So...?

That doesn't necessarily prove anything. I've seen plenty of late model Fox body Stangs that look like absolute crap, with all the cheap plastic interior pieces either falling off or looking as though an 9.0 earthquake shook them way out of alignment.

The point is that a lot of this comes down to whether or not the owner looked after the car. The previous CTS didn't impress me, either, but the 2008 CTS is light years ahead.

 

In my BMW the plastic scratches as easy as the Mustang. I do enjoy the heating pad like heated seats in the BMW (but it has no b @lls compared to the Mustang.) The leather in the BMW is cracking on the drivers seat in the same place as the Mustang. Like BC said its how its taken care of. The pic above of the GM interior door panel looks almost exactly like my BMW interior door panel.

 

My point is that there is no super-plastic and all brands succumb to the same wear overall. The CTS is not particularly old or beaten up on. Range rovers, MB's Jags, Honda's, ect, all wear about the same as any other car, and in a lot of cases, worse then you think they do. I don't *****foot around in the interior of my car and the MB listing I showed had a lot more scratches on the plastics, and the original owner was very proud of taking great care of it.

So was this Mini owner, it still had tons of small scraches on all the painted and unpainted plastic pieces although the owner was also very proud of keeping up on it(it was spotless when we got it). It had 'leatherette' instead of leather so the seats held up great though. BMW/MB vinyl seating upholstery holds up great, I have no idea why more manufacturers don't use it instead of leather more extensively. The works package is awesome on this car though, although it rattled and squeaked from body flex big time:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=140055444135

Even the 'super-cool' interior on this $35k+ mini scratches very easilly and all the plastics are hard. I've sold 9 minis and they are all about the same used. Most of them have the paint on the console worn-through by 10k miles from the drivers leg. Just like every Jetta/Golf/Passat has the vinyl dye peeling off the drivers door pull after a year(so do SportTracs), Honda cloth fades in the sun noticably by 50k miles, 97-01 explorer center console pads always crack, used Saturn SL and Cavalier interiors are disasters after a few years, ect ect ect...Toyotas (camry or better) hold up better then just about any brand that I have seen, but if you are in a 3 year old Toyota, its an effort not let the interior 'styling' coax you to sleep from boredom. Camry body panel metal and rear bumper covers are very thin and are almost always dented extensively.

BMW's do have great heated seats, although volvo and Subaru heated cloth ones work the best(and the very rarely ordered Focus cloth heated seat option). BMW's with the winter package-heated steering wheel is probably my all-time favorite gizmo.

 

No, but there are most assuredly different grades of plastic, just as there are different grades of steel or diamonds or wood...or anything else you'd care to name. And not all manufacturers use the same grade of plastic in their interiors.

Yes, but not all at the same rates. And that's dependent on: 1) Build quality; 2) Owner care.

What we need here are to establish benchmarks. If you want to talk about quality vis-a-vis the initial impressions you get looking at a brand new interior, then the new Cadillac CTS is absolutely head and shoulders above the old one, and finally competitive with the best in its class: Lexus IS350...Infiniti G35...Audi A4...BMW 3-Series, etc.

How it will wear over time...and how it will wear over time compared to those competitors is a separate issue. Owner care is yet another issue again, though directly impacts upon the above.

How do you know? By your own admission you said it was "falling apart." >> I have a CTS in stock now probably going to wholesale as it is falling apart.

 

G35 silver painted plastics and the steering wheel spokes scratch easilly, the sill plates always seem permenently scuffed and the 'soft touch' covers on storage bins are creaky and have a cheapo feel to them. You can feel parting lines on the grab handles that are annoying and the plastic on the seat side covers are extremely flimsy. The new ones are better. Audi stuff does not hold up very well, the A4 is just like the Jetta, beautiful when new but plastic dye issues and easilly stained carpets and upholstery-the A4 does not hold up well at all over time. The shifter bezel scratches badly too.

You can discern how a car holds up by design or by user.

3 series is pretty decent, vinyl holds up better then the leather though. 3 series has more issues with electronics and rattles then interior quality. The last gen was a huge leap over the prior one. The current gen is nice but seems much more boring and uninspired. The I6 isn't quite the king of the class it once was. New IS is very nice taking many cues from the 3/C-class-hard to say what time does to it. My buddy has a new 4cyl 250 with only 200 HP for over $40k so it better hold up like gold for that price, its $$'s surely didn't go under the hood. The LS series is possibly among the best interiors in the world, definately reminds you of the special section in the electronic stores where the $10K TV's hide. Old IS300 interior was about on par with a Corolla. The A4/3/C/IS/ES/G/TL are all the 'baby' versions from the brands though, the bombers in the line are always nicer. In the yuppie's-first-car class, overall I think the C class/new G35 are the best of the bunch in the 34-40k range. For motors the Nissan VQ is the best in class.

But considering an IUP equipped stang can be had under 20K its decent for the money. An IUP GT with the premium trim/comfort group for 30k with 300hp is pretty nice for the money all said and done. The thing that particularly screams 'cheap' the most for me looking at a Mustang is the exterior mirrors more then anything in the interior. The view is great, but ugh. Cloth wears easilly on the bolster is probably the biggest interior beef with me. Its still hard to rate a car that has no direct competitor.

