Arrggghhh , I let somebody borrow my ride for an hour and they drop a cd when pulling it from the changer and it lands on my shift plate and leaves some scratches!!!

If you see the scratches, you'd probably laugh at me and call me obsessive and anal. But I've prided myself on keeping my interior MINT since I purchased my car.

The scratches are very light and on the silver shift plate piece.

Anybody have any ideas on how to even them out and remove them? I thought of using some micro abrasive polish, but since the piece is plastic, I'm not sure what effect using such a product would have on the plastic.

Anybody with any ideas, please please post 'em up!

Thanks in advance.

 

Anybody?

 

well, i don't have a solution, but maybe it'll make you feel better....my silver (stock) shift plate is SOOO freakin scratched, i could see it from the rear seats.....i'm PLANNING on getting a 00 TL plate and chroming it....and just.....being more carefull with it.....that's all i could say. -peace

 

Pritch, I feel your pain, I had the same thing happen to me, but some chick that was in the car threw her cell phone in the center near the shifter and it scratched my shift plate also... I just have to deal with it.... sucks...

 

One product that will work is Meguiars PlastX. Just be sure and use a soft Micro Fiber towel as some "cheap ones" will make more scratches. Just put a small dab of the PlastX on the MF towel and rub in straight back and forth motions. (With minimal pressure) then wipe off the remaining polish. It may take two or three tries to remove them but they will come out!!
Meguiar'sPlastX
Sonus Buffing MF towel
This combination is also what I use on the instrument panel(Clear plastic), nav and CD face plates.

 

I was letting a few friends sit in my TL at a party, and later I found a scratch on the shiftplate like you described. I played dumb, and the dealer replaced it under warranty for me no questions asked. BTW...I think if you try and polish the scratch, you are going to remove the silver stuff. I believe the plastic is painted to look silver, and the color doesn't go all the way through...at least that's the way my scratch looked.

 

Removing the shift plate is pretty simple. (1) Unscrew your shift knob (2) You will notice around the shiftplate itself is a plastic "frame". That piece an be easily pried up using your fingers or using a non-maring tool to pry it upwards. (3) Next, all you have to do is remove the shiftplate by gently unclipping it ( look on the side) you will notice that it is clipped in place. Gently pry it off. Then, you can spraypaint, let it dry, and do the reverse to put everything back the way it was.