Touch-Up Paint Trim Panel

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by vinnie97, Apr 4, 2012.

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  1. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    Well, this should be easy enough to find, I would hope, but I had a passenger slam the door against the chrome mirror of a neighboring vehicle, leaving a couple of nicks in the black plastic trim panel (that surrounds the window). I want to be sure that if I get something to touch it up, the shade matches. I'll likely end up asking the dealer if no one has any specific pointers here...perhaps they can even be courteous enough to provide a simple treatment (but I shouldn't hold my breath on that one).
     
    #1 vinnie97, Apr 4, 2012
  2. kkim

    kkim Active Member

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    pics?
     
    #2 kkim, Apr 5, 2012
  3. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    first off.. it's not plastic... it's a black vinyl sticker... really... it's a sticker.. it's gonna be silly/tough to paint something of the such..

    you can try putting some cleaner wax on it and rub the nicks away.. otherwise.. you're kinda just SOL.

    you can always remove it though..
     
    #3 SquallLHeart, Apr 5, 2012
  4. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    Camera's down for the count unfortunately.

    Thanks for the clarification, Squall, should never assume a material's consumption. :) That would probably be fairly easy to replace (but I don't have extra funds lying around right now), but I have several polishes/waxes I can try to minimize the presence first.

    I was just hoping there'd be something that could colormatch the discoloration where the primary point of impact occurred.

    EDIT: Well, after seeing it in better light (the ding happened last night), I'm not so sure applied matching paint would ultimately make it less noticeable. It's too deep for any of the waxes to really rub out with ease (without me demolishing the finish with sandpaper ;)).
     
    #4 vinnie97, Apr 5, 2012
  5. BrunoPuntzJones

    BrunoPuntzJones Member

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    Black Plasti-Dip?
     
    #5 BrunoPuntzJones, Apr 5, 2012
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  6. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    well, considering the lower thinner plastic trim at the very bottom of the window would be a very tough target for the mirror that your passenger hit... i automatically assumed it was the vinyl section that is towards the side of the door.

    depending on the color of your vehicle.. i've seen many friends in the past with other vehicles from Toyota or Scion that removed that vinyl layer which makes it look better.. but again, it looks better on some color vehicles than others.

    it's also a little time consuming and you'd want a heat gun to help you.

    as far as replacement... the vinyl that comes from the factory is pretty solidly installed on there, and unsure of what product out there would be a suitable match... i can only assume it would most likely be from 3M as it's usually the industry standard.
     
    #6 SquallLHeart, Apr 5, 2012
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  7. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    I'm not sure what's underneath that vinyl trim, but since the vehicle is metallic gray, I suspect it will look better if the trim is left on. I think if I can get something that matches the color of the trim, that will be the most helpful in camouflaging the nick.
     
    #7 vinnie97, Apr 5, 2012
  8. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    what's underneath it.. is the car itself.. paint and all. the car is painted completely before the vinyl is put on. it's used mostly for aesthetic reasons so the looks of the car flows well. since you have a grey vehicle, it should look fine if you remove it completely..

    it mostly looks good on darker vehicles where that break in aesthetic flow isn't as noticeable and you get that shiny paint showing again.
     
    #8 SquallLHeart, Apr 7, 2012
  9. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    That makes sense. How would it have been applied without defacing/scratching the paint underneath?

    Repair shop near the dealer assumed that would be a $30 part should I decide to replace it.
     
    #9 vinnie97, Apr 7, 2012
  10. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    how else would a vinyl wrap be applied? it just sticks on..

    now it would be nice to get some pictures to make sure that we're on the same page... because what i'm thinking it is.. is definitely not a $30 part...
     
    #10 SquallLHeart, Apr 7, 2012
  11. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    Snarky tonight, aren't we? ;) I would think they might use an adherent like glue, but what do I know? :)
     
    #11 vinnie97, Apr 7, 2012
  12. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    if you're talking about the black area between the front and rear window.. yup.. it's a sticker...

    adhesive? um... sticker adhesive? it comes off easily.. heat helps.
     
    #12 SquallLHeart, Apr 7, 2012
  13. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    Yes, I am. can live with the defect for the time being. LOL, ok, so no extra glue needed since it has an adhesive surface (duh on my part). ;)

    The collision repair specialist guestimated the part to be $20-30. I hope he's right, but I can live with it for the time being.
     
    #13 vinnie97, Apr 7, 2012
  14. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    no glue... lol.. just get some matching black vinyl.. take of the old stuff.. and put on the new one.. though finding the exact match might be the tricky part..

    i'd say just get a blow dryer or heat gun and peel all of it off.. hah.
     
    #14 SquallLHeart, Apr 7, 2012
  15. kkim

    kkim Active Member

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    exactly why I asked for pics, too. Unless we're sure what part is damaged, it's hard to suggest a fix. He did say his camera is kaput, but doesn't every cell phone have a camera built in? :confused:
     
    #15 kkim, Apr 7, 2012
  16. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    I'm still in the 20th century on that front...well, actually, I have a cheapie pay-as-you-go so the quality is probably pretty abysmal (if it even has that feature).

    In any case, I already posted a photo of a c with the location of the imperfection identified. It's just an inch-sized nick in the black vinyl, which represents the point of impact with a chrome mirror on the other vehicle. The first ding always hurts the most (and I think I'm getting off pretty easy this go around). ;)
     
    #16 vinnie97, Apr 8, 2012
  17. kkim

    kkim Active Member

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    sorry, I must have missed it... but I still don't see it. did you take it down?
     
    #17 kkim, Apr 8, 2012
  18. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    Yes, but it was oversized and only to show the location of the nick (not an actual photo of my car). It's no big deal, it happened on the black vinyl portion attached to the front door between the front and back passenger windows (above the front door handle and slightly to the left). :)
     
    #18 vinnie97, Apr 8, 2012
  19. kkim

    kkim Active Member

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    [​IMG]

    gotcha... so as was explained, that portion is just a vinyl piece. how bad is the scratch... showing the paint underneath or clear through to bare metal? if you clean it up well of any grease and/or dirt, you could most likely touch it up with some matte black/semi gloss black touch up paint from your local auto parts store.
     
    #19 kkim, Apr 8, 2012
  20. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    it would have to be an insanely sharp impact for it to go down to the paint... much less down to bare metal.. holy crap no.. you'd have to take a knife and stab the damn thing to get it down to bare metal.

    not only is the vinyl pretty sturdy and protective.. but i'm sure the entire area would have to be warped and destroyed before the paint underneath would be damaged.

    and i wouldn't apply any touch-up paint on such a surface... i highly doubt it'll look right.
     
    #20 SquallLHeart, Apr 8, 2012
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