chbj

I'm looking to protect the clear plastic surfaces in my car from scratches. I did find a helpful post with a link for a protective film for the touchscreen of the PCM.

I cannot find any information on how to protect the clear covers of the dials in the instrument cluster. Does anyone have any ideas of how to protect them?

Looks like I already have a scratch on one of them

alexb76

I got the perfect protection... don't TOUCH the cluster! and only clean it with microfiber, soft cloth.

I NEVER had to do anything to protect cluster on any car I've owned.

chbj

That is a great solution. Unfortunately it doesn't work for me, since others might/will touch them, e.g. at the car wash.

So, if anyone knows of any kind of stick on protection you can change when it starts looking bad, that would be very helpful

alexb76

Then tell em not to touch the cluster, don't clean it! or take it to a reputable detailer who knows what they're doing. I've never heard of a cluster screen protector.

Screen protectors are only meant for surfaces that are touch sensetive, so suseptible to scratches (such as NAV touchscreen, phone screens, iPads, etc...). Do you have screen protector for you laptop or monitor? no! cause you don't need to touch it unless you're cleaning it... and that's when you need to be careful!

StanThePorscheFan

Duct tape?

No HTwo O

Don't take to a carwash. Do it yourself.

I have cleaned my dial covers successfully with a 100% cotton cloth and a quick detailer. I use 2 cloths. One damp with the detailer, and the other to buff off.

slicky rick

alexb makes sense. i only had to wipe my instrument cluster when i had it blessed and the priest sprinkled holy water on them. Used a good 3m microfiber cloth. since then i never touched these dials and the occasional cleaning simply needed a soft brush for removing dust. thats it

MUSSBERGER

Your kidding right?

MichaelL

What about the material used for a clear bra? If it protects against rock chips, it ought to work inside the car.

axhoaxho

If you are that finicky about your car; avoid car wash, and put an effort to wash your car yourself. No excuse.

For the PCM screen, just use a can of compress air to blowoff the dust on the surface, and then use a microfibre cloth (if you have any Oakley sunglasses, the 'socks' that came with them work well) to gently wipe clean the fingerprints.

For the dash instrument panel, just don't touch it like folks say. If needed, just use compress air to blowpff the dust periodically. Another trick I use is to buy one of these cosmetic brushes -- cost only a few bucks at Target. Keep one in the door compartment and just gently brush the dust off of the instructment surface (if it is good for women's face, it is good for our car), it also works well on brushing dust off the gaps throughout the console.

Simple enough.

_Nathan

Car Wash???!!!

If you are putting your car through a car wash then you have a lot more to worry about than your instrument cluster.

Dottore

No kidding.

Are you aware that many car washes recycle their water? So you are getting all kinds of crap (with only the particles filtered out) sprayed into your car with high pressure washers. If you live in an area that salts the roads you are likely to get a saline solution squirted into all kinds of areas of your car under high pressure—areas that ordinary salt on the road would never reach.

Absolutely nuts to take you car to an average commercial car wash IMO.

chbj

Thanks for you comments.

A few years ago I decided that I rather spend my sparse free time with my family than washing my car myself which takes more time away from them. I'm ok with the scratches swirls and other things that happen at car washes, but I do like to keep them to a minimum. Hence my original question.

If nobody else has a suggestion to my original question, I guess we can close this thread.

gravedgr

Not all car washes are created equal.

cbzzoom

I'm guessing your couch looks like this -