Interior plastics! Fabrics! Any insight Scott

scottmoyer · 01-17-2007, 07:48 PM

I've been noticing over the years how the plastics in GM vehicles have been failing in the looks department and now with the 07 trucks, the feel department. My 03 Monte Carlo SS has a black interior and I notice that many of the blacks are not the same shade. It makes the interior look cheap. My 06 Silverado has better looking shades to the charcoal interior, but seems there is too much plastic. The Monte also wears too much plastic. My 87 IROC-Z has fabric door panels with carpet accents, carpet on the center console, carpet on the rear wheel wells and fabric on the speaker covers. The newer vehicles seem to have plastic everywhere and when the shades don't match, it looks cheap! GM also removed the fabric and carpet accents from the door panels on the trucks to be just 1 big piece of plastic!

The new 07 trucks have a very rough texture on the doors, dash, etc and a nasty looking headliner. I would think that a smoother texture will be easier to maintain and clean. Can we get any insight into the fabrics and plastic options on the new Camaro? Again, the blacks all match on my 87 Camaro and it's already 20 years old! Give us something to be proud of!

HuJass · 01-18-2007, 06:10 AM

I agree.
What happened to cloth door inserts and the carpeting on the bottom of the door panels? What happened to the soft, padded, vinyl-like door panel tops?
And what happened to padded dash boards.
I swear, the dash in my '73 GP was better than this new hard plastic stuff in cars today.

C'mon GM. If you want to be world class, you need to step up to the plate. Stop pinching pennies and do the right thing.

Primus · 01-18-2007, 11:49 AM

Interior quality has been a problem for some GM models recently. I owned one of the first 1000 Pontiac Solstice (number 111). One of the major reasons I sold it was because the interior just felt really cheap. The leather was nice on the seats but the plastics were horrible. Hopefully the Camaro takes another route.

Z28Marcus · 01-18-2007, 01:46 PM

Very true - consider how much time the average non-enthusiast spends staring at the inside and critiquing it as opposed to those of us who will give some leeway to a cheap-ish looking & feeling interior to ogle the engine and mechanical bits and experience neck snapping acceleration and braking.

Rampant · 01-18-2007, 05:05 PM

^ and those are the people (average, non-enthusiast) that this car needs to be a hit with. After all, they spend a whole lot more time in their car at low speeds than stepping on the go pedal and forgetting what the interior is like

.

And, quite frankly, an overly cheap interior might be the only thing that would stop me from buying this car (assuming everything else lives up to expectation/speculation). Even more than a slightly higher price tag.

Z28Wilson · 01-18-2007, 10:41 PM

Just got back from NAIAS. This was one of the first years I really paid attention to the overall look and feel of interior materials. Let me tell you, in my opinion, this isn't "just" a GM problem. For all the praise the F-series trucks get for their interiors, I sat in the new '08 F-350. Good looking truck. The plastics on the inside were some of the hardest, cheesiest, rough feeling around. Particularly on the doors. Hell, even the Camrys they had there were quite overrated as far as look and feel.

Silver2009 · 01-19-2007, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z28Wilson

Just got back from NAIAS. This was one of the first years I really paid attention to the overall look and feel of interior materials. Let me tell you, in my opinion, this isn't "just" a GM problem. For all the praise the F-series trucks get for their interiors, I sat in the new '08 F-350. Good looking truck. The plastics on the inside were some of the hardest, cheesiest, rough feeling around. Particularly on the doors. Hell, even the Camrys they had there were quite overrated as far as look and feel.

Agreed. Big new car displays at Barrett Jackson, and from the Mustang through the Edge, the materials in the Fords absolutely BLEW! The Caddy's were very nice, and although there was a Ford GT there, it was locked.
The Z06 was open, and the car is solid as a rock by comparison.

My disappointment was the hooplah going on at the Ford display with the ability to race one of two Shelby GTs on twin dynos! They had a huge video screen with an announcer and they were showing the GT500 Germany video non-stop. Ford had 3 GT500s and the FR500 all open on the floor. They also had all of the new Ford Performance POWER PACKS up on the wall. Nice promotion........ Should sell a SHZTload of Mudstangs!
You can really tell that the Mustang is the only working class muscle in town.....

On the GM side, no reps, just nice looking cars ALL ALONE!

Man, when Scott is on sabatical, nothing happens at GM!

