Hello again - piano gloss exterior trim

Hello again!

Wow, what a change! Last time I was here it was still detailcity.org!
I took a long break from detailing and now I bought my first completely new car ever.
I very nervous about preserving it, and my wife has already suggested to me, that when I talk about my new car it should be a silent, inner monologue, rather than talking to her. Maybe I overdid the sharing a bit.

I have to re-learn a lot of things.
My new car is a 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L in Aegean blue. I call her "Blue". She is a great car to detail and fun to drive, but she has a ton of exterior plastic trim front, side and back.

Piano gloss plastic trim.
The front grill.
The back spoiler
The frames between the windows
Glossy, mirror finish black.


It already gets scratches.
Some say polish and wax it.

Ok, what I remember from the olden days, wax on plastic was a no, no.

What shall I do to preserve my piano gloss exterior trim?

Thank y`all so much for your help

You can polish scratches out, but if you want to prevent new ones, your only long-term option is to cover those areas with paint protection film (PPF). That would create a sacrificial layer that is often self-healing, and can be replaced if needed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by `PRND[S

;2108926`]You can polish scratches out, but if you want to prevent new ones, your only long-term option is to cover those areas with paint protection film (PPF). That would create a sacrificial layer that is often self-healing, and can be replaced if needed.

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So, after using a plastic polish, are there really people, who wax the plastic? I saw this tip on some other forums, but I always though wax leaves a residue on plastic and rubber.

My Golf R has piano black B pillars and I use Collinite 845 on them. Hasn`t left any odd residue.

I use polishes and LSPs on exterior black plastic all the time, often use `em on rubber too. All just a matter of using something that won`t cause issues and avoiding the stuff that *will* cause issues.

Polish those surfaces cautiously as they might be thin/fragile/etc. I`ve scoured some such plastics with just ZAIO!

Don`t use M205; once the TSO dissipate you won`t be happy. HD Polish works fine IME.

Wipe the polish/LSP/etc. off before it dries (not always necessary with some LSPs but it`s a safe approach).

DO NOT LET POLISH OR COMPOUND DRY ON THESE SURFACES.

Don`t use too much LSP...most people use many, *MANY*, times too much and the excess can lead to those "white stains" if it dries in the texture.

KAIO followed by Collinite 845 is an old, time-tested approach that seems to work well for everybody (just wipe them off before they dry). I kinda preferred KAIO + KSG, which is what I`m still using on the `00 A8`s b-pillars and ther Tahoe`s sideview mirrors. The Tahoe`s other black plastics get FK1000P as do those surfaces on the `93 Audi V8.

I seal the softer plastics/rubber with Ultima`s Tire and Trim Guard Plus after cleaning with Griot`s Rubber Prep.

A quick wipe with a spray wax while drying after each wash keeps things fresh with minimal effort.

I don`t PPF mine, I just wash such surfaces as carefully as I wash the rest of the vehicle and we don`t touch them between washes.