I posted a thread in the wrong forum, put it in the GE forum by accident.

About a month ago I put a cheapo phone mat on my dash. The car was mostly in the garage but when I peeled the mat off the other day, my formerly matte dash was shiny where the mat had been.

It didn't look like there was anything to really clean off, but like the mat had permanently altered the finish of the dash....Not one to be deterred, I tried several things to see if I could clean the dash & restore it...none of them worked.

This morning I tried 70% isopropyl alcohol. That did it. Took the finish right off. Now I will need to have the dash restored.

 

A dash mat would serve as a good temporary solution.

Maybe get it vinyl wrapped or Plastdipped.

 

A dash mat?? That's how I got into this in the first place!

I wonder what a vinyl wrap would cost - but I can't imagine it wouldn't be pretty distracting. I don't know what Plastidip is. The repainting/redying is going to be about $150.

 

I meant those full cover dash mats.

Vinyl wrap is fairly cheap, go for 3M 1080 or DiNoc. There are colors and textures just like the Fit's interior.

PlastiDip is a removable liquid rubber, google it, really awesome stuff. People "dip" wheels, and a ton of other things.

 

Did the same thing with one of those circular Garmin suction cup plates that stick on the dash. Now a permenant circle mark on the dash (though subtle). I tried everything including alcohol, but still there. It's not bad, though. I would imagine with continued exposure to the sun, it will gradually fade.

 

It ain't gonna fade.

p.s. I just realized the title of this thread looks like I was drunk when I messed up my dash! Alcohol was involved, but not inside ME! LOL

 

If I messed up my dash that bad I would be wanting to get drunk to forget what I had done. Dash mats are useless, there is like over 50 cubic feet of space in the car why choose to put anything on the dash boggles my mind.

 

Right? I'm just one big fail....

It was an impulse decision and I'm gonna pay for it royally.

 

plasti dip would be cheap and it would look matte

 

I did the same thing with a suction GPS unit (now have indash navi) and then trying to clean the leftover ring - just messed it up more. Gotta watch it with those solvents.

My solution: Went to American Science & Surplus (national chain?), paid a few scheckels for some black 1/4" foam mat, cut a piece to size over that spot, then used double-sided carpet tape to apply. Bonus is that I stick my sunglasses up there and they generally don't fly off unless it's a panic stop!

 

How do you do that? Would I have to remove the whole panel?

The dash guy came over, took one look and said, " _____, I don't have that paint color." It's actually dark grey with flecks - he calls it silver. He said they would have to order it and he took one of my rear door pieces off and took it with him. They were supposed to call me today but I didn't hear from them.

 

Not sure of this is the right diagram but #35 seems to be an "upper dashboard" for $203?

 

I think I know what you are referring to. Craft shops sell a rather thin foam for a couple of bucks. Cut it to fit and use double sided tape as you suggest.

I may do that if I ever try to pry of the disc I have glued to my dash for my Garmin.

I suppose first you could try spray painting as well. Get a can of whatever and just make sure to mask everything well.