TBone2004

Is it normal to need to be dressing the interior (dash and door panels) on a new car? My passenger side dash - when seated in the drivers seat looks faded/discolored etc. Is it assumed that you must treat these dashes immediately - shouldn't a new car retain its new look for awhile before "Needing" to have to detail the inside. I am a first time new car black interior owner - so I may be naive. I have no problem doing it - just did not want to be masking an issue with the quality of the material.

caball88

from what i heard the leather is stained and sometimes sit for long periods of time before they are even used in the car. i know when i first got my car the seats were in bad need of some conditioning. when i applied conditioner to the seats it soaked it up like a sponge. i've treated it several times now since i got the car and its improved the leather alot. now i don't have to keep conditioning it as much. i still try to put some on once a month cause i am anal.

NightRider

Definitely juice the leather up! Mine was also very dry, especially with the overall aridness in CO. My TL is a little over 2 months old and I have done it 4 times since I got it. Noticable difference after the second time, leather just seems to be alot softer and healthier. Will continue to do it every 2-4 weeks in the future, as I am obsessive compulsive about some stuff. I use Meguiars Leather cleaner and conditioner (2-1 bottle). I have parchment which in my opinion shows less wear than Ebony also...

JetJock

I think that TBone is talking about the dash material not the leather. I've had 4 black Acura's from a Legend to the 04TL and everyone of the TL's have had a "faded" looking dashboard when new. I thought that this was the "look" that Acura wanted with the plastic, but after using plastic conditioner, the faded look went away permanently. I don't recommend Armour All, but there are other excellent products on the market that will give you a satin sheen without looking too shiny. I like the 3M Aerospace product best. It seems to last forever and doesn't have a cheap wet shiny look.

caball88

watch out for the meguiars conditioner that comes in paste form it will get stuck in the little holes. i use Lexol which is liquid based and wipes on cleanly. i know meguiars has a liquid version of their conditioner as well i would suggest you use that instead.

TBone2004

Thanks JetJock - yep, just the dash concern now. You have tried the 3M Aerospace product yourself - and you like the results? Where can I get it - like a PepBoys or something? I tried Vinylex, but that didn't seem to help - Only applied it once tho. Dealer removed a mark on another part of the dash and that has never reappeared - I wonder what they use.

Thanks.

NightRider

Ya I use the liquid based as well, those little holes are so hard to clean out! But then again he was talking about the dash and we thought it was the leather....But ya I have had bad experiences with Armour All too....

caball88

i use 303 aerospace, its the best protectant for your dash. i hate it when the dash looks like its soaked in corn oil. the purpose of the dash cleaner is to protect it from UV rays and not to shine it up.

Stewie

Out of curiosity, for those with ebony interiors do your seats and interior in general get really really hot?
I liked the ebony but didn't want to burn my ass every time I sat down in the summer so I got quartz instead.

djmgolf2000

Well I have Ebony interior on my 2004 MDX and it's hot but guess what, when it's 100 degrees outside every car is hot inside, even the beige interiors. My windows are tinted on the MDX so that might help a little. I would think if you were in a convertible or something you might not want ebony interior. I intend on purchasing a TL this summer and I will get Ebony interior, I just like the look of that better. I had a 2002 MDX with the beige interior. It was OK but I think the black looks better, just personal preference.

varanelli

This is my first black interior. I was a little concerned about interior heat, but so far I haven't noticed too much of a difference when compared to lighter colors I have had in the past. Keep in mind, though, that I have only had the car since January, and the hottest months are yet to come.:flamer:

Bottom line: If you like the ebony interior (like I do), just get it.

TBone2004

I think the whole Black leather, black car thing is way over discussed. I see it no hotter than any other leather seat. Just my .02

caball88

leather will get hot no matter what color it is. i've always had black leather and friend's of mine have lighter color leather and it really makes no difference. its not like the light colored leather is cool enough to sit on.

SBTL

I bought Zaino's plastic polish and unlike their exterior paint polish, it's not easy to apply and not very good. It seems to leave a white residue even after I attempt to wipe it off after it dries and certainly doesn't improve the appearance of the ebony dash and other plastic parts. I tried the Armor-All wipes and got a much better result with them. It turns the surfaces more black and less gray and dappled but I will admit it is a bit shiny. It is also very easy to apply with the wipes and no drips to worry about and no polish in places you can't wipe it out of like a liquid or spray polish would leave.

Leostaats

Funny the original post mentions the faded dash.. Got mine about a month ago Anth/ebony and if you look at the passenger side dash it doesn't look uniformly faded it looks almost like something was sitting on the dash from the factory kind of a faded square outline with some other faded marks among it. Thought it might be some components underneath the dask heating up and causing some sort of color change.. I haven't yet fixed the problem and if it isnt fixed I'll plan to have them replace that part of the dash.. Tbone.. is this similar to what you originally meant or is your dash just a faded dash uniformly on the passenger side?

TBone2004

EXACTLY!! That is exactly what is looks like - thanks for describing. I do not want to rush out and coat it with all sorts of products that I know will make it look great for a week, if there is an underlying defective dash. I will look this post up and reply after it gets back from dealer - I plan to show them exactly what I mean - I suspect they are going to try and just oil it up with something and make me go away. That rectangle box just appeared this past week - can't imagine not seeing it before - cause I can ONLY see if from drivers seat. But yes, closer to the window it looks brownish or something from an angle - looks like an old neglected car not a new car. I have no idea why it looks like that - dont think it will show in a pic - I can try.

caball88

just a warning to anyone trying a new product on their dash. try it out somwhere it will not be seen first. the worst thing is to apply it right smack in the middle of your dash and then have it turn out to be something you don't want.

Leostaats

Yeah mines been that way since day 1 with the box looking area I just figured that maybe in transit they left the front license plate adapter or some sort of pre customer decal was placed there. I wasnt going to decline the delivery of the vehicle since it was a supposed hard to get combo so I figured Id get it taken care of sooner or later. Tbone let me know if you get an explaination and Ill try to do the same after I stop by the dealer this weekend. Ill put it on the thread.
Leo

briden

I don't see what you're describing on my ebony dash but you might be seeing the outline of the airbag. I believe the dash is scored underneath to allow the bag to deploy without having the usual airbag rectangle cutout on the dash.

TBone2004

Leo - I'll do that. Service lady who took my call I think has me pegged for a nut job, so I will show it to her in person. I will reply back.

thanks.

Leostaats

briden, maybe I was thinking it could be that too, was actually starting to look at schematics to see what is under there, but its not as defined as that its more like someone took a fat finger and wiped awaythe shinnyness of the dash. Or picture wipping off the armorall on the dash in a square like shape (like a backing pan for a cake) and then smudged that same finger around and wiped away some other ares too

mastertl

You did it wrong. I used it on my Ebony interior and it looks nicer than new. I tried the Armor-All, but it simply wears off within a matter of a week AND it attracts dust for some reason. I have put on the Zaino for about 3 weeks now and it still looks like new.