My 5 year old Piano Black trim has many small scratches on it. Can these be rubbed out with a common scratch remover, such as I would use on the exterior surface paint?
I don't know where I could even test it without bad results showing up.
Anyone out there tried to restore the plastic trim?

 

If you're talking about the black on the A-pillars and roof then yes you can use normal polishes and techniques on those to get the results you want. They are much softer than the rest of the paint so don't go full on with a super abrasive compound, but try medium and go from there.

 

Sounds like youre talking about the dash pieces?!?!

 

Yes, sorry I was't more specific. The dash and door pieces are the main issue, although I also would like to address the exterior black paint. The interior pieces are truly micro scratches, for the most part, where as the pillars and roof have some that even my wife can see. I've used scratch remover compounds reasonably successfully on the main paint, but so far have only used soft nano fabrics and Prima products inside (Slick or Nero).
Now I want to try to address the dash and doors...

 

I got my piano black looking good again using a DA polisher and Prima Swirl. I have not tried it by hand.
IMO, use the least aggressive polish you can find. The micro scratches come out very easily.

 

Depending on whether these are actual scratches (surface compromised), or rubs where something else has gotten into the recesses of the textured plastic, one technique that worked well for me is just going over affected areas very carefully with a black Sharpie permanent marker, and then give it a good go-over with a basic cleaner (e.g., Tuff Stuff) and a standard shop rag. I didn't just color over the whole thing en masse—I used it like a furniture fill stick, only on the mark itself.

I bought my Justa used, and along the bottom of the interior door panels, as well as a large patch on the side panel of the back seat, had various rubs that were quite visible. The front door ones were the usual shoe marks; the back was white, as if something painted had (seriously) rubbed all over the texturing. In both cases, NOTHING would take it off or hide it... I (literally) tried everything I had (Goo Gone, Tuff Stuff, etc.), along with rags, brushes, etc.

The Sharpie completely masked it, and the cleaner + rag took-off the slightly mismatched sheen vs. the plain plastic. Every spot treated this way has made the marks vanish. Low-tech, but easy and effective for me. The shade of black is slightly different, hence the need to use some care. But the texturing hides that well.

Try it on a less-visible spot and see if it helps in your case before going whole-hog.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
These are too minor (very superficial) for the sharpie treatment, although I will use that for a rock nick on the black roof.
I have Prime Swirl! I'll try that. What's a DA polisher?

 

DA is dual action I think. It is also known as RO - random orbital. The big name is Porter Cable. Griot mades a popular one too. They are easy to use and can be used by novices... as opposed to a rotary buffer which can get you into big trouble quickly.

I use Swirl and my Porter Cable each spring on the piano black interior pieces that need it as well as the exterior pillars. It works great both places. Just make sure you mask off the areas you don't want to get polish on.

 

Mini2na,
Many thanks. I have a plan now and will follow it. My Prima Swirl is waiting to contribute.