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Cleaning Question: How to protect/care for exterior "Black Panels"

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Spryfly, Jul 14, 2013.

  1. Spryfly

    Spryfly Junior Member

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    sorry if this has been answered but I didn't see it explicitly discussed on any of the threads...

    Thanks to everyone here, I did my first claying/wax (only a little came up with the clay, but I live in an area with lots of military air fallout and you can feel the grit on the glass within a day or so... bah!) with Meguiars products, including the wax intended for black cars, which I like. (My car is 2010 Blue Ribbon, dark enough I thought...)

    But WHAT do I use to protect and clean the exterior black (plastic like?) trim panels around the windows on the doors? Should I wax these over? No? Do I use the same as the tire product? No...?

    I also live in an area of dry sun and my car's tires tend to crack before showing wear. What's the best regular maintenance for "moisturizing" or protecting my tires to minimize this problem?

    Ok, one last thing: My headlights already have some 'scratches' that are fogging up the top of the headlight. Should I use a headlight refinisher/cleaner kit to polish these out?

    Thank you for any suggestions!
     
    #1 Spryfly, Jul 14, 2013
  2. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    From what I know and use, for the plastic panels, I use Armor all Protectant, they protect and shine plastic trims inside and outside of your vehicle. As for the tires, I would use tire shine to prevent any dryness for the tires. As for the headlights, I haven't used anything yet, but it doesn't hurt to try out the headlight cleaner kit and let us know how it went :)
     
    #2 NutzAboutBolts, Jul 14, 2013
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  3. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    #3 El Dobro, Jul 14, 2013
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  4. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    #4 32kcolors, Jul 14, 2013
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  5. PLSPUSH

    PLSPUSH Active Member

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    tire products here too
     
    #5 PLSPUSH, Jul 14, 2013
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  6. Spryfly

    Spryfly Junior Member

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    Thank you everyone! I also tried the headlight kit and it took those fogs/scratches right out with a little elbow grease, looks great now!
     
    #6 Spryfly, Jul 14, 2013
  7. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    very nice, I think I should try some of that too, my headlights flaking off on my 06 accord lolz
     
    #7 NutzAboutBolts, Jul 14, 2013
  8. DadofHedgehog

    DadofHedgehog Active Member

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    I had great results with claybar + Opti-Glass when I did my windows, and continued with my headlights.
     
    #8 DadofHedgehog, Jul 14, 2013
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