Hey guys,

Was wondering if those with more experience than me could offer some expertise. I noticed today when I washed my car that the pillar part next to the windshield has some light scratches in it. I was thinking about trying to polish them out myself, but I was nervous because that part has a different "piano" finish. Can light scratches be buffed out of that area the same as the rest of my paint, or do I need to do anything special? Thanks in advance!

 

Those are of a plastic material. If you're determined to try to polish them out, do it by hand and not a rotary polisher as heat buildup could make things infinitely worse. Mine have gotten a little like that at 100+K. They're just battle scars from wonderful days of motoring.
On the other hand, they could be caused by improper washing like running the car thru a car wash bay. Guys who really fuss over their cars wash by hand only - two buckets and nothing but the best microfiber.

 

Thanks for the response! I am one of those ocd people who does the two buckets, microfiber, etc etc.

I don't know where these came from but it looks like a branch or something hit my car from the pattern/quantity etc.

I am definitely not planning on attacking them any other way besides by hand. I'm thinking of trying some Plastx on them.

 

I'd start out with just a clay bar and a fresh coat of wax and work up from there if needed.

 

Used a tiny bit of Plastx and rubbed them right out. Turned out great. I'll be doing an all over polish and rewax this weekend so I'll go over them with some protection then, but can't complain about a 6 dollar fix!

 

I just recently did this by hand and have been very happy with the results.

First I washed the car (not with dish soap) and dried with microfiber towels and then used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. Added some wax when I was all done and I was good to go.

The pillars go pretty fast and they've stayed scratch-free on my daily driver for several weeks. I had not done any compounding before, so I figured this would be a good place to start to see what it's like and how long it lasts.

Good luck!