I had some weird water-like spots on my gauge cluster's plastic window since I took delivery. I decided tonight to finally do something about it.

First, I tried using just a damp microfiber cloth but it did absolutely nothing. Then I tried some generic windex and still nothing. So I did the ultimate test; I licked my finger and rubbed the plastic window, gently applying some fingernail to try and scratch it off--NOTHING! This is some serious BS.

I got the plastic window damp with a microfiber cloth, then applied Glass Scrub and went to town on it. I repeated the process several times until the spots FINALLY came off. I can already imagine some of you cringing from what you know I will say next. The plastic window is now completely marred. It has left-to-right and slight up-and-down micro scratches all over it, obviously from the massive amounts of elbow grease I put into the job. The silver lining is that at least those spots are 95% gone now. Yes, they were that stubborn!


I was looking around at DI's options and the only thing I found to help my situation that they offer is Renovo Plastic Window Polish. Is this the stuff to use or are there any other recommendations?


Edit: I've attached a picture of it for reference. It's not as bad as the flash makes it out to seem, but it does highlight the issue quite well. You can see the back-and-forth arcing micro-scratches on it. In day light it's not noticeable, but at night the glow from the gauges shows up as a slight blur--almost like a dream or foggy contact lenses. The panda is PISSED! lol

 

wow.... you should of have them cleaned the car before you took delivery... failed at the detail before pick up much stealership faillllllll

 

yikes. i did this to my mustang once. the only problem i see here is that a i think most guage cluster lenses have an anti glare coating on them. even so, if you use a plastic polish on it, you might be o.k.. good luck.

 

man that's really bad. i used meguiar's platix on my tail lights and it removed the fine scratches. not really sure if it'll work on the gauge cluster cover but it won't hurt to try since it's already messed up and you've got nothing to lose.

good luck.

 

damn, that sucks, hope you can fix it.

how much does the gauge cost if you had to replace it?

 

I had the same spots AFTER they cleaned it for delivery.....I could not get them off either....they ordered me a new one!!!

I would go in and tell them what happened and see if they do not get you another one installed.

 

the meguiar's stuff should make it better. i don't think it will restore it completely, but should help to fill in the scratches. good luck.

 

try some plastic polish..

i've used novus plastic polish with pretty good results. comes in 3 bottles, 3 steps

 

^^ yep +1 on the novus...

 

I hate to say it, but depending on how much it costs, you may be better served just buying another face for the gauge pod. If you spend lots of dough on products and your time and frustration trying to fix it and end up with less than great results, you'll probably end up replacing it anyway.

 

Thank you for the replies, everyone.

I'm going to try the dealership first. I'll post my results.