RJQMAN

I have an eight week old HS with black interior - which is really dark gray. I like the interior very much, but I am getting what looks like scuff marks on the rigid gray surfaces in a lot of places, most notably the inside of the driver's door panel just below the window. I know my arm may rest there when I drive, and I may move my arm against the surface once in a while, but I am the only one driving the car, and I have taken a lot of care not to mark the surfaces with a true 'scuff.' I have not tried to clean the marks with any cleaner, as I do not want to damage the surface and I am not sure what will work. Plain water seems to minimize the marks but not eliminate them.

They occur on the dash passenger's dash, and the inside of the passenger door panels, but to a lesser degree. I know they must come from contact, but I do not know exactly what or how. Has anyone else had this experience? Do you know what causes them? Just contact with skin? Did anyone find an easy way to clean them?

Thanks.

TheAirman

Try Vinylex.

http://www.lexol.com/category_vinylex.aspx

As compared to STP or ArmorAll, this is actually a "natural" chemical and does not contain as much slippery, shiny silicon like the other two. It absorbs into the surface and "feeds" the plastic and vinyl parts, and doesn't leave them shiny or slippery. I use it on my rubber door seals too.

It's hard to find and you might try PepBoys or Advanced. I think you'll like it.

I just did the interior of my new HS and it was dry!! I actually did it twice.

I use their leather conditioner too. It's pretty good for the price.

A trick is to do the leather and then the vinyl and leave the car sit in the sun and warm the interior a bit. It soaks right in.

No sun? Try a hair dryer for a few seconds.

RJQMAN

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try!

isteve2

What color is this product? What does it do to the scuff mark?

RJQMAN

I have received the product but not yet had a chance to try it - been away from my home for several weeks due to an illness of a close family member. I will let you know what the color of the stuff is - it is in a plastic bottle (I bought a 'kit' with two or three items in it - I forget what else was in it) from the manufacturer of the stuff that the Airman recommended. He might be able to answer you more quickly than I can. But once I get a chance to try it out, I will let you know.

noku

My wife has a bad habit of crossing her legs w/ her heel up on dash while riding w/ me, usually fast asleep. I think its a person's body oils that discolors the material. I bought a product from an auto detail shop which took away the discoloration on the dash but haven't tried it on the door panels yet.

The product is called 303 Aerospace Protection and cost me locally for $15/16 oz bottle. Cheaper at Autogeeks if you get free shipping. Not sure about the other vendors here.

Says it "PROTECTS-BEAUTIFIES Vinyl-Rubber-Plastic-Leather-Fiberglass" on the front of the bottle and that it "Restores & maintains a like-new appearance, texture and color. Repels dust, soiling & staining" on the back. I didn't have any scuffs to test it on though. The product itself is a white milky colored liquid.

http://www.303products.com/shop303/i...protectant.cfm

TheAirman

Interesting.

Great link for the 303products, but it seems to be hard to find around here. Maybe since you are from HI, and it seems to be a marine based product, that you can find it at Autogeeks. I sent for the free sample to test it against Vinylex.

Anyway to answer the question, the product is a milky color and it works great on the scuffs around the bottom of the door and the like.

RJQMAN

This post is a little late - the info has been posted by Airman directly above. But the bottom line is that the Vinylex he recommends works really well. By the way, I just bought my second HS250H on Feb 1st 2012 - it is black opal, and my other one is black. The Opal one has a truly black interior - it is a 2010 used car - and I like it a lot better than the dark grey interior on my other one. My wife, by the way, got the first one away from me, so I had to get a second one. I really like the car, especially with gas in the states going up and up - I know that it will be a while before I can recover the money spent, if ever, but it is still nice to have the MPG.