Ahh.. scratched the head unit!

I was installing my Leptronix aux-in and while removing the head unit, I ended up scratching bits of it on the shifter



The scratch on the plastic window isn't deep at all.. you can barely feel it when you run your finger over it.

The scratch on the grey trim however is much deeper!

Can I use 2000grit sand paper? Get it a wet and lightly smooth them out and follow up with some plastic polish?!

I tried using Mother scratch remover and that didn't do anything.. maybe some harder rubbing compound?

Rubbing compound won't do much. It might help with the lighter scratches and haze left over after you sand it, but it isn't going to take out the gouge. You'll want to be very careful and use something like 2000 grit and see what that does first. You won't likely be able to remove all trace of the damage, but you can certainly make it look better.

Thanks! That was the plan but I just wanted to confirm before I messed it up even more

What if I follow up with Meguir's plastix (I believe) the stuff people use to polish their headlights. I have some of that!

It's not quite the same thing. The part you have scratched is a different material than the headlights. If you had a gouge this deep on your headlight then PlastX wouldn't work either. Your best bet is to sand it down a bit and then polish out the haze afterwards. I believe these parts are painted, so just be careful that you don't sand too much or else you'll be needing to repaint it too. (which is probably what you should plan on doing anyway if you want it looking right)

Like he said, repainting it correctly is the only way to get it to look good.

X

Wet sanding definitely made it look a lot better, however, painting the trim won't work either as it will cover up all the lettering and I don't think I can find the exact paint match!

Looks like I'll just have to live with it, or maybe sometime in the future find a trim cover, but thanks for the help guys!