Add another issue to the list. My dash is fading something fierce. I always noticed that the dash was more flat than semi-gloss as in other cars - no big deal. But now, it is very apparent that the section above the passenger side air bag is discoloring. I tried Aerospace 303 and it did not help at all, the dash looks awful.

Now, my car is garaged at work, my gym, and at home. The only time it sees daylight is while on the road. The car (2004) has only 6100 miles on it.

One of my co-workers had the same issue and the dealership replaced the dash. However, I am worried about rattles after it (I have enough with the storage compartment, headliner, and driver's side rattles).

At this point I am realizing that I likely expected much more quality out of a near-luxury car. I am actually considering selling or trading it in for an 06 G35.

A shame, since I love the car mechanically and I still think it is the best bang for the buck.

 

Just get the dealer to replace the dash, it's not a difficult decision. If they do anything to it in the process, they're responsible for that, as well.

Edit: Had dash replaced in my 2002, and the dealer broke the sun sensor and replaced it without even telling me. No new rattles.

 

While washing my car I noticed a little fading of the dash. It was mainly on the dash above the glovebox.

I was thinking it might be the sun light here in south florida, I'm gonna be using my sunshield much more often now.

 

I have the same problem. Is there any assurance that replacing it would prevent from this happening? In my car, I can tell exactly where the air bag opening is located (pretty obvious). Yes, I tried everything to hide it-nothing worked.

 

does anyone know if this ridiculus problem was correct for the 05's, im now worried that my dash may look f'ed up in a while

any 05's experiencing this problem?

 

I also i'm noticing a lil discoloration on my dash. It has somewhat of a light grayish color now. Im thinking about trading it on the new lexus IS. This will be my last honda! I'm having numerous problems with the car from rattles to the engine making whistling noises. I took it in last week and told them that one of the blue led's lights near the sunroof button went out. One of the service reps. was like "what are you talking about?" They dont even know what kind of car they are selling and servicing. He was like show me these so called led lights. When i showed him that shut him up. So far there service center sucks with me.

 

I'm calling my dealer first thing tomorrow. I just washed the car and the dash looks so bad. Even my g-fiend who calls me anal said it looks really bad. Her Volvo's dash (with 140K+ miles) looks 100x better than mine.

This is BS!

 

Get the dash replaced, I had a small bubble developing by the passenger air bag, right on the seal of the bag, and the color was changing on the dash, showed it to the dealer and he offered to replace without asking any question. I also mentioned that there were rattling noise coming from the center console and they took the entire center console apart and placed felt tape every where. And now there are no noise and the dash looks great..


Give that a try.

 

First off milage has nothing to do with it, age does much more, but we can infer 140k miles is an old car. What about spraying that protector stuff on right after the purchase of the car? What color dashes are we talking about(I assume black). Also, is it the entire dash or just the area above the glove compartment? Would you really trade the car because the dash isn't perfect, because the G interior looks much uglier, even if you had a pink dash.|

I would rather some fading... That center console is hideos(sp?).

 

1. Clean dash
2. Grab a black sharpie marker and apply to discolored areas
3. After it dries wipe dash with 303 aerospace









Personally this has occured in my car, at 1st im like "omfg wtf" now its no big deal after some cleaning and 303. Every car has a pro/con and something of this matter is not worth selling the car.

Believe me there are many things in the TL that make up for such small crap like that.

 

Yup that dash looks - err unattractive.

I haven't had a problem with my dash fading just yet. Mind you I've only had my car for 4 months but I have had my car parked out in the driveway a couple of days last month. It's always garaged at my house and I work nights so it's not exposed to direct sunlight on a regular basis. That to me is a blessing because the heat here in Austin has been mindboggling.

 

In fairness, this is a pic of the old G interior. The 05+ is quite a bit nicer.

 

OK, so I overreacted. I guess after the rattles, butt prints, issues with rims - the dash was the last straw. I know that the TL is near-luxury and perhaps my expectations of a $35K car were higher.

As for the "Sharpie" solution, why would I do that? I will take it to my delaer - my only worry is that the fix will cause more problems.

Crazymjb - the dash is black. The car is garaged 90 - 95% of the time. I used 303 aerospace to protect the dash when I wax the car. The product masked the problem but now it is so bad it just will not help at all.

