
Supagard Paintseal Cream

 

[JonnyG]

If you trawl through "White Details" Youtube videos there is a good one somewhere where he applies self healing PPF to a car including the black glossy B Pillars. This does seem to work well as any swirls / scratches just disappear with a bit of heat (from a heat gun) and the B Pillars look great. He demonstrates this in his video.

However I suspect it's not cheap !!

 

[DerekH]

Just get some automotive, black gloss vinyl wrap. Make a template from masking tape, transfer to the vinyl. Clean the car area to be wrapped with isopropyl alchol then Spray straight water no detergent required) on the wrap and car area to be wrapped and work any air bubbles out. No need to apply heat to wrap as its a fairly flat surface.

 

[boomish]

Just get some automotive, black gloss vinyl wrap. Make a template from masking tape, transfer to the vinyl. Clean the car area to be wrapped with isopropyl alchol then Spray straight water no detergent required) on the wrap and car area to be wrapped and work any air bubbles out. No need to apply heat to wrap as its a fairly flat surface.

That’s great idea, I might try a matt finish, does it have to be any particular vinyl wrap ? Is it the self adhesive type? I didn’t realise you could use water to float it on.

 

[Daniel Brown]

My door pillars came wrapped from the factory, so see if yours are too.
I can peel the edge of the wrap up on the inside of the door

 

[DerekH]

That’s great idea, I might try a matt finish, does it have to be any particular vymal wrap ? Is it the self adhesive type? I didn’t realise you could use water to float it on.

I have used a sign wrap but yeh, matt, gloss or even a different colour. If you go into a local shop, they will often sell cheap prices off a roll and you don't need much for the small areas on the car. I recently wrapped a whole mtb frame this way in clear for $20. And I have zero training in applying it so trust me less detailed and contoured areas are very easy to do.

 

[Adam C]

They should polish up OK back to a decent standard. It's a common problem with the B Pillars on a lot of cars.

You could try a fine polish by hand, but it's a job ideally done with a machine polisher and masking off the surrounding areas.

50/50 photo here

View attachment 25715

On my last Ford Focus I used ( applying & buffing off very lightly ) Autoglym Super Resin Polish

It didn’t get rid of all the swirl marks but it did help

+ I find personally using some ceramic sprays on these plastics after washing the car helps prevent some swirling because next time you wash you won’t have to use that much pressure because with a decent coating most of the dirt/grit etc comes away with just a light rinse.

 

[crl84]

There's DIY PPF kits for the MG4 here:

Headlight Protection Film Pre-Cut Kits

www.xpel.com

A/B/C/D pillar kit is $181

Plenty of youtube videos on how to apply them.