 

Yep, and 'nuff said..... For the price and what you get, find a better bang for the buck. If you don't like it, then don't buy it......If you bought it and regret it, then get rid of it, plain and simple.

 

IMHO, the IUP looks a bit tacky. The plain jane stripper GTs without the IUP look cleaner w/o the brushed aluminum look. Shiny objects = extremely hot in the summer under the sun.

 

FYI, it's also availble with a charcoal dash panel instead of the aluminum. That's how I ordered mine.

 

A lot of other parts also come chromed out with the IUP (door handles, etc...) and it just looks a bit tacky and reminds me of an old person interior package. All it needs is a wood grain applique just IMHO of course.

 

I don't know if you're being serious or just trying to bump up your post count.

 

I live in one of the hottest states in the country and believe me a couple of pieces of chrome doesn't make one bit of difference. IMO,the plain look is very cheap looking

 

hello! im glad this thread i started is going strong.

just doing a thread check and saying....

I LOVE MY MUSTANG INTERIOR!!!

i've had $75K german cars and i have NO PROBLEM with my mustang.

simple, clean.....comfortable.....

so glad have american muscle car!

 

I don't live in one of the hottest states and any bit of chrome will burn your skin during the summer. My T-bird has chromed/steel seat belt buckles and latches, as well as a chromed shifter handle, chromed turn signal stalk, chromed door handle, chromed door lock, etc... all equipped at the factory. Guess what? You can't touch these surfaces more than 1 second in the summer without it being uncomfortable. The IUP and Premiere Trim on the S197 reminds me too much of old geezer packages from the Marauder, Town Car, Grand Marquis, and Crown Vic. The only thing missing that would complete the old person package on the IUP/Premiere Trim is a wood-grained applique across the dash.

Heck, I don't like the chrome trim rings around the vents or the chrome fake-gas cap badge on the trunk of the GT. IMHO, the base GT interior, aka the cheap look, looks a bit more modern and it is cleaner. In addition, the plastic surfaces transmit and absorb radiation more readily than the shiny surfaces (black body radiation effect), which generally just reflect radiation (burns your hand in the summer). Like I said before, it is just IMHO. I know a lot of people here love their IUPs/Premiere Trim packages, etc... but the only reason I didn't order the IUP is because of the "ugly" cheap looking chrome/brushed aluminum interior - it's not just the dash cover but the door handles and other accents. I would gladly pay the full IUP price for just the trip computer and MyColor; leave out the shiny surfaces.

 

Amen Yao.....

 

I've got the red crimson interior with the IPU I think its a great look! love the dash chrome rings and all. and I like the fake gas cap on the trunk...Metroplex !...retro!! thats what the s197 is about!!

 

hello giddyup! im glad we agree! i love the crimson interior..and im sure u do too!

 

Actually chrome reflects light and heat!!! Dark colors absorb heat.A black car will get much hotter that a white one. Black plastic will absorb more heat than aluminum or chrome. Not my opinion but physics!

 

i love the chrome accents...

livens up the interior.

im considering getting the shiney cupholder interior accent from silverhorseracing:

http://www.silverhorseracing.com/web...ategory_id=254

 

That is somewhat correct. The black body radiation effect states that dark objects tend to absorb and transmit radiation more readily than a bright object. What this means is that a white car tends to have a cooler interior than a black car in the summer.

What this also means is that under the sun, the shiny chromed surfaces will have a much higher exterior temperature than a darker matte surface. The shiny surface reflects radiation (to your skin upon contact) while the darker/non-reflective surface absorbs and transmits radiation (absorbed and dissipated).

You have to remember that since the clearcoat paint is rather shiny and reflective, the actual car body skin still gets pretty hot in the summer regardless of the color. The interior temperature is, however, affected a little by the color of the paint.

Whenever I touch shiny chromed surfaces under the sun in the summer, it feels like my skin is burning. The black plastic surfaces or darker matte surfaces do not get as hot to the touch. I once accidentally put my hand on the A/C low pressure line in the T-bird (shiny reflective metal surface) and thought I touched the exhaust manifold (which I have done in the past while trying to change the spark plugs on a 5.0) .

BTW the Saitek joystick for my PC has the same type of brushed aluminum applique like the one used in the IUP. It's cool if you like that kind of stuff. I'm more into the "cheap black plastic" look because it is simple.

 

The Mustang interior is a good design, but it uses CHEAP materials.

Plastics: Definitely low quality cheap stuff. They are hard and lack texture.
Leather/Seats: Low quality and wears pretty quickly. I religiously use Lexol on my seats and they are aging. Run your hands over the materials and you can easily tell that it's cheap. I'd love more bolstering on the sides and a bit more adjustment.

I've got a few other "beefs" with the interior, but I realize that this is a relatively cheap muscle car. Fords are notorious for cheap interiors and the Mustang doesn't disappoint. Lincoln as of late is the same way. There is a reason Ford is in financial troubles; one of them being cost cutting in critical areas! Heck, Hyundai has surpassed Ford in interior design and quality. I know that's hard for some to swallow, but look at some of their new cars. They've come a long way in a short time.

I might be a bit critical because I grew up around luxury cars. My dad is a Mustang guy, but everytime he sits in the car he mentions something about the low rent interior. Granted his expectations are a bit high since he buys a new BMW, Audi, or Lexus every couple of years.