Quality of interior Plastics in Camaro\Mustang\Challenger

[mlevere1992]

Believe it or not, for the first time I sat in a new '08 Mustang GT this last Friday and was appalled by the quality of the plastics on the interior of this car. This was a $24,000 car and it has plastics on the dash like they should have belonged in an Escort.

I drive a '04 Mazda 6 and it has a much high quality feel to its plastics and dash. The leather in the Mustang also felt cheap. There was nothing that I liked about the interior of the Mustang.

I sure hope the Chevy looks at that and decides to make the interior of the Camaro much better than that. If the quality of the Mustang interior is what I have to look forward to in the Camaro, count me out. I love the looks of the outside but 99.9% of the time I will be looking at the interior of the car and if it looks and feels like crap, I will probably be looking at another Mazda6, mazda3, Pontiac G8, or even a BMW 135.

Sorry for the rant but I was just so disappointed in the Mustang when I really looked at it up close. I wanted to like it but just can't. I hope that Dodge is doing something as well for their Challenger. The interior of the Charger is also that same plastic feeling. I just can't get over the quality of the plastics in American cars.

[GTAHVIT]

I agree, We have a Mazda 3 with the interior upgrades and it is really nice. Much better than the grocery getters in the GM, Ford, Chrysler line ups. Mazda 3 = less than 20K loaded.... I'm thinking the higher end Gen 5's will be similar to the CTS(V) in interior quality. Functional, simple, clean.

[acscamarochick06]

Originally Posted by mlevere1992

Believe it or not, for the first time I sat in a new '08 Mustang GT this last Friday and was appalled by the quality of the plastics on the interior of this car. This was a $24,000 car and it has plastics on the dash like they should have belonged in an Escort.

I drive a '04 Mazda 6 and it has a much high quality feel to its plastics and dash. The leather in the Mustang also felt cheap. There was nothing that I liked about the interior of the Mustang.

I sure hope the Chevy looks at that and decides to make the interior of the Camaro much better than that. If the quality of the Mustang interior is what I have to look forward to in the Camaro, count me out. I love the looks of the outside but 99.9% of the time I will be looking at the interior of the car and if it looks and feels like crap, I will probably be looking at another Mazda6, mazda3, Pontiac G8, or even a BMW 135.

Sorry for the rant but I was just so disappointed in the Mustang when I really looked at it up close. I wanted to like it but just can't. I hope that Dodge is doing something as well for their Challenger. The interior of the Charger is also that same plastic feeling. I just can't get over the quality of the plastics in American cars.

One of my friends has an 07 Mustang GT and the seats are HORRIBLY uncomfortable. When she got it she wanted me to go for a ride in it, and I didn't want to be rude so I kind of had to. I was not impressed at all, with the performance of the car or with the interior. She let me drive it and needless to say, I will never own a Mustang. It just didn't feel like it had much power at all. I agree, the interior seemed kind of... cheap? The seats were hard and not comfortable... My vote? 2 thumbs way down...

[mlevere1992]

You would think that Ford would learn from Mazda, since they do own a controlling share of Mazda, how to make a reasonably priced car with a more up-market feel.

[GTAHVIT]

There have been a few Fords I'd own. Mostly from the truck line. But I typically don't like them. Now, I love my Mazda. 30+ MPG, good handling, decent power ( I can get out of trouble when I need to), airbags all over the place, intelligent brake system, and nice amenities.

[rray200]

Originally Posted by acscamarochick06

One of my friends has an 07 Mustang GT and the seats are HORRIBLY uncomfortable. When she got it she wanted me to go for a ride in it, and I didn't want to be rude so I kind of had to. I was not impressed at all, with the performance of the car or with the interior. She let me drive it and needless to say, I will never own a Mustang. It just didn't feel like it had much power at all. I agree, the interior seemed kind of... cheap? The seats were hard and not comfortable... My vote? 2 thumbs way down...

The new Mustang is still an improvement interior wise over the last generation Mustang ('99-'04). Now those had about the cheapest interior one could make. Horrible. A friend of mine had an '01 GT and it was the most uncomfortable car I ever drove. Ergonomically incorrect in everyway. No matter how many times I adjusted the power seats, it felt uncomfortable. Plus the thin steering wheel made you feel like you were driving a Lincoln from the '70s.
By contrast, the current generation Stangs are a big improvement.

[stovt001]

I agree 100%, I hope the Camaro has good interior materials. I'm not expecting concept-level quality, but something along the lines of the G8 would be just fine. One thing I don't like about my Cobalt is the interior quality (though the panel gaps did making installing satellite radio pretty easy) so I hope the Camaro improves on that a bit. I agree that Mazda-level quality is a good target for this price range. I would be perfectly pleased with that.

[GothamCamaro]

Originally Posted by mlevere1992

You would think that Ford would learn from Mazda, since they do own a controlling share of Mazda, how to make a reasonably priced car with a more up-market feel.

I was going to say the same. Now that I got a good idea how the outside will fill out for the Camaro, my focus is on the interior. I know we saw those couple of photos of the pre-production but obviously those don't count.

The plastic cheap look does bother me, I'm hoping that GM understands we want the inside to be as gorgeous as the outside. Those concept seats looked really comfortable. We'll have to wait to see what they got going.

[stovt001]

Overall I think Holden does a great job on interiors, so hopefully the Camaro's development time down under allows some of that interior goodness to rub off on it.

[Moose]

I believe GM has made great improvements recently in the interiors.

Prime examples are the new Malibu, Cadillac's, Corvette's, and the full-size trucks.

I honestly believe we have nothing to worry about.

