I have had my first minor ding on my beloved 2004 BRG MSC. Another bumper has made contact with my bumper and I have a 9”x 6” area where the plastic has a variety of scratches. Can I buff this out? The plastic when scratched is white and I am worried that if I try to buff it out I will just damage the plastic more.

I picked up the following from a search and it doesn’t sound right to me.

Step One-
Clean the area.

Step Two-
Meguiar's ScratchX. Apply in left to right motions, not circular. You want to try and smooth out the buff mark. The buffy haze you are seeing in the paint is the result of the clear coat and/or paint being roughed up. Might want to repeat this step.

Step Three-
Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze. Again, left to right, not circular application, as you are working on a horizontal bumper. Top to bottom would work also, just don't "wax on, wax off" ala Karate Kid. The glaze will fill in the buff mark to bring it level and create a shine to mask the abuse.

Step Four-
Wax it to protect it now.


So my question is whether there is a different process from fixing plastic scratches compared to paint scratches. Also I have a PC Dual Action polisher available.

Thanks for your help.

Robert

 

The above procedure is good. You can get good results with or without the PC polisher.

Three key things to remember:

1. be patient, take your time.
2. use the least aggressive polish that will do the job.
3. remember #1.

 

Do you know what color the other bumper involved was? If it is white it may just be some of the paint from the other vehicle deposited onto your bumper. {that would polish off}
Your car has a clear paint ontop of BRG color {two stage paint}. When the clear coat is sctratched it turns a white color. You can polish light scratches with a polish made for clear coat. {local paint/parts supply store can help with product} Sometimes if the scratches are to deep to come completely out you can at least get rid of the white discoloration, and then it doesn't look to bad.
No, you can't heart the plastic by polishing.

 

No you cant hert the plastic either.

 

Flitz it

 

hopefully you can't hurt it either.