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Old 04-12-2018, 12:53 PM
 
971 posts, read 533,540 times
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My Chevy Cobalt had the worst bargain-basement interior I've seen in a car. As much as the unexpected expense of a new car stung when the Cobalt's motor went, I was glad to be done with that interior. The fit and finish of my Civic's interior is much nicer. It's not leather or wood, but it's nice enough.

A BMW M2 with a cheap-feeling interior? I'm surprised to hear that.
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Old 04-12-2018, 01:12 PM
 
Location: San Diego A.K.A "D.A.Y.G.O City"
1,996 posts, read 4,741,684 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lou View Post
My Chevy Cobalt had the worst bargain-basement interior I've seen in a car. As much as the unexpected expense of a new car stung when the Cobalt's motor went, I was glad to be done with that interior. The fit and finish of my Civic's interior is much nicer. It's not leather or wood, but it's nice enough.

A BMW M2 with a cheap-feeling interior? I'm surprised to hear that.
Yes I was very surprised too. Nothing inside felt all that nice for such a cool looking, fast coupe. It’s like you have to step inside a 7 Series in order to be truly impressed.

Not all BMW’s are luxury cars IMO. Only the 5 series and 7 series are.
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Old 04-12-2018, 01:32 PM
 
Location: San Diego A.K.A "D.A.Y.G.O City"
1,996 posts, read 4,741,684 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stilldriveem View Post
My 76 Grand Marquis and 79 Lincoln do, but my 74 Impala has a pretty cheap looking and plasticky interior. But everyone who was around as car buyers those years all say the 71 up redesign of those boats had much poorer quality interior materials than the 70 and earlier models.
I own a 78 Lincoln Continental, and other than the cheap feeling dash, the interior is much better quality (especially the door panels) compared to what I sat in yesterday.

The 77 on down Continentals on the other had a very nice padded, sturdy feeling dash. The Cadillac Broughams in the late 70’s and 80’s also had very nice padded interior with none of the cheap plastics like you feel in new cars. But the pre 76 models down to about 70 Cadillacs were actually pretty bland inside.

And yes, there was some truly awful interiors in the 70’s, and the plastics can get brittle and fall apart, but although new cars don’t have that brittle plastic anymore, they still have way too much flexible plastic that can easily become distorted, hard to touch, creak and feel “toy” like which makes you wonder if Fisher Price is supplying the interiors to all the automakers.

You can spend $30,000 on a car, and the loads of cheap plastics is shocking.

My Impala has a very nice interior considering it’s price and the plastics are more durable than what I found in the new Malibu. It’s the most solid feeling car I’ve owned and driven since I owned a 94 Cadillac Fleetwood.

But nothing, I mean nothing, has as nice of an interior than my 64 Cadillac. From the thick plush leather seats, to all the chrome metal, and padded vinyl/leather door panels, it’s a work of art.
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Old 04-12-2018, 01:51 PM
 
Location: Wichita Falls Texas
1,009 posts, read 1,974,895 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdlife619 View Post
I own a 78 Lincoln Continental, and other than the cheap feeling dash, the interior is much better quality (especially the door panels) compared to what I sat in yesterday.

The 77 on down Continentals on the other had a very nice padded, sturdy feeling dash. The Cadillac Broughams in the late 70’s and 80’s also had very nice padded interior with none of the cheap plastics like you feel in new cars. But the pre 76 models down to about 70 Cadillacs were actually pretty bland inside.

And yes, there was some truly awful interiors in the 70’s, and the plastics can get brittle and fall apart, but although new cars don’t have that brittle plastic anymore, they still have way too much flexible plastic that can easily become distorted, hard to touch, creak and feel “toy” like which makes you wonder if Fisher Price is supplying the interiors to all the automakers.

You can spend $30,000 on a car, and the loads of cheap plastics is shocking.

My Impala has a very nice interior considering it’s price and the plastics are more durable than what I found in the new Malibu. It’s the most solid feeling car I’ve owned and driven since I owned a 94 Cadillac Fleetwood.