 

I actually think that looks better than the new interiors. Infiniti just has plain horrible interiors for the g35.

 

That clock in the dash is hideous....what were they thinking about when Infinity's design people thought the clock was the centerpiece of the dashboard?? It's just horrible IMHO. Also, the shifter sucks, another design snafu....shoot..the whole interior sucks. I'll take a few rattles rather than that mess.

 

Just got back from the dealer. The service manager claims it's normal. It is where the airbag is - he even pointed out that there would be a darker strip (there was). He says I can have the factory rep look at it, but a replacement may have the same issue.

He put some conditioner and it is a bit better but, you know what, f - em. I'll sleep on it but this is unacceptable My 94 Integra does not have this issue and it has an airbag in the same place.

 

Sorry to hear about it. I use Meguiers cleaner which has no gloss and it has been looking pretty good.

Mine is the same, more rattles than I can count, some that have been worked on are worse now than before. It's pathetic how poor the quality is inside the car, my wifes RSX is quiet and rattle free, guess it was too hard to design the TL the same way. Velcro holds up the headliner and cheap clips hold the glovebox. I have no idea what's in the rear deck but my guess is somebody thought that the more parts the better.

The dealer works on the car, gets it dirty then can't understand why you call back to say the problem is worse now than before.

In my case they ordered a whole new rear deck, new glovebox and clips (again) new headliner and new speakers for the dash.

What did they really do? Apply cheesy felt to the center speaker and call it replaced, mash the left tweeter into the dash which makes it rattle 10 times worse than before. Do I have the same headliner as before? I dunno, it's now dirty and falling worse than previously and still uses the same crap velcro as before. Now they want to epoxy it in place, good grief, is this a Pinto? The rear deck rattles if any song has a hint of bass or if the road is anything but smooth, yeah, in Chicago a smooth road.... quality Honda product folks.

Yes all cars may have a rattle or two, this is far beyond the norm.

All TL loaners I have been given rattled, this isn't in my head and I honestly believe that some people are deaf to them in order to say how great their car is, almost a fan-boy mentality.

I agree, I love the car mechanically and I love the looks, but the morons who designed the interior need to be fired. Right after they fire the moron who decided that the tires they got on the cheap in 2004 were worth the complaints and lost customers.

It's all numbers and the numbers say as long as people buy as they are we will get status quo quality wise.

 

Absolutely agree...303 will take care of this..don't worry

 

Not sure about this. Same problem, 303 doesn't seem to help. I apply 303 heavily to a cotton cloth, then wipe it on. I make sure it looks wet and rub it in. A day later, the dash looks like it's in need of some kind of conditioner (looks dry and faded).

 

OK, so I went and drove a G35 coupe yesterday. The car looks so HOT and drives nice (RWD rules). The seats are very nice. However, once I saw the fit and finish inside, the magic ended.

The car is truly a no-frills ride. The interior has a cheap feel all around, the doors do not close with a "thunk" like the TL's, the radio and air conditioning systems are very spartan. The center console further cheapens the car.

All in all - disappointing. I know it is a true sport coupe but, at this point in my life, I like a balance of performance and luxury.

 

Bummer...you're using the aerospace protectant? My experience with that product is that it is very long-lasting.

 

I'm making an appointment with the district service manager to discuss. Will keep the forum posted.

 

wow, and I thought I was the only having that problem....i usually wet it with water and wipe it down....but still, there are still some fade marks...and I only had this car for 2 months..

 

Yes, been using this product since owning my S2000. It's a great product, but I think the material used for the dash needs heavy conditioning. I alway use a sun shade when parking outdoors, but maybe the time I spend driving in the sun is taking a toll on the dash. I'm seriously conisdering literally soaking the dash with 303 and leaving it overnight.

 

I have to say I just noticed my dash was fading so I came to this site to see if others had this issue and yes they do. My girlfriend noticed it too. The outline of the passenger side airbag is becoming very obvious !!!!!- So far, bad strut replaced, rattles galore, check engine light flashes on hard accleration at times, now dash fading..........this car is an 04 with only 13K miles on it....What next? THIS CAR IS CERTAINLY NOT NEAR THE QUALITY OF MY 9 YEAR OLD TOYOTA CELICA WITH ZERO PROBLEMS AFTER 140K MILES !!!!!!

