Mk IV Golf - Interior plastic showing signs of age

[RolfGolf]

Hi all - I've noticed that the soft plastic/paint (not sure what it is) surface around high usage areas of the car is starting to peel and it has a sticky(!) feel to it. Particularly on the centre console area near the radio and around the gear boot - it seems to have worn through to the plastic underneath.

I'm not sure what it is that covers these surfaces (vinyl paint?) or how easy it is to fix. I seem to recall a thread on here where someone was stripping the parts back - how did that go? Has anyone been successful in re-coating their interior plastics and what did you use?

Cheers,

Lachlan.

[DUB 20V]

alot of people say to scrub it off the a green pad from ya kitchen, but i tryed it with not a lot of luck

less hassle to buy new bits.

[sierra055]

I tried that too but it looked a bit nasty.
Was a good excuse to go full aluminium r32 style for me.

[RolfGolf]

Thanks for the replies - I might avoid the kitchen pad then(!) ... When you went R32 style Sierra was that one of those eBay kits you can buy that sticks over the previous parts, or the full replacement parts - and how much did it set you back?

Cheers,

Lachlan.

[kaneda]

I just recently did this as the soft touch plastics round the ashtray/gear boot were ****e looking.
Do not use a green scrubber things as it will scratch the plastic.
I used a very complicated and expensive tool that i fabbed up at home and it worked a treat.......Its a kiwi fruit spoon/knife plastic green thing , not sure ware it came from as i dont eat them but i just rubbed it on some fine sandpaper to give it and edge slightly better than a fingernal and started scrapping. You dont have to remove all of it as once you have scorred it you can use mothers plastic pollish and it will cleen it up really well.

[RolfGolf]

What the?!

Can you post a pic of this detailing wonder Kaneda(!) - I've not seen one before ...

[kaneda]

The plastic was soft enough to not scratch the interior but you could get it sharp and it has noice curves round it to fit into some funny spots.

Pink arrows point out the parts i sanded smooth


I took the center console out and tested a few differnt things and found this to be the best comination of removal without damage

Mind you mine was really bad in some places so just a quick rum with plastic pollish took it off. The Spife was for the spots that hadnt seen much sun/wear .

[sierra055]

Necessity is the mother of all invention, lol!

I bought the genuine parts from TM Tuning when I did mine.
Got the ashtray, centre surround, door handles ~ pretty much replaced all the woodgrain with the brushed aluminium look. Also got an R gearknob and boot, R pedals and R32 mats.
I don't really remember what I paid to be honest, but here are some links. Not cheap, but it made the interior look brand new.

http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog/product_detail.php?default_product=1110

http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog/product_detail.php?default_product=1111

http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog/product_detail.php?default_product=1111

[RolfGolf]

Thanks for the pic Kaneda. Very nice - will give this a go on the worst affected areas for now.

Sierra, those parts look sweet as - will save my dosh to get them eventually as they also look expensive - thanks for the links - all I've been able to track down in the past is the stick on kits.

[dubbed]

A bit old, but anyway. So tonight I had ants in my pants and decided to pull off the passenger grab handle (on door trim) and scratched all the soft rubber coating off with a kitchen scourer pad. I then sanded it back using wet 2000 grit which started to give a natural shine. However I noticed the 'woodgrain' was now dull because I had run over it with the 2000 grit. Next I applied some Autoglym interior cleaner (I bought it during the week and it's amazing stuff) which brought back a brilliant shine! I'm not sure how it will last but it looks good for now

[Preen59]

The Kitchen scourer you guys are speaking of is called a "Scotch Brite" scouring pad. I wouldn't advise using them on plastics. We use them at work (the industrial version in a few different grades) to finish off alluminium vacuum form moulds... They'll take the surface off most plastics pretty quickly.

PS: They work great for giving alloy a brushed finish.

[Augy]

What I did was, basically take all the little bits of plastic that was coated in rubber, sand it using 80, then 120 grit paper.

Then wet sanded from 320, 800, 1200, then 2000. Then, I used a plastic polish, like Mcguires (sp?) to really polish everything. Then, you can take some minieral oil, and polish it futher. Makes it really shine.

So, if you don't mind the polished looked, then go for it. Then that's what I would suggest. Doesn't cost much, but requires times.

I'm still working on mine. About to take the glove box out to get at the center console.

[Yevvy]

can you guys show the result?

[MultiplexMan]

Cheers for the tips.

My mate's Mk4 GTI has the same issue on his interior plastic trim. Centre console, glove box lid - all going sticky

Pretty disappointing considering that car is kept immaculate and garaged all its life.

Same story on his sister's Bora of around the same age.


In contrast, my brother's POS Nissan is left in the outdoors, has not seen a cleaning agent in over 10 years and the damn interior is like new - though a bit dusty

[RedMk2Gti]

Cheers for the tips.

My mate's Mk4 GTI has the same issue on his interior plastic trim. Centre console, glove box lid - all going sticky

Pretty disappointing considering that car is kept immaculate and garaged all its life.

Same story on his sister's Bora of around the same age.


In contrast, my brother's POS Nissan is left in the outdoors, has not seen a cleaning agent in over 10 years and the damn interior is like new - though a bit dusty

Same issue in my Mk4, can the myth of German built quality still hold ? several plastic parts start to crack as well(e.g. interior door handle).
Jap car interior quality is much better.