This was a heck of a missed opportunity for GM. I watched a group of Germans watch the Ford video, and then point and laugh at the GM display.

skibbez93z · 01-19-2007, 03:26 PM

GTO didnt fail in this department IMO. so maybe they will realize that the camaro interior needs to be done well since the interior in the GTO is a selling point for a lot of us.

90rocz · 01-20-2007, 12:46 AM

I liked the Yellow Cobalt SS interior, with the yellow seat centers.
I would like to see the use of micro-fibre cloth in interior, it looks like swede and doesn't readily soak up spills as well, and it's cooler on the back.

97z28/m6 · 01-22-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90rocz

I would like to see the use of micro-fibre cloth in interior, it looks like swede and doesn't readily soak up spills as well, and it's cooler on the back.

that would be sweet!

2000GTP · 01-23-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z28Marcus

Very true - consider how much time the average non-enthusiast spends staring at the inside and critiquing it as opposed to those of us who will give some leeway to a cheap-ish looking & feeling interior to ogle the engine and mechanical bits and experience neck snapping acceleration and braking.

90 Z28SS · 04-10-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90rocz

I liked the Yellow Cobalt SS interior, with the yellow seat centers.
I would like to see the use of micro-fibre cloth in interior, it looks like swede and doesn't readily soak up spills as well, and it's cooler on the back.

Too bad the Cobalt leather (excluding the Recaro's) looks like its 10 years old after 2 months from new . I would love to see more use of Alcantara ( the micro fiber suede your referring too ....but its MAJOR expensive . More so that real leather or real suede . The stuff IS cool though , you can wash it with soap and water and dries like new .

SSRich · 04-10-2007, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90 Z28SS

Too bad the Cobalt leather (excluding the Recaro's) looks like its 10 years old after 2 months from new . I would love to see more use of Alcantara ( the micro fiber suede your referring too ....but its MAJOR expensive . More so that real leather or real suede . The stuff IS cool though , you can wash it with soap and water and dries like new .

Who make the seats that looks old. Does the leather in the regular cobalt SS made by recaro because i was thinking about getting one with leather.

Interceptor1 · 08-15-2007, 10:21 PM

well, sad but true, the interior leather on GMs is not good, I worked at a Chevy dealership and the trade in cars or cars that were a year old and came for service looked bad.

I don't like the interior of my 4th gen due to the plastic finish...
I don't know why but if you see and feel the interior on most entry level euro cars, like Peugeot, VW, Audi, BMW, even the cheaper VWs made in Brazil or Mexico look and feel a lot better than GMs. I wish that now that Opel is part of GM the german engineers over there showed their american counterparts a bit about interior materials.

I don't know if GM outsources the plastic pieces to different companies and that is why the parts don't match that well.

I think that basic transportation cars really don't matter much because people trade them in after 1-2 years and are basically disposable appliances. But an icon, a performance car, and a car that is loved, cherished and cared for meticulously by its owners because of what it is should have a better and long lasting materials and construction, because you know that people will appreciate it for years to come; even though corporation just think in a matter of dollars and revenue, sometimes they don't care much about the product once its out the door. Maybe they can have a simple design for the popular 6 cylinder and a more elaborate finish and better materials for the high end models, not just sprucing up the seat centers with color.

CamaroZ282008 · 08-24-2007, 02:56 PM

GM needs to buy a couple audi's, bmws and even hondas and seriously take notes. GM in my opinion from the 70's through now has had the WORST interiors of any company period. GM has talent in the design dept, so my question is why are the interiors they come up with so watered down and awful looking compared to the competition. As for materials this is where GM really struggles. How much more really is it to have soft touch plastics where they are needed like an arm rest or door rests, REAL trim like aluminum for the dash instead of that nasty painted silver plastic look-a-aluminum stuff? Seats are also an issue in my opinion with the exception of the vette and CTS-v GM's seats lack alot of things like...Nice leather, good bolsters, and SHAPE.

Anyway that was quite a rant but an all honesty its true. Look at the new 2008 Malibu, yes its a good looking car, with a good looking interior. Then look at an 08 accord, I think the styling of the accord is so so, but then take a look at the interior. The new malibu is good and thats it with the exception of the two tone dash other wise the all gray dash looks horrible. My point is GM's "new" interiors look great until you place them next to the competition. GM needs to step up in design,quality and better materials NOW, not in a few years.