Interior scratches

My centre console is showing signs of it's age now.... especially round the ashtray etc where the soft surface has been scratched all over.

Can anyone recommend a way of repainting this type of plastic?

Its a very common problem due to the horrible plastic coating Toyota used to cover the dashboard panels with.

If you spray directly over the scratches it won't look much better, you can't sand it so the only way to get a good finish is to get all that plastic coating off and re-spray it. Removing the plastic coating is a really nasty job and could take a day or two of work. I hear some people have used thinners/paint stripper to get it off but the only think that I could get to work was to scrape it all off.

You can paint it with some special dashboard spray paint, but apart from it costing a fortune, I found it didn't give a great finish. Instead I've used Halfords body paint and I'm really pleased with the finish, here’s how I did it (probably not the ‘right’ or best way, but hey, it works )

1) after getting the plastic stuff off, sand the surface, working down to 1500 grit paper

2) Apply a couple of coats of plastic primer

3) Lightly sand with 1500 grit paper

4) 2-3 coats of the body paint of your choice (I used Matt Black - the lacquer makes it appear satin in the end)

5) 2 coats of clear lacquer

Or alternatively you could contact Lovatt on this board who will do it for a very reasonable fee

Hope this helps...

Thanks Homer