[krishnakumar]

I'm a stickler for touch and feel. Our family car is a 2003 Santro Xing XS. Love that car and still runs solid albeit with many comfort issues (poor AC, leaking doors etc). However, the thing that irritates me the most, right from the first day, is the plastic quality.

I remember as a 11 year old kid, I used to wake up early in the morning, run to the garage and sit in the driver's seat and imagine driving. And the most distinct memory of that is me constantly having to wipe my hand because of that waxy, scratchy, hard plastic feel. I just hated touching the dashboard for whatever reason.

Now as a 30yr old and newly wed man, I'm planning to buy my own car. I've been reading forums after forums here in my research. While I'm mostly inclined on taking GTO's advice of "buy and keep the expensive baby for long", I'm still keeping some of the VFM options in the foray just in case.

This made me think. Can I salvage some of that premiumness in a VFM cars with an aftermarket treatment to the dash and areas we're likely to touch? Has anyone tried such a solution? What are your thoughts on this?

[abhishek46]

Your vehicle is already 18years old and has issues, which you mentioned.

It is better to let it go, rather than experimenting on it, and wasting your time & money.

Since you like soft touch materials, try out the S-Cross, which has some soft touch stuff on the dash.

[SmartCat]

You can wrap the dashboard & doors in fabric/leather/PU leather to get the 'soft touch' feeling. Eg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt8GeuodrnA

But do you really need it? There is nothing wrong with the quality of Santro's plastics.

Having owned cars with and without soft-touch plastics, I don't think there is anything 'premium' about it. Associating soft touch plastics with premiumness is drilled into our heads because of all the car reviews.

We spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of our work table at home/office. Do you see any "soft touch" materials here? After all, our hands are always touching the table most of the time.



Sure, having soft-touch plastics in a car is nice to have "feature". But it doesn't make much sense to get it fitted on an old car. If you want a premium feeling in your old Santro, spend money on sound insulation, music system and latest electronic gadgets instead.

[Sanidhya mukund]

This can be done with leather wrapping the individual panels of the interior. But honestly, I would advise you against it because:

1. It involves dismantling the entire interior of the car. No matter how good the guy is, factory fit is factory fit. You’ll start getting random squeaks and rattles very soon.

2. The cloth material is glued on to the panels- our climate is harsh; the sun beats down very severely during summers. This could potentially cause the fabric to fade with time or lose it’s glue and form ugly creases on the panels.

Here are a couple of examples of how it can be done:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zux3Th-nlPQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zNasiboA8IQ

And this is how things could potentially end up after a short while (if the work is done poorly):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VV7zFmxgNB0

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Can I salvage some of that premiumness in a VFM cars with an aftermarket treatment to the dash and areas we're likely to touch?

Possible, but comes with it's own Pros and Cons.

- Durability, especially with our climate
- Cost : to look premium we don't have to spend a lot, but to have the actual premium feel and quality it requires a considerably high cost
- Maintenance : Few premium features don't fall under fit it & forget it, we should spend time, money and energy in maintaining them

[sagarpadaki]

How about you get a new dashboard and steering wheel installed. Yes, it will not give you the soft touch . But it would give a fresh look to the car with the clean new dashboard compared to the old dulled scratched dashboard. You can also look to get the dashboards of the later Xing models , I think 2010 and later models, which came in different tone color compared to boring grey color

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Sure, having soft-touch plastics in a car is nice to have "feature". But it doesn't make much sense to get it fitted on an old car. If you want a premium feeling in your old Santro, spend money on sound insulation, music system and latest electronic gadgets instead.

Thanks for your inputs!

My bad, I should have clarified. I'm no way trying to instill premiumness into the Santro . That baby is fine as she is.

This was more of a thought while buying a new car for myself. Let's say, I'm deciding to buy Nexon and would like to get some soft-touch on the dashboard.

Also regarding the premiumness, it is more of personal preference rather than an image thing.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Your vehicle is already 18years old and has issues, which you mentioned.

It is better to let it go, rather than experimenting on it, and wasting your time & money.

Since you like soft touch materials, try out the S-Cross, which has some soft touch stuff on the dash.

Should have clarified in the post. This is a thought experiment for a new purchase that I'm intending to do sometime this year and not at all trying to experiment with the Santro.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

And this is how things could potentially end up after a short while (if the work is done poorly):

https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=VV7zFmxgNB0

Woah. Will happily stay away from this. The thought experiment can stay as a thought itself

[RavSam]

I do not know of any people who touch and feel every part of the car...every now and then.

So what needs to be "good to touch?"
1. The center armrest at the front and rear seat
2. The door armrests (all 4)
3. The steering wheel, stalks, switches and gearbox

I wonder who keeps touching every other thing except for once when checking out the car for the first time. Except Mat Watson. People scratch themselves more than the car interiors! I have never seen anyone crib in person about flap type door handles either!

I have only seen people with commercial vehicles and owners of Bolero, Scorpio, Trax, Tavera, etc. keep a soft touch cloth on the dashboard. In a modern car, I do not know if wrapping a dashboard will affect the passenger airbag function.

Hard plastics are easier to maintain, are scratch prone but not tear prone and don't wither off as easily. I have only seen cars parked and kept under sun for too long having their black plastics greyed out (especially in the Santro).

Unless a car is "luxurious" one, for a daily drive and a beater car (I can never call my car a beater, ever) I would let it pass.

[Mortis]

You could spray a layer of Transparent Plasti Dip over the interior touch surfaces to give the soft effect. Anyways soft touch plastics are just regular ones with a thin rubberized layer over it. It should last a few years if you prep the surface well. Plasti Dip lasts for 3-5 years on exterior surfaces so the interiors should last a bit longer assuming the cabin heats up lesser than an exterior panel in the sun

[TrackDay]

Most of the newer cars are reasonably well appointed compared to cars from the past. Like most have said, it is better to get parts like steering, seats, gearlever etc. that we touch on a daily basis wrapped in leather or a good fabric. Sticking any other material over hard plastic will be a disaster in the longer run and will also affect resale value. However one can spice things up with wooden trims which are offered by some manufacturers as official accessories.

[GTO]

Instead of trying your luck with soft-touch materials in the after-market, better you buy the right car (whose interiors appeal to you - even if built of hard plastics) and go for the highest variant. The additional equipment of the top variants will keep you far happier than soft-touch materials. To me, these are good to have, but definitely not a must-have. There are many more important parameters to me = engine, gearbox, suspension, styling, safety, driving experience etc. What makes you on a highway road-trip? Soft-touch plastics or the way the car drives?

[a4anurag]

Anything is possible provided you pour-in that money required. Wrap the dashboard with the material you like. I can see two main disadvantages with such a MOD:

1. Need to remove the dashboard and the associated panels - MAY lead to rattles in future due to improper fitment - Shouldn't be an issue IF done carefully;

2. Will interfere with passenger airbag deployment - so wrapping is difficult for cars having passenger airbags.

Hydro-dipping is another alternative and will require all the panels to be dismantled and sent to the workshop for hydro-dipping job.

[vinayty]

Looking for advice on modifying interiors of Renault Kiger. I find the all black interior quite dull and want to modify it. Dealer has strictly advised against anything that requires opening the dashboard, as it will void warranty. (city : Hyderabad)

Is it possible to apply a vinyl wrap or leather wrap without opening the dashboard. I want to change the look of the glovebox area, side doors as well.

Also, any RXZ owners who have managed to install seat covers without interfering with the front seat side airbags , please share pointers.

[saikishor]

Will wrapping of dashboard affect the opening of the airbags? Since leather is considerably thicker and it will require more force to open.