Why have new car interiors gone backwards in quality? I mean in my Civic (and economy cars) the interior seems to be made with nicer materials then most new cars. Everything now seems to be these really hard plastics.
Why have new car interiors gone backwards in quality? I mean in my Civic (and economy cars) the interior seems to be made with nicer materials then most new cars. Everything now seems to be these really hard plastics.
Money.
Tech. Most cars now have all kinds of trac control, GPS, Satilite radio, etc.
Gotta cut elsewhere to keep the cars from getting to expensive... I guess.
OOOHHHHh I know this one. (I used to do the BMW X5/6 interior)
FlightService wrote: OOOHHHHh I know this one. (I used to do the BMW X5/6 interior) #1 Cost #2 Fuel Economy (trying to cut weight, you would be surprised how much of a weight difference there is between two vinyls) #3 Cost #4 Recyclability (EU actually has regs on this) #5 Cost #6 Stylistic intentions based on the current "style" #7 Cost #8 Safety standards (new flame retardency standards, air bag performance ect.) #9 Cost
You think maybe cost factors in?
Yes, modern cars have crap interiors unless you're spending 40K+. Everything is just a cheap molded plastic panel. My Mom's HHR was like sitting in a 5 gallon bucket. Rough surfaces and not a bit of padding anywhere. All through the 70's and 80's even the cheapest model had a padded arm rest on the door and some sort of vinyl covering. Cloth door panels were not a big upgrade and were standard in all but the cheapest cars. Now you get a hard plastic panel with some 80 grit sand paper on the arm rest. Dashboards are huge and oddly shaped. Seats are on the floor, have no bolsters and seem to be covered in old potato sacks. ARRRRGGHHH. Just more reasons I hate most everything built after 2000.
I guess I'm one of the weird ones- interiors don't really bother me. If the engine starts and propels the car in some reasonable fashion, the car's fine with me. I've driven a 2009 BMW 750iL, and it didn't impress me any more than my Saturn, from an interior standpoint.
Twin Cam Trollin. Having owned both Saturn's and BMW's, I choke on that absurd comment.
I present you with a 3-Series:
And a Saturn Ion:
Twin_Cam wrote: I guess I'm one of the weird ones- interiors don't really bother me. If the engine starts and propels the car in some reasonable fashion, the car's fine with me. I've driven a 2009 BMW 750iL, and it didn't impress me any more than my Saturn, from an interior standpoint.
I get what Twin_Cam is saying, so long as I can reach everything and the seats hold me, the rest of the interior doesn't bother me much.
Now as for the driving experience, that is far more important
My .02c
I like nicely styled interiors but it certainly isn't a deciding a factor in buying a car to me. The touch surfaces (aka the seats, door panel, shift knob and steering wheel) really are important to me so it bothers the hell out of me.
93EXCivic wrote: Why have new car interiors gone backwards in quality? I mean in my Civic (and economy cars) the interior seems to be made with nicer materials then most new cars. Everything now seems to be these really hard plastics.
I agree with this. The interior in my '89 Civic Si was much nicer than my '99 Civic EX (both purchased new). I'm referring mainly to the quality of the materials.
Woody wrote:93EXCivic wrote: Why have new car interiors gone backwards in quality? I mean in my Civic (and economy cars) the interior seems to be made with nicer materials then most new cars. Everything now seems to be these really hard plastics.I agree with this. The interior in my '89 Civic Si was *much* nicer than my '99 Civic EX (both purchased new). I'm referring mainly to the quality of the materials.
Which is nicer then modern Civics.
aussiesmg wrote:Twin_Cam wrote: I guess I'm one of the weird ones- interiors don't really bother me. If the engine starts and propels the car in some reasonable fashion, the car's fine with me. I've driven a 2009 BMW 750iL, and it didn't impress me any more than my Saturn, from an interior standpoint.I get what Twin_Cam is saying, so long as I can reach everything and the seats hold me, the rest of the interior doesn't bother me much. Now as for the driving experience, that is far more important My .02c
I agree with that. I've driven my inlaws Mercedes and the interiors don't wow me. As long as the seats are comfortable, I can use the radio without the owners manual, and the gauges are easy to read, the rest of the interior means nothing to me.
As far as I'm concerned, interiors are made for passengers in the vehicle, because when I'm in the back seat, it's nice to have all the vents, shades, and gadgetry to play with. 
