Interior plastics

[BigJase88]

I have a courtesy car new ibiza 2020 se technology.

Sitting inside it i am having a feel about and there is no soft touch plastics ANYWHERE, even the top of the dash is hard scratchy plastic is this just an SE thing or do higher models have a soft touch top of dash? Seems things are getting cheaper, even my mk1 skoda fabia had a soft touch dash top

and the carpet, is it a carpet or is it felt?

 

[SRGTD]

I don’t have an Ibiza, but from a production cost perspective, I very much doubt Seat will produce a soft touch dash top just for higher models on the model range.

VW are also cheapening out and so are Audi. VW’s T-Roc doesn’t have any soft touch plastics in the interior - not even for the performance version (T-Roc R) which has a list price of nearly £41k! The door cards in Audi‘s A1 and Q2 models are also made from hard scratchy plastic (not sure about other Audi models). Hard scratchy plastics are also the order of the day in VW’s all electric ID3.

I have just recently got a new VW Polo GTI+. It does have a soft touch dash top but the door cards are hard plastic - the previous generation car had a fabric panel on the door cards and the cost to VW to incorporate a similar panel in the current Polo’s door cards would‘ve only cost them a few pounds extra. It’s all about ‘managing‘ cost and maximising profits these days though.

The hard plastic door cards in my new car don’t really bother me, although they are a very visible cost cutting measure compared to the previous generation model. There are also other little cost cutting measure I’ve noticed on my new car compared to the previous one; no interior grab handles above the doors, the tailgate catch on the boot sill used to have a little spring loaded cover - that’s gone too. Also the plastic engine cover no longer has a VW emblem on it - the emblem may have been dropped on other VAG brands too so the same ‘anonymous’ cover can be used across all VAG brands.

 

[BigJase88]

I don’t have an Ibiza, but from a production cost perspective, I very much doubt Seat will produce a soft touch dash top just for higher models on the model range.

VW are also cheapening out and so are Audi. VW’s T-Roc doesn’t have any soft touch plastics in the interior - not even for the performance version (T-Roc R) which has a list price of nearly £41k! The door cards in Audi‘s A1 and Q2 models are also made from hard scratchy plastic (not sure about other Audi models). Hard scratchy plastics are also the order of the day in VW’s all electric ID3.

I have just recently got a new VW Polo GTI+. It does have a soft touch dash top but the door cards are hard plastic - the previous generation car had a fabric panel on the door cards and the cost to VW to incorporate a similar panel in the current Polo’s door cards would‘ve only cost them a few pounds extra. It’s all about ‘managing‘ cost and maximising profits these days though.

The hard plastic door cards in my new car don’t really bother me, although they are a very visible cost cutting measure compared to the previous generation model. There are also other little cost cutting measure I’ve noticed on my new car compared to the previous one; no interior grab handles above the doors, the tailgate catch on the boot sill used to have a little spring loaded cover - that’s gone too. Also the plastic engine cover no longer has a VW emblem on it - the emblem may have been dropped on other VAG brands too so the same ‘anonymous’ cover can be used across all VAG brands.

Yeah i noticed even on the brand new Audi A3 for the first time in it's life it has went with hard plastics on the rear doors. Also on all new AUDI's the boot is now crappy felt, Audi's always used to have their higher quality carpets in the boot area but they have also cheapened out there too.

I even notice on the brand new cars they can't even be bothered to put a badge on the engine covers, not a big point but another cost cutting exercise

 

[ayrshiredude]

You are correct there are no soft touch plastics anywhere in the Ibiza, not even top of the range models. The FR however does have padded Vinyl on the door arm rests and padded material on the inside of the door cards between the top and the arm rest. I don't think the lower models get this nor the Xcellence model. However the majority of the hard plastics are very soilid and well screwed together. Having had some Fiestas before the Ibiza I'd sai the Ibiza is much more solid than the Fiesta.

 

[BigJase88]

You are correct there are no soft touch plastics anywhere in the Ibiza, not even top of the range models. The FR however does have padded Vinyl on the door arm rests and padded material on the inside of the door cards between the top and the arm rest. I don't think the lower models get this nor the Xcellence model. However the majority of the hard plastics are very soilid and well screwed together. Having had some Fiestas before the Ibiza I'd sai the Ibiza is much more solid than the Fiesta.

Yeah this SE Tech i had today had no material on doorcards was just plastic, also noticed front door handles were chrome however the rear was black plastic.

it is a shame on the top of the dash front i can’t remember being in a new car where the dash wasn’t at least non scratch plastic.

 

[vc-10]

The Xcellence gets leatherette on the door cards, at least in the front. Can't remember what's in the back. The FR and Xcellence models also get a padded leatherette insert in the dash. Earlier cars and the SE trim have glossy black or matte grey plastic.

The lack of squidgy top to the dash doesn't particularly bother me apart from the way it's relatively reflective. Anyone know of a good way to prevent that?

