Scratches on black plastic above tail lights

3843 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by PetarJerinic, Jun 25, 2020

PetarJerinic

Discussion Starter · Jun 21, 2020

I bought new rav4 hybrid a few days ago. I also head Toyota ProTect applied to both exterior and interior. Yesterday I noticed scratches on black plastic above both rear tail lights, which is weird since I didn't even touch that part of vehicle nor did I wash it.

How can I remove those scratches? Or should I contact toyota dealership and ask them to remove try to remove them?

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Hankman

· #2 · Jun 21, 2020

You could try plastic scratch remover or a polish for plastics but it may just make it worse.

Most likely they came from the dealership applying the ProTech. Didn’t use clean towels or used a electrical polisher with dirty pads.

Also NEVER have them wash your vehicle for free when you take it in for service. It will come back with scratches on the paint.

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Colonel

· #3 · Jun 22, 2020

Hankman said:
You could try plastic scratch remover or a polish for plastics but it may just make it worse.

Most likely they came from the dealership applying the ProTech. Didn’t use clean towels or used a electrical polisher with dirty pads.

Also NEVER have them wash your vehicle for free when you take it in for service. It will come back with scratches on the paint.

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If I could like a million times...I would.

To the OP...find a DETAILER (not a dealership sponsored person) and have them look at it. Its quite possible it could be polished out but only a good detailer would be able to provide that information.

OR...make the dealership replace them. But that's probably a tall mountain to climb.

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PetarJerinic

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 22, 2020

Thank you both for answers and advise.

Generally, I tend to wash car by myself. I owned previous car for 5 and a half years and had it washed by someone else only 2 times when I was lazy to do it myself (of course it came with a scratch after someone else washed it).

I went to dealership today, they were very pleasant. According to them, it can be polished, and told me they'll fix it. I am supposed to take vehicle there in a couple of days when it's sunny so I can inspect the vehicle both under saloon and natural lightning. I heard lots of positive feedback about this dealership here in Novi Sad, Serbia so I expect everything to be fine. Will let you know how it goes.

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Colonel

· #5 · Jun 22, 2020

If they fix you up, they should have earned your business. How a company handles a "problem" really shows what they are. Anybody can exist when everything goes ok.

And yes, go over very carefully the fixes and all around. I would take pictures before you drop it off..."just in case".

Good luck!

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PetarJerinic

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 22, 2020

Couldn't agree with you more!
Thank you!

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tmel88

· #7 · Jun 22, 2020

Inspect every inch of your RAV.. Odds are there will be more scratches?

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Colonel

· #8 · Jun 22, 2020

tmel88 said:
Inspect every inch of your RAV.. Odds are there will be more scratches?

Good point. If the micro marring is there; most likely its all over the car. Might want to find someone with swirl light and see if it has impacted your paint as well. I would also look at the pillars on the rear that go up to the roof spoiler too.

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Hankman

· #9 · Jun 22, 2020

The “detailers” at the dealerships aren’t detailers at all and don’t use the safe practices that real detailers use. They reuse towels, don’t clean polishing pads, etc.

You would be better off going to a professional detailing shop.

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PetarJerinic

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 25, 2020

As recommended, I looked at whole car and there were some minor scratches on the outer side on left tail light (same black plastic). Luckily, there were no other scratches.

I went to dealership in the end to have them fix it, they managed to remove 80-90% percent of scratches. They were super nice, and I think I established good relationship with them. I am attaching pictures, but couldn't get exact same lightning as in previous ones (there is some dust visible since I didn't take pictures immediately after).

As recommended, I took pictures before I dropped it off, rest of the vehicle is in the same shape as it was before.
I am generally satisfied with how thing went, but it would have been better if there were no scratches at all to begin with, or if I got replacements for those parts. Since I like everything to be perfect, there is small part of me that's pondering whether to pursue this further. Don't believe anything else can be done by dealership, at least not without some major annoyances along the way.

Again, thank you all for all the advise and taking time to comment on this thread.

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