Results of an investigation of the trends and dynamics of excited state production in collisions of inert gas projectiles on Na, Mg, Al and Si surfaces are presented. Measurements of charge fractions and electron spectra are reported. The efficiency of excited auto-ionizing-state production as a function of energy is determined. These results are compared with known gas-phase collision results. The similar general trends suggest that both in gas-phase collisions and in ion-surface scattering, similar primary excitation mechanisms are operative. However, surface-specific electron capture, loss de-excitation and core rearrangement processes lead to a strong modification in final-state distributions and dominant selective production of the lower-lying excited states occurs.