I can't actually tell. Promise. I drive crap most of the time. when my boss at TRW (in 2002 or something) learned that we were going to get a preproduction MDX for testing, we has excited. He kept telling me how nice the interior was going to be. He was obviously one of the 'car and driver' set that thinks that all visible parts of the interior must be plush. I got in it, I touched stuff, I drove it. I don't get it. I got back in my '84 Chevy truck with the cracked vinyl dash (you know the crack, every truck had it in the same spot) rubber floormat and faded hard plastic door panels and went home. Still don't get it. The new minivan (2011 Dodge) is a nice place to be, in that it looks nice, and I thought the Audi TT baseball glove thing looked nice, but that's about it. "Interior quality" to me means that the PT Cruiser dash shouldn't crack after only being 11 years old.
if I wanted hard plastics.. I can go find an old Hyundai Excel.
Now.. the plastic dash on the MINI and new 500 do not bother me.. they are not trying to be anything but body coloured plastic
nderwater wrote: Twin Cam Trollin. Having owned both Saturn's and BMW's, I choke on that absurd comment. I present you with a 3-Series:And a Saturn Ion:
the BMW X5 and that Saturns dashes were made in the same factory in SC, the standards for the dash quality was as high in one as the other.
Remember Quality, by definition, is to specification.
They both had the same build quality, but perceived quality was extremely different. The soft touch stuff is a European thing and I am not surprised some of you don't get it. I still don't care too much about it, but I get it. The Japanese still don't get it. They coat everything in soft stuff to try to figure it out, although they are getting better at focused things.
In the end it is the high gloss, non-chromed non painted parts that make it look cheap.
Like say the textured dash in a Camaro that is as shiny as a mirror. The Saturn is just poor styling not bad build quality. The touch factor was decent in that car especially for the price.
mad_machine wrote:FlightService wrote: OOOHHHHh I know this one. (I used to do the BMW X5/6 interior) #1 Cost #2 Fuel Economy (trying to cut weight, you would be surprised how much of a weight difference there is between two vinyls) #3 Cost #4 Recyclability (EU actually has regs on this) #5 Cost #6 Stylistic intentions based on the current "style" #7 Cost #8 Safety standards (new flame retardency standards, air bag performance ect.) #9 CostYou think maybe cost factors in?
One internet for you 
FlightService wrote: the BMW X5 and that Saturns dashes were made in the same factory in SC, the standards for the dash quality was as high in one as the other. Remember Quality, by definition, is to specification. They both had the same build quality, but perceived quality was extremely different. The soft touch stuff is a European thing and I am not surprised some of you don't get it. I still don't care too much about it, but I get it. The Japanese still don't get it. They coat everything in soft stuff to try to figure it out, although they are getting better at focused things. In the end it is the high gloss, non-chromed non painted parts that make it look cheap. Like say the textured dash in a Camaro that is as shiny as a mirror. The Saturn is just poor styling not bad build quality. The touch factor was decent in that car especially for the price.
Only on the assembly line is quality defined is adherence to specification. In the marketplace and in the hands of a consumer (where it actually counts), quality originates from the perceived value of the materials. The Rubbermaid dash components and Motel 6 seats in that Saturn have a perceived value of maybe $50.
In reply to nderwater:
I thought I covered that when I typed "perceived quality"?
Are you being redundant or repetitive?
c) Reinforcing
So often it seems that companies focus so hard on hitting their metrics that they totally miss the big picture. It's so odd to see American and even Korean brands making strides here while the Japanese and VW flounder.
nderwater wrote: Twin Cam Trollin. Having owned both Saturn's and BMW's, I choke on that absurd comment. I present you with a 3-Series:
Saturn Ions have the worst interior I have ever sat in. It is just miserable.
nderwater wrote: I present you with a 3-Series:
Soooo...that looks good to you, then, does it?
nderwater wrote: Twin Cam Trollin. Having owned both Saturn's and BMW's, I choke on that absurd comment. I present you with a 3-Series:
that BMW interior is fugly- orange leather.. really? don't we make fun of 20 year olds that make the interiors of their Hondas look like that?
at least the Saturn engineers had the good taste to hide the speakers, even if they couldn't figure out where the gauges are supposed to go.
Funny, I was just thinking today how much I liked the interior of my Fusion sport. That package gets an upgraded leather, with some sort of baseball stitching. The headrest is the softest, I ever had, and everything else seems to be where I like it.
That being said, I sold my Dakota, that was basically 2 lawn chairs and a cardboard box between them.
Live Jav said, cost. Except GM and Ford. I think most of their interiors have gotten better in the past few years. Chrysler has always sucked, Honda has gotten much worse, Nissan was never good, and I don't pay any attention to Toyota or the rest of them.
I'm headed to the auto show on Saturday, so I'll know more after that. 
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