Revive my new-to-me Black Civic EX-T

[shaylarz]

I've finally broken my habit of getting brand new cars and jumped into a pre-owned 2016 Civic EX-T. My options were a black one or a white one (I really wanted a dark gray one but the dealer did not have one and I wanted to jump on their lifetime powertrain warranty before it ended so my options were limited.)

I opted for the black one because of the darker interior. Kind of wishing I had gone with the white, but alas...

She's only got 36K miles on her, and I want to get it looking as close to new as possible. There are a few scratches and the dreaded paint swirl marks. I picked up the OEM touch up paint from my dealership and I intend to give the interior a full on shampooing.

Is there anything else I can do? There are fine scratches on the infotainment system and the plastic trim pieces inside, the good ol scuff marks on the door, a dent in the roof that I think could be easily popped out (looks like a basketball hit it or something) and the cloth door trim materials are a bit dirty. I'm willing to take it to a detailer, but I also need things to do to keep me from wasting my time on the couch, so I'm happy to do some things on my own. I live in an apartment so I don't have access to a hose. I do park it in my garage every night.

Any products or advice or questions to ask a detailer sought! This is my second Civic and probably my favorite car I've driven since my old falling apart 1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I actually chose the Civic over another Jeep.

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[saz468]

Congrats on your civic in my opinion the civic is a better choice over the jeep

 

[suignafrozar]

I'm in the same situation as you. I have a black 2016 EX-L that I bought two weeks ago. The interior looks good, but the paint has some clear coat scratches that are resistant to the scratch remover I tried. I think I will just get the outside detailed with some protective coat and think about a long term fix later.


What about replacing your halogen headlight bulbs with LEDs? There's a video on youtube by "Import Car Enthusiast" called "Morimoto H11 LED Install". Seems like it's not too hard.

 

[JDMDownload]

Ebay has these faux leather covers that you can insert with some plastic interior trim tools over the existing fabric that is dirty, I wish there was more of it in the car because the cloth gets dirty too easily in my all black HB Sport.

Here's one link to a leather cover for the center console

 

[alias Igme]

it won't look stock but there there are many inexpensive panel covers/stick-ons available for 10th gen civics.
This includes panels for center console, parts of the dashboard, parts of the door, back/center cup holder, and leather covers for center compartments.

I am not sure how to remedy the scratches in the infotainment screen, but if it is just on the gray line, they have aftermarket panel cover/stick-ons on that too.

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