[Dragoneye]

Originally Posted by Moose

I honestly believe we have nothing to worry about.

[Emher]

As long as it's beats the interior of my worn Saab I'm happy. And it's going to do that.

[sterlingnotes]

GM is definitely moving in the right direction and making a lot of really great improvments to the quality of their vehicles. I have the faith...

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

+1....=

^I don't know what tha'ts supposed to mean. Too tired.

Nothing to worry about.

[edbrick]

My wife drives a 2007 Mustang GT and its a fast solid car with an interior quality you would expect in a car costing 26,000. Everybody wants everything cheap. I would rather have a 400 horse Camaro costing 30,000 with a marginal interior than the same car with a BMW interior costing 35,000. That being said if you look at the new Malibu's interior I think we will get the middle ground as far as interior quality.That would be great.

[radz28]

My '02s leather seats aren't even leather (it seems talk about cheap... At the same time, I didn't buy it for the interior I hope they do a bit better this time, because if I'm paying for leather, I'd like to have leather.

My wife drives an '05 Jetta 2.5 and that interior is pretty nice for the price. If they could get close to that, I'd be pretty happy

[[KRPT]ECP]

no offense to anyone, I'm sure that GM will do a wonderful job on interior, but...

"To me, I always get annoyed at these people that say, ‘Oh, I don't like the interior.' Well, shut up! Go get a living room set then. What do you want to pay for? Do you want to pay for performance, or do you want to pay for faux carbon fiber and all that other nonsense?" Jay Leno (road and track feb 2008 corvette quotables)

[mlevere1992]

Originally Posted by [KRPT]ECP

no offense to anyone, I'm sure that GM will do a wonderful job on interior, but...

"To me, I always get annoyed at these people that say, ‘Oh, I don't like the interior.' Well, shut up! Go get a living room set then. What do you want to pay for? Do you want to pay for performance, or do you want to pay for faux carbon fiber and all that other nonsense?" Jay Leno (road and track feb 2008 corvette quotables)

I want a car that has an interior that looks like it wasn't made from Mattel. It has about the same quality of plastics as my daughters Play kitchen. If I plunk down $30K I don't want to have the dash come off in my hand or develop rattles at 10,000 miles. Other companies have been able to produce higher quality plastics that feel good to the touch for a reasonable price. Mazda, Honda, toyota, VW have all been able to do this. Why not an American car?

[[KRPT]ECP]

I believe that the camaro will easily be able to match our expectations, but I will be willing to accept imperfections in how "pretty" the car looks so long as it performs and rumbles in a way that reminds me of the other camaros.

[Warghost]

I'm very picky when it comes to interiors. I'm not too impressed with American interiors, but import interiors are not much better. The LAST thing I want is fake wood panels which scream "cheesy", or chrome plated plastic accents that scream "cheap"!! I'm also not a fan of the corny striping accents on the new Mustang. I understand dressing up an interior, but do it by creating inviting curves, not by applying a cheap paint scheme that will rub off or fade after a couple years! My two best friends have new Stangs, and I think the interiors are terrible. However, the seats are much more comfy than mine.

Anyway, there are some basic guidelines that I hope GM follows when finishing up the Camaro's interior. All controls should be within reach of the driver without forcing them to lean forward too much, and they should be well lit at night when the lights are turned on (backlighting is good, a bulb built into the door is bad). There should be a ceiling-mounted storage unit (which there is, thankfully). The quality of the plastic should be rigid and durable enough to be removed and replaced without having permanent gaps and fitment issues. Anyone who's ever had an aftermarket stereo installed in an SN95 interior probably knows what I am talking about.

Sorry about the rant, but the Camaro's so groundbreaking, I'd hate to see the interior harm its popularity.

[TAG UR IT]

I want it all, damnit!!! I want a less than 30K car w/ all the upgraded HIGH QUALITY goodies and NICE LEATHER!!!!

[TheMadHatter99]

I own an '07 Mustang and the interior isn't really that bad. The leather isn't Cadillac quality, but if you take the time to treat it, moisturize it, and protect it then it winds up pretty supple. The plastics aren't really high quality, but they're plastic so you can only expect so much.

I'm not even remotely worried about the Camaro's interior. GM has to sell 100,000 units per year to reach its goal and justify all the set-up expenses so it behooves them to insure the highest affordable quality that they can. This is a business after all and it all comes down to selling the most product possible and GM knows that quality sells.

Ford had the advantage in that the current generation had little to no competition on its release, so quality didn't have to be super-high. GM will have to steal Ford's customers (and, to a lesser degree, Dodge's) so they'll have to distinguish the Camaro in interior and exterior quality.

In short don't worry, we'll get the highest quality available for a reasonable price

My only worry is whether the seats will have enough lateral support for, umm, "aggressive" driving.

[stovt001]

For me, like many other people buying this car, it will be my home for 2 hours a day. So interior quality is right up there with performance, price, and exterior styling in importance. If it is cheap and low quality, I'll go elsewhere.

[acscamarochick06]

I don't want leather. I hate it. In the summer it's scalding hot and in the winter it's freezing cold. When my mom got her new car she was like "Ohhh heated seats, aren't you jealous?!" and I was like "No, I have cloth seats that don't require heating!" I also plan on getting cloth in my new Camaro...

[Emher]

^I'm unsure. On one hand I want leather since it's sorta part of the thing for a sports car to me. And I can't figure out how to keep cloth seats fresh and clean in the same degree you can leather. But then you have the points you bring up. I guess it comes down to how nice the cloth is and me figuring out a good way of cleaning it. I do not want seats that are reall looking worn and not always smelling too good like in the Saab.