 

Nice old picture of the OLD interior of the G. The new 05 Interior is 10x better and truthfully better than the TL now.

 

Let me make note to everyone where the changes occured.

1) Door Panels redesigned. Real Alum trip on handle, smoothed edges around handle. Arm-rest now softly padded. Extra padding added to the door itself. Chrome Door release/lock handle. Window Switch controls textured surrounding/rounded.





2) This picture shows the dash left corner. Instead of hard plastic on cluster its soft vinyl now (textured as well), Around the whole cluster is soft. Real alum trim on dash, carpeted A pillars.





3) Clock cluster is not plastic anymore and redesigned to top center of dash. It is now soft vinyl. Again real alum trim on dash. Dash material is slightly different as well.




Real Alum center console. Edges of Center stack also no longer hard plastic, all soft vinyl. Much higher quality materials.



Gauges redesigned for 05 to suit the eyes better and easier to read.



Full Interior shot. There is like no hard plastic left in the G35 anywhere on the dash or doors. It's all soft vinyl.

 

That interior is still NOT better than the TL's

My 2 Cents

 

I test drove the 05 G35 earlier this week. Nice performance and looks great on the outside. The interior is most definitely sub-par when compared to the TL. The interior feels cheap and not as solid as the TL.

 

I'm sorry, that dash looks like something I'd see on a car I'd rent from Avis. I know it's subjective...I just don't see how this interior is even close to the TL.

 

I agree the dash of the G35 is frikin ugly, kinda reminds me of my friends 93 maxima, other than the interior I love the car.

2 years ago I went to Infinity to buy the G35 and I couldn't get over the poor interior. I took a drive to Lexus and bought an IS300 beacuse of the interior. Awesome looking and great craftmanship IMO. Although the car was underpowered and the body style was a lil dated, the interior sold me.

I have to say I'm a little worried ATM. I get my 05 6mt TL on the 25th of this month and these rattles and fading issues kinda worry me. I actually told the salesman 2 days ago, although I loved the car ( especially power, exterior design and the interior look) I thought the quality inside ( fit and finish) leaved a little to be desired. It seems to me these manufacturers could spend $50 more each car on higher quality plastics and a little better engineering.

Anway, I'm not complaining. I can't wait to receive my TL, but fading of the dash seems really bad if this is happening only after a handful of miles.

Any decent looking dash covers out there? Seems like that would be a better option than fading. Also, what about protectants w/ UV protection (*ie armor all) seems like this also might help to resist fading.

 

Dont worry man. I came from the is300, which i loved that car. I have my new TL now and i woulnt go back. I think the quality is better imo. Cant wait to drive the TL, wash the TL etc...No problems. I use some 303 on the dash. Enjoy.

 

Not as solid as a TL? lol please the G35 doesn't have the problems with the falling apart TL interior.

 

I wish everyone would get off the G35 debate and back to the original topic. I'm interested if anyone is using something that helps makes this problem go away.

 

I just took a look at my co-worker's TL. She had the dash fade issue and the dealership agreed to replace the top portion of the dash on the spot. They are not being as "generous" with me (might have annoyed them with my particularness when it comes to my car). Her dash looks good and the fade has not returned.

When I speak to the district service manager I will provide an update.

I have been using 303 and, although not perfect, it seems to be helping.

 

Thanks pinito, next time I go in for service, I will bring this issue up and see what happens.

As for the G35 debate, sorry, I used to own a '03 G35C 6MT and found the interior to be "cheap" too, but that's not the point. I want a solution for my TL's dash.

 

Hey Rick, so you're having this problem too huh? LMK what they say when you take your car in. As for a temporary solution, 303 seems to work well for a few days but after that the fading returns.

 

Go get some Lexol Vinyl stuff from Pep Boys. It's in a baby blue spray bottle. It's a protectant that isn't greasy. It works great. It should take care of your problem.

 

03 yes, not 05.

 

Tried it and did not work. Only thing that has helped is 303 but that is just a bandaid, the discoloration is still there.