dogfish

I have an IS 250 (less than two weeks old) and in the process of cleaning some dust off the dashboard, I accidently scratched the surface with my fingernail. The scratch is not deep and looks like a scuff mark you might get on a dress shoe. The interior is black. I've tried using interior cleaner (mcguires) with no luck. I'd appreicate any suggestions you all might have.

Thanks.

Brian231

Usually, the vinyl shine will cover it up. I use the OEM Lexus vinyl protectant and it workd well. If the scratch is deep enough, you may want to have a vinyl/leather repair shop fill it in. They are always outsourced through dealers and usually work out of a van. I would try the phone book first as the dealer will double the cost to make profit.

dogfish

Thanks for the tip. I'm heading to the dealership this week to get the OEM vinyl cleaner. Let's see if that works.

freebird20

Hey dogfish, did you ever manage to get those scratches out? I just did the exact same thing to mine. Any suggestions? What'd you learn?

cduluk

a cleaner is not going to get the scuff out. You need an abrasive.

Try gently rubbing some steel wool in the direction of the grain. Then polishing the whole dash with... anything. It should blend in perfectly.

jfelbab

Whatever you do you should remember that the finish on your dash is painted on. The color and texture is a thin coating. Using an abrasive product will usually make things worse. You can use a vinyl treatment that might fill and mask the scratch but if you don't pick carefully the dash will be shiny and cause you a problem with glare.

The best solution is to see a vinyl repair specialist. You can find them in the yellow pages or stop by a leather furniture store and ask for the name of who they use. The repair will fill the scratch with vinyl tinted and pattern matched to make it invisible.

If you abrade the area, the repair will be more difficult, and expensive, so I'd suggest if the topical vinyl treatment doesn't work, see a specialist.

DaSyce

iTrader: (3)

Mr. Clean magic eraser works well for me. Its mildly abrasive and can be used gently enough to remove most light scratches. I've also had success wetsanded my plastic kickplates to remove a deep shoe scratch.

cduluk

the dash is not painted, its a thin layer of vinyl glued onto the dash.

jfelbab

Nope, it's painted on. If you abrade it you will see that the coating is quite thin and sprayed on. You can have blemishes re-sprayed. It is definitely sprayed on. It's not just Lexus either but this is quite common in the auto industry. I've had two customers who have abraded their dashes in the last few years and it is nothing I'd care to attempt to repair.

cduluk

I guess it depends on the model, because my rx300's dash is not painted, it's a softer vinyl.

I know the newer toyota/lexus models are going cheap