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The trim around my rear quarter window recently came into a disagreement with a pressure washer.

At the very least replacing the damaged part requires removing the entire rear quarter window, something which I am not too keen to jump straight in to. I'd much rather attempt to clean it up first and see how it looks.

I'm afraid I'm not too sure what material it is made from, it feels the same as the seals around the door just to the right of the damage. Normally I would refer to this as rubber, but I don't know if this is an accurate name for the material used.

It is soft to the touch, applying light pressure will cause it to flex inwards (elastically), and running my finger nail lightly across the surface will leave a small mark.

What compound/technique can I use to lessen the visual impact of the damage below?

Damaged rubber trim

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  • Razor blade to take off the big clumps. That's about it. And don't use a pressure washer to wash your car any more...
    – cory
    Commented May 1, 2017 at 15:06

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Without replacing it, there are few options.

You would need heat to smooth the material back down. Using a heat gun sparingly & carefully may work, but doing so improperly would likely make the situation worse.

The other option is to trim the parts sticking up with a very sharp razor blade. Careful not to cut deep into the material, only along the surface.

Lastly, it appears it is not affecting the functionality of the seal, so you could just leave it "as is" until you can replace it.

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  • Many thanks for your answer. I don't want to risk making it worse with the heat gun, given the proximity to the glass I think this may be asking for more trouble! I think I'm going to have a go at it with some tweezers and a razor blade, I think I'd do well to make it look much work at this stage. As you say, the damage is purely cosmetic at this point.
    – BadAtMaths
    Commented May 2, 2017 at 19:18

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