Scratched glass (sunroof)- repair suggestions?

[1MoreUsername]

The bottom line: I have a 3cm scratch on the inside of my sunroof over the front passenger seat (see attached pic). I'm looking for suggestions for ways to fix it at home (if that's even possible).

The longer version:

On delivery day I saw what I thought was a streak of residue on the inside of the sunroof presumably from whatever they used to protect various parts of the car during transit. I noticed it while they were running through the touchscreen interface and in my distracted state, figured it would rub off with my finger. I forgot about it on delivery day due to the excitement. When I finally got around to inspecting it, I couldn't get the stuff to come off. Fast forwards after 45 days of life events and distractions which took my attention anytime I remembered the residue and today I stopped by my service center to see if they could get it off. The inspected it and told me it is a scratch. The scratch is perpendicular to the direction of travel so I don't think it could have been caused by any opening/closing of the sunroof before I picked it up. My option for repair from the shop is to replace the sunroof, and I'll have to pay for it since i'm outside any window to notify them of defects.

Lets be clear: I don't expect them to do anything here on my behalf. It's my fault that I didn't mention it to them on delivery day or until 45 days out.

The only reason for my post is to see if anyone has any experience with any scratch removal products that I might try before biting the bullet and having the sunroof replaced.

I should mention that it's certainly not noticeable to me when I'm driving, it's not noticeable from the outside due to the tinting, and so it would only be visible to passengers (infrequent). But there is the problem of me knowing their's a defect which bugs me.

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[BrettS]

Unfortunately there is probably little you can do, short of replacing the glass. Scratches in glass are very difficult to remove. I wound up with a small scratch on my 220 gallon aquarium and spent several hours working on it with a buffer and cerium oxide. That got it to maybe 90%. It’s less obvious now, but it is still noticeable if you look for it. It was also very messy as the stuff would spray everywhere as the buffer buffed and trying to work over your head for hours sounds pretty miserable.

Additionally, I believe the sunroof is tempered glass and I don’t know if you can use cerium oxide on tempered glass or not. If you do decide to attempt it, you should probably do a bit of research. I also would suggest removing the sunroof so that you can work with it on a table rather than overhead, and away from the car to avoid spraying the red cerium oxide all over your interior.

The general rule of thumb seems to be that if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail then it’s probably too deep to be removed. If you can’t feel it with your fingernail then you may be able to use the cerium oxide to remove it.

The only other suggestion I have would be to try to use a window tinting film on the sunroof. The film may hide the scratch or at least make it less noticeable.

 

[Tam]

...scratch...

I would call up the experts--Windshield repair shops.