Minor Cosmetic Complaints...

So, I've had my Cayman for a couple of weeks. After one week of driving, I noticed that there was a black scratch on the driver side interior door handle. I thought it was a smudge, and tried to buff/wipe it off. This made the scratch even larger. /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/sad_smile.gifDoes anyone know if these aluminum colored handles are painted?Why would the color come off so easily? I am very careful. Also, under the parking break, I noticed some scratches on the panel below it. These panels seem to be made out of plastic- any way tofix these minor cosmetic blemishes? I'm more irked by the handle situation.. Thanks guys....

valerie - As far as I know, the handles are aluminum and are not painted... I know this sounds strange, but before you go after it with anything stronger than you've already tried, call the service dept. where you bought the car and explain to them your problem. See if you can find out what you can use to clean the metal without scratching or marring it in any way. If you try to use something caustic or abrasive, it might mess it up, and make it worse - they should know what you can use to get whatever it is off... they might even suggest you bring it by so they can ID what it is that's on there. brad

I believe that the handle is plastic and done in the aluminum look finish. I wouldn't try to repair it, but do get your dealer to replace the handle. Double check you hands for rings or sharp nails to see what could be causing these scratches. Are you the only one getting in and out of the car?

Thanks for the suggestions- I emailed the guy I purchased the car from, and he said his technician said it's not covered under warranty./fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/thumbs_down.gifHe said I could still bring it by. The mark is even on the outer handle latch area, so really, only my fingers would touch it to open the handle. Hopefully they can do something to fix it- the dealer said he believed it was made of aluminum also, but why would it make that black mark? Very odd..... Thanks again..

You need to press them on this, if you didn't cause the damage and it was that way from the factory they need to take care of it, and NO they aren't aluminum they are PLASTIC and painted aluminum look. If your dealer won't stand behind their product then you need to lodge a complaint with PCNA to get it fixed right. I can't believe a dealer would even argue over this or try to say 'it is not covered by warranty' - oh yes it is, if that door handle was scratched before you got it, or is defective in some way (poor application of the paint, etc.) then YES they need to cover it and make it right.

It must be 40 years since Mr. X told Benjamin Braddock that he had 'one word for you.' Was he ever right! Just about every reference to parts of the Cayman S (and I assume all other cars as well) seems to say that the part in question is 'plastic:' door handles, fog light assemblies, fender air intakes, center consoles, etc., etc. I guess plastic is lighter andless expensivethan metal, and seems generally to serve the required purpose. No offense to anybody in the industry, but to me it just sounds 'cheap.'

I recall reading somewhere ( I think it was about the new BMW E92 ) that the use of plastics allows for lighter parts that can take shapes not possible for metal parts. As for the Graduate, it is one of my favorite movies - I guess they knew what they were talking about - Plastics are it ;-)

Welcome to the club, don't forget to sign up for PCA and enter your car in the Cayman Registry (if you haven't aleady done so)

Hey, speaking of plastic handles, can these handles be changed to an aluminum handle? Is there such part for Cayman S. You know, the cabin is all beautiful and all until you see the handles. I want to take them off and paint them terracota... they are a bit annoying in plastic. C

I'm bringing life to this thread, because my passenger handle has been scratched. And it could have been a passenger or during service; there is no way to know which. Anyway, the plastic handle is painted galvano silver base/clear and there is no touch-up paint available from Porsche. I will attempt to fill the scratch with clearcoat and sand/buff to fix. A new handle from my local dealer is $182!!!!!! For that price it shouldn't look silver; it should be silver!

Same Problem Here I have a couple of scratches on my door handle and my left side steering wheel plastic piece that is the same color. I think the scratches have been caused by my wedding band. I already had to take the car to the dealer for peeling plastic pieces by the trunk opening and around the ignition. I am quite upset by the quality of all the plastic painted parts on the interior. I think for the price of the car, real metal or at the least, tougher paint, would be expected. I'm just tired of going to the dealer for so many little things. Just the other day, the plastic piece covering my ashtray started peeling. By the way my car has the natural brown leather interior, which (I think) is a $3600 option. That is a whole another thing that bugs me. For that much extra, you would think they would use "better" paint to match the leather. Anyway, just rambling about the common problems I have been having. Oh yeah, when I had the dealer replace the two scratched/peeling pieces, they covered the trunk piece under warranty but I had to pay for the ignition ring. It wasn't bad though, only $16 although I thought it should have been covered under warranty.

The plastics on my '07 Cayman appear quite a bit cheaper than the plastics used in similar locations in my '05 Jetta TDi wagon. Actually many of the interior parts appear cheaper in quality.