Is there anything that can be done about this?

 

I like to know also. My was hit also.

 

Swirls and holograms can only be removed by POLISHING. Polishing is what did the damage in the first place. Vinyl strips should never be polished. Waxing is OK but never polish. Don't polish the stripes. I can think of lots of other ways to say that but I'm running out of band width. It has been said on this forum ad nauseum not to polish the stripes. A hair drier spreads just enough heat to soften the vinyl so you can peel it off and replace it. Good luck.
Notice I didn't direct any remarks to the [individual] and lack of apparent skill that did that in the first place.

 

Picked mine up from the dealer like that. Those special prep guys suc.

 

A suggestion would be to get a clear coat cleaner and see if you can hand rub it smooth again. It seems that some of these have a very fine polishing compound that might help. I would do that before trying to take the stripe off as the paint will be a slightly different color under the stripe and that may be worse than the stripe itself.

 

That looks like it might be on top of the stripe. Try plastic or vinyl cleaner. Autogeek might be a good place to start your search.

 

those will polish out, I would use some really fine polish. one of my favorite fine polish is Meguirs scratch X. use a micro fiber towel and work small ares at a time.

let us know.

 

I have used 3M Finesse-It to get scratches out of the plastic windows on my boat. I bet that or Scratch-X would clear it up.

 

 

Just replace the whole stripe! It is not difficult if you're patient.

 

+1
Had another thought on this problem. If he swirled and hologramed the stripe, what does the rest of the body look like? You might be looking at an entire redo on the whole car. Be sure to use a good pre polish prep solution to remove all old wax then clay bar and only polish by hand or with a random orbital. It looks like those holograms were created with a direct drive machine and the guy driving it shoulda stayed in bed.

 

I'm no paint expert, but it looks really good from what I can tell.

We probably will end up replacing the stripe, but it depends on what the wife decides--it's her car.

One other question... if we remove the stripe, is there any adhesive under it that will need to be removed, or do the stripes come off cleanly?

 

They peel off cleanly. One caution. Depending on whether or not the car garaged or left out in the sun for long periods and it car's age, there could be a 'ghost stripe' left because of exposed paint sun faded.


It is easiest to start at the back of the stripe, heat it with a hair dryer until you can easily peel back a corner then pull straight back rather than pulling up while working the dryer back and forth. Steady pressure and heat will ease it right off.

 

Contrary to what others have mentioned in this thread .. you should never, I repeat .. NEVER .. use compounds or polishes meant for paint, on vinyl. Vinyl is not plastic .. you cannot use an abrasive compound on it. Clearly we see that someone tried to buff or polish it once before and well .. that didn't turn out too well.

Realistically, your only option is to remove them and start fresh. Trying this product and that product is merely a waste of time.

 

Yeah, you wouldn't want to ruin the already ruined stripe. It might ruin it more.

 

We would expect nothing less from a hybrid.

 

I was speaking in general .. obviously there is no restoring the damage already done .. BUT .. judging by the comments above, it looks like there are still some people who would try to fix it, haha.

 

Funny, I got the swirls out of my vinyl stripes. with, what?, polish, NO !

 

Well, we ordered stripes and we'll install them in the next few weeks. Hopefully it's as straight-forward as it sounds.

 

The boot stripe link show's good technique for getting things laid out before the backing is removed.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ictures-5.html
Also, it won't let me upload one of the pictures 'cause it's already on another thread. Here is the link to it. Scroll down to post #3.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...or-08-mcs.html

 

Thanks for the links and info, Brick!

 

Yeah, applying the stripes was really a simple, straight-forward job. I also applied stripes to the rear, where there hadn't been any before. My wife really likes the job I did, so I get extra 'man-points' with her.

 

Well done! Man points? They do have a way of making us guys believe we're actually in control, don't they.

 

Well, of course the women are really in control, but if you earn enough man points, you get to cash them in on certain fringe benefits. ;-)