Best product for buffing scratches out of gauge cluster area?

[ixo]

My new baby has some scratches that must have been a rough test driver. I get her at the dealer with only 20 miles on the ODO, but there was clearly someone who took an aggressive wipe across the cluster with some gritty paper of some sort. The photos don't properly show (tried to use the flash to get it to pick them up), but there one long set of scratched along the whole cluster, and an area with smaller scuffs over the left wide. I reckon there's some polish product I'll need to put on something like 3000 grit sanding cloth and go to work?

Any advice from someone who has fixed this before would be huge, thanks.

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[SnowmanJPS]

Screen protech advertises or shows their product reduces viable scratches of the cluster by installing their film, I did it on mine and it looks pretty good

 

[Kdbradley85]

This is a good question. Like @SnowmanJPS mentions, there are products you can install to protect the screen, and maybe they'll help to mask existing scratches, but I'm curious if anyone out there has found a good polishing compound that will work on the clear plastic. I know I'd want to get out those scratches as best I could before installing anything on top of them, but there may not be a good solution aside from replacing the whole thing . Meguiar's PlastX or similar products seem like they may have some potential, but I've never used them myself. Might be worth a shot! Afterwards, I'd consider trying out the "Screen Protech" that others seem to rave about.

 

[ixo]

I'll report back, but THIS is arriving today:

it specifically calls out gauges:

...fingers crossed. I'll try and get a few before and after shots.

 

[Bravada]

I'll report back, but THIS is arriving today:

it specifically calls out gauges:

...fingers crossed. I'll try and get a few before and after shots.

This would be my recommendation, but I've never used it on instrument cluster plastic. Keep us in the loop.

 

[TacoFreak]

I'll report back, but THIS is arriving today:

it specifically calls out gauges:
...fingers crossed. I'll try and get a few before and after shots.

I have used that product before and it did a great job of removing scratches.

Before and after pics would be helpful.

That reminds me that I need to order screen protectors for that and my center display.

 

[ixo]

I have used that product before and it did a great job of removing scratches.

Before and after pics would be helpful.

It did a great job. it's night now, so I'll try and get a few shots in direct sunlight, but it removed the long horizontal gash. I'm not 100% sure I didn't trade a big gash for a bunch of micro swirls, but I'd feel way better about putting something like the Screen Protech over the screen in its current state than previous. These tiny swirls will be blotted out by a screen cover, the previous set would have just shown thru, I think.

Will remember to update with after pics tomorrow.

 

[TacoFreak]

These tiny swirls will be blotted out by a screen cover, the previous set would have just shown thru, I think.

Will remember to update with after pics tomorrow.

Did you finish up with the red bottle fine scratch remover? It is very mild and I had to use it a couple of times to eliminate the fine scratches.

 

[ixo]

Did you finish up with the red bottle fine scratch remover? It is very mild and I had to use it a couple of times to eliminate the fine scratches.

Yeah it looked good last night, and I was trying to use my cellphone flash to see how it did, but in the harsh sunlight it looks pretty bad...

The main sideways lines are gone, which was the most noticeable. It feels like all these swirls are giving it kind of a matte finish? This photo looks trerrible, maybe it's more of a reflection than actual swirls, but I'll give it another pass with microfiber cloths after a meeting I have coming up. I used the little napkin cloths that came with the kit, but maybe stright microfiber would be better. It's kind of awkward to move around behind the steering wheel, will post if I can get a better final result pic.

 

[TacoFreak]

Yeah it does look kind of matte. I would finish it up with microfibre cloth and then apply the screen protector. It is hard to tell from that picture if the finish is matte or if that is what they all look like in direct sun.

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