zman

Curious if anyone has a good way (short of replacing) to repair scratches in stock Audi A6 wood inlays. I have some shallow scratches around the cupholder and some deeper ones by the parking brake. I can feel all of them with my fingernail but they dont seem like they are deeper then the finish. I was going to use some high grit sandpaper and then buff but then remembered how much this car cost and thought maybe I should get some advice! Thanks in advance.

A6Gary

AFAIK, only way to fix is replacement. Because of a bad scratch on the '06 A6 Avant I purchased in Sept '08, I replaced the complete center wood console section (excluding the rear cupholder lid). Even with a ~30% on–line discount, that part was $454 plus shipping. Another option is check eBay for a used center console part, but you can expect to pay ~$250 for one, and you'll have to take your chances Unless you can inspect in person). If you're interested, I have my old one sitting here. The part number is 4F1–864–261–C–1WV, which is the brown wood with the advanced key option. The one scratch on this part is located on the top surface, upper left (to the right of the gear selector). This part may be better that your current one. If interested, send me a message. BTW, I'm located in the PNW (South Puget Sound) also.

KevinGary

Take a look at Zainos website. They have a pretty good product.

audia6s

eBay has complete set of 20~ pieces for 185$ or you cab use vynil to wrap it.

nemesisa6

switch to silver or carbon fiber inlays

The_Mizarc

Considering the wood is really a thin layer of veneer sanding with a real fine grit may actually be an option but if i were attacking a project like this. I would first of all remove the parts from the car. Secondly you need to be prepared to fail miserably so if there is a full set of wood online I would go for that as my guinea pig. After u blend your scratches you will have to spray a couple layers of clear coat to get the shine again. Perhaps even a fine sanding between those coats. Remember veneer is probably only an eighth of an inch thick so use a variable speed orbital sander and control your pressure. Take some pics and share your results with us.

zman

Yikes! looks like I need to take a step back and see if I can live with the scratches as is. If I cant, and after taking into account all the great feedback it sounds like in the end I will be buying new. My father in law is a great woodworker so next time he visits I will have him take a look. If I try to repair I will pull the parts and take photos...and yes, my past experience with these type of projects tells me that failing miserably is a likely result! Thanks to all for the comments.

irenesbob

My daughter's A8 had a few minor scratches on the wood console (kids and dog - bah!!) and I used several applications of a good carnuba paste wax on all the wood parts of the console. It reduced the appearance of the scrathes by filling them in a little plus givng off a a lot of shine or bling to distract the eye. If you look for the scratches you can still see some, but the casual eye basically doesn't notice them any more. It might be worth trying - you can always remove the wax with rubbing alcohol or such if you don't like the result. My 2 cents

The G Man

I wonder if those clear coat scratch remover will work on wood?

NR04

My recommendation: If the scratches really bother you and you can feel them with your finger nail, just using the regular polish won't help. You have to use the wet-sand method. Take it off the car and start with 2,000 grit, moving up to finer grit close to 4,000. You will need to finish off wit a good polish to remove the fine swirl marks from 4,000 grit. Some scratches may be too deep to get rid of completely. You just have to know when to stop or you will go through the clear.

If you never done this before, just take to a reputable detailer and he can probably do it for you less than $100. They do this all the time on paint.