Suggestions for dealing with scratches in interior

[dogmeat]

We just picked up our '06 Vibe last week, and the glovebox already has a scratch on it (wife getting a little reckless with the umbrella). Can anyone provide some suggestions on how to deal with such scratches ? Can they be removed ? Thanks in advance.

[ragingfish]

There's not really anything you can do to repair them.Best solution is prevention. But even that is difficult.

[ColonelPanic]

Talk to the dealer and see if they have a guy who deals with interior plastic repair. I had a huge gash on my glove box from trying to load a computer in there, a sharp edge on the case was to blame. Also had a place on the air bag cover on the passenger's side from trying to load far too long cargo. They were able to fill in the scratches with some sort of plastic-like material that was color matched to the area. The glove box door still shows some damage, but now instead of a large gash, I just have a rather dull area. If they are good enough, they should be able to get the texture of the filler material similar to what it originally was.Not a perfect fix. That would be to replace the glove box door. I've seen these DIY plastic and vinyl repair kits in automotive sections at stores, but I don't know how different, if any, they are compared to what the "pros" use. Be careful, the Vibe's interior is not as forgiving as one would think. I learned that the hard way, now my car is pretty well trashed.

[jwalcik]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Talk to the dealer and see if they have a guy who deals with interior plastic repair. I had a huge gash on my glove box from trying to load a computer in there, a sharp edge on the car.i second this recommendation. i had a stereo stolen out of a previous vehicle. the thief used a screwdriver or some other similar implement to make a few huge gashes in my dash. the dash repair folks that my insurance company sent out (a company in austin, tx called leather menders) did an *amazing* job. not only did they match the dash color perfectly, but they also used a few wire tools to texture the areas that they filled. after two weeks of staring at those scratches every time i started my car, they had vanished completely.

[ColonelPanic]

I'll take some pics of my stuff on the way home tonight that I had fixed.