The plastic trim around my '13 XKR's side view mirrors has discolored or faded as seen in the pictures below. All of the other finishes on the car exterior and interior are close to perfect. Has anyone else had this happen? Anyone able to recommend a polish or treatment to reverse the effect?

 

Those looked pretty scratched up to me, not faded or discolored. Me, I'd sand 'em down with progressively finer paper to 1500, then put a few coats of Clear on them.

 

Mine weren't that bad but I put Mothers back to black on it, about 3 coats, and it helped a lot.

 

AutoGlym Bumper Care - it is a green cream and it restores any and every black bit of trim and it will also remove white wax residue. Nothing better. In fact all AutoGlym products are first rate. I have no association with this company except as a very satisfied user involved for many years in Jaguar restoration and showing.

 

+1 on AutoGlym. I've used it for years on the black plastic side-view mirror bases, rear-wheel fender extensions, and other black trim on my 2009 XKR and everything still looks brand new. I bought mine on Amazon. You won't find another product that works better. Not cheap, but a little goes a long way.





Stuart

 

It almost looks like a clear coat on the plastic. If that is the case then you would need to strip the coat and re-spray it.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Really not sure what is going on with the trim. There's definitely some fine scratching but the splotchiness of the discoloration looks more like some kind of chemical reaction to something. Will try the Autoglym.

 

No, AutoGlym is not at all like a clear coat paint. It's more like a liquid car wax, and is applied by putting a dime-size amount on a rag and then wiping the product on the surface to be restored. I've never had to strip any of it off before re-applying it. The before and after difference is instantaneous. Amazing stuff!

Note that the black plastic mirror housing on my 2009 XKR has a small pebble grain texture, which can be seen in the above photo. I don't know if other model years are the same.

 

I noticed the pebble grain texture on your pic and kind of wish mine was like that. On mine the trim was originally a glossy black that's turned a dull matte in splotches. Jagtoes may be right that there was originally some sort of clear coat that's eroded off. It does look ok when wet so the Autoglym might well work if even only temporarily.

 

Sorry I wasn't implying the autoglym was a paint. I was saying based on the picture it looks like a layer of maybe a clear coat is coming off his mirror. If some of this blotching is a paint type layer then you would need to sand and respray.

 

jagtoes,

No problem. I know you thought we would understand what you wrote, but what I read was not what you meant. That's a good example of ambiguous. My favorite is: "John mopped the floor with Fred." Were they mopping the floor together? Nope. Fred had his head in the bucket!

Stuart

 

If it's the hard shiny plastic like mine, then I'd polish with a fine polish (preferably using a small rotary polisher), and then treat with Aerospace 303 protectant like any plastic.

But if the surface is anything but just dull or lightly scratched - for example if there is some sort of peeling - then go buy new plastics from Jaguar or, if you are feeling adventurous, attempt to re-coat with, well... um... whatever two-part catalyzed clear won't melt plastic I guess.

If it were me, I'd price out the new plastics and, if they were anything close to reasonable, I'd then dive in with the polisher to see if I could rescue the existing parts, knowing that the new bits were available if I failed.

 

I read it as John beat the crap out of Fred.

 

Go to the head of the class!

 

Tip - cover all black plastic trim with masking tape when waxing the car.