But nothing, I mean nothing, has as nice of an interior than my 64 Cadillac. From the thick plush leather seats, to all the chrome metal, and padded vinyl/leather door panels, it’s a work of art.
There is a big difference in interior quality just between my 88 and 94 Taurus. The 88 has much better fitting and feeling door trim panels than the 94 which creaks everytime you rest your arm on the armrest and half the plastic pushpins that hold the 94 door panel on are broken. The 88 on the other hand has softer arm rests and the door panels are tight, no play at all. However both cars have the same quality seat upholstery and dash pad covering which has actually held up extremely well. And I also have 7 Mavericks and two Pinto's so I am well versed in "plain" interiors as well, although my 78 Pinto Wagon has the much nicer low back seat "Interior Decor Group" option which is actually pretty plush compared to base.
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Old 04-13-2018, 07:19 AM
 
Location: Earth
311 posts, read 200,423 times
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My 2017 Impala interior fortunately does not feel of coarse material, and I like the solid thwump of the door closing. I recall car doors from the '80s sounding like tin cans.

I envy though the description of that '64 Caddie!
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Old 04-13-2018, 07:36 AM
 
9,613 posts, read 6,843,050 times
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I remember old dash boards used to crack before 80k miles. Steering wheels used to get sticky. The numbers and paint would come off buttons. Older cars also got that “old car smell” which I’m pretty sure was due to the AC Coils acting as the filter trapping dust on the condensation and growing funk.
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Old 04-13-2018, 07:46 AM
 
3,754 posts, read 4,165,406 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stilldriveem View Post
There is a big difference in interior quality just between my 88 and 94 Taurus. The 88 has much better fitting and feeling door trim panels than the 94 which creaks everytime you rest your arm on the armrest and half the plastic pushpins that hold the 94 door panel on are broken. The 88 on the other hand has softer arm rests and the door panels are tight, no play at all.
I agree with this... My own feeling is that if you took an average of all the manufacturers, I think you got the best bang for the buck in terms of quality and materials from the late 80's through the early 90's.

But then the recession hit, and quality and materials took a nose dive. When manufacturers came out with their newest designs, you could tell that cost cutting had been given a priority.

You can still buy cars with a high quality, luxury feel to them, but now it's only found on higher end models. Most people have to contend with tons of plastics and cheap switch gear, and that's what is "standard" now.
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Old 04-13-2018, 05:59 PM
 
9,613 posts, read 6,843,050 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katana49 View Post
I agree with this... My own feeling is that if you took an average of all the manufacturers, I think you got the best bang for the buck in terms of quality and materials from the late 80's through the early 90's.

But then the recession hit, and quality and materials took a nose dive. When manufacturers came out with their newest designs, you could tell that cost cutting had been given a priority.

You can still buy cars with a high quality, luxury feel to them, but now it's only found on higher end models. Most people have to contend with tons of plastics and cheap switch gear, and that's what is "standard" now.
You’ve got to be joking. The 80’s and 90’s were terrible. How many Ford Tempos do you see on the road? Mine had a muffler rust off and fell off the car at 70k miles. The paint came off on your hand if you wiped it. The ignition switch locked up and had to get towed.
Yes those crushed velvet faded red seats were the epitome of fine craftsmanship but come on!
Cheap interiors have been around since the Model T.
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Old 04-13-2018, 08:41 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas
3,631 posts, read 7,616,808 times
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GM's interiors have left a lot to be desired for awhile now.
Back in the 80s they were competitive in this respect because apart from luxury brands pretty much ALL interiors were basic and bland (some Honda's also being an exception).
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Old 04-13-2018, 10:23 PM
 
3,754 posts, read 4,165,406 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziggy100 View Post
You’ve got to be joking. The 80’s and 90’s were terrible. How many Ford Tempos do you see on the road? Mine had a muffler rust off and fell off the car at 70k miles. The paint came off on your hand if you wiped it. The ignition switch locked up and had to get towed.
Yes those crushed velvet faded red seats were the epitome of fine craftsmanship but come on!
Cheap interiors have been around since the Model T.
You're not understanding my post.

You got MORE for your money back then. You could still buy a cheap car, sure. The Mitsubishi 3000GT is a perfect example of this. When it first came out, it had technology that wouldn't be seen again for decades. And as time went on, they actually removed features from the car, even as the price for it rose. That happened with all manufacturers. Hence, bang for the buck diminished.
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