I just bought a used car with a lot of key scratches around the ignition switch. I tried this method with a propane torch. I used the smallest flame possible and worked very gently. I only did a small section at the time making sure I didn't overheat the plastic. It did mask the majority of the damage. I wouldn't be afraid to try on kick panels, etc.
I had an 04 civic that had key marks and sratches on the kick panels. The glove box and two of the rear quarter panels had a couple larger scratches. They werent very deep. But i did this and it made everything look 10 times better.
If restoring the whole interior don’t just leave it at this stage, get a SEM plastic paint kit & paint over the panels. Remember your results are as good as your prep work.
Question for ConsumeWisely: What happened with that plastic after 3 months? I'm asking you because I restored the bumpers of my XJ Cherokee using a similar method, with a heat gun, they looked brand new but after a month, they black color started fading away and then after a couple of months, they had some kind of "grey camouflage" appearance. Horrible. I ended up replacing all of them.
This is the interior panel, so it is not exposed to ultraviolet light, unlike the bumper, so I have not noticed any changes so far. I would use some sort of ceramic coating kit for the plastic after masking the scratches to protect against UV and dirt.
Actually, it won't, and I'll be honest with you. It's only a quake fix. It really isn't gonna help, and if you really don't know how to do it, you need to be careful because it depends on your vehicles. Plastic sunplastics are easy to melt and And retain their shape after the plastic Scratches melt, but if you overdo it, you can damage it plus keep in mind that there is times where the plastic is gonna get some haze.