I do find it weird that the Ibiza gets plusher door cards than the Polo.

 

[SRGTD]

i think that
Seat will produce a soft touch dash top just for higher models on the model range.

I don’t think they will.

VW don’t produce two different versions in their models where hard plastics are used - as mentioned in my earlier post in this discussion thread, the £41k top of the range T-Roc R gets the same hard scratchy plastic dash top as the entry level ‘S’ model that has a list price thats almost £20k less than the list price of the T-Roc R performance model.

So if VW are putting hard scratchy plastic dash tops in a £41k car, I doubt Seat will have an alternative soft dash top for specific models higher up in the Ibiza range.

 

[BigJase88]

I don’t think they will.

VW don’t produce two different versions in their models where hard plastics are used - as mentioned in my earlier post in this discussion thread, the £41k top of the range T-Roc R gets the same hard scratchy plastic dash top as the entry level ‘S’ model that has a list price thats almost £20k less than the list price of the T-Roc R performance model.

So if VW are putting hard scratchy plastic dash tops in a £41k car, I doubt Seat will have an alternative soft dash top for specific models higher up in the Ibiza range.

I would be sorely disappointed if i paid 41k and had a similar quality dash to my citroen van. Naff

 

[SRGTD]

I would be sorely disappointed if i paid 41k and had a similar quality dash to my citroen van. Naff

I would too.

 

[ayrshiredude]

As was previously said VW group seem to have moved a lot of their brands and cars to the cheap interior. Audi A1 and the Polo have hard plastic door inserts. My dad has a Skoda Karoq which has hard plastic door inserts. The Ibiza is a budget car though I wonder how much it would really cost to have a soft touch dash board.

 

[BigJase88]

As was previously said VW group seem to have moved a lot of their brands and cars to the cheap interior. Audi A1 and the Polo have hard plastic door inserts. My dad has a Skoda Karoq which has hard plastic door inserts. The Ibiza is a budget car though I wonder how much it would really cost to have a soft touch dash board.

Some ibizas can be near 20k, i wouldn’t call that cheap. 10k dacia yeah cheap but near 20k, not cheap.

 

[KXL]

Oh do they not have soft touch? Even my Ibiza Mk5 (facelift though) has the top parts you can reach and touch with squidgy plastic I guess you can call that. Though nearer towards the front where the vents are, it's back to hard plastic..

 

[Rowan83]

The hard dashboard on my Ibiza really annoyed me, used to creak like crazy in the change of tempatures. The interior door handles ae very poor too.

 

[ayrshiredude]

I had 3 fiestas before the Ibiza and, although they had soft touch dashboards, the Ibiza is way more solid and better put together. Thankfully I have not had any issues with Rattles or creaks on mine.

 

[lntghll]

I have an fr. It’s mostly hard plastic, I do have some leather effect padding dash detail which is nice, same on the door arm rests and also on the centre arm rest. I think as long as you don’t drive anything else you’ll get used to it, but I share this and my partners a3 and sometimes it does feel depressing! However, you really can’t complain at this price (good pcp deal)

 

[ayrshiredude]

I have an fr. It’s mostly hard plastic, I do have some leather effect padding dash detail which is nice, same on the door arm rests and also on the centre arm rest. I think as long as you don’t drive anything else you’ll get used to it, but I share this and my partners a3 and sometimes it does feel depressing! However, you really can’t complain at this price (good pcp deal)

Unfortunately mine is one of the earlier models so where you have the Letherette on the dash I have a Piano Black finish. There are cloth inserts on the door panels though. The A3 is a totally different car and much more expensive. Its the next class up as well. Its never going to compare with that unfortuantely. If you go for the A1 which would be the comparison, other than a soft touch dash, the rest is hard plastic. The A1 doesn't even have the cloth insert on the door panel, just hard plastic. To my knowlege there are no other small cars that are much better, other than a soft touch dash. The Fiesta, Polo, A1, Mazda 3 etc are pretty much all hard plastics apart from the dash. And having had a few small cars the Ibiza has pretty solid hard plastics. The only other car I have looked at of the "supermini" size that has a better finish is the new Renault Clio. In the RS line actially has soft touch on pretty much the whole door which is a first in this class. but other than that, and the soft touch dash, everything else is hard. Certainly in mine everything is solid with little or no rattles or squeeks. whcih is a vast improvement on my last Fiesta.

 

[vc-10]

There's soft touch and soft touch. My old 2002 Polo, which was a base spec car (didn't even have central locking, let alone electric windows or A/C or anything like that) had a squidgy slush moulded dash and had soft touch tops to the door cards. It was almost a kind of leatherette stuff stretched over the hard plastic door card. The middle section of the door card, including the armrest, was fabric covered. It was certainly better feeling materials than a new Polo.

I certainly can't complain about the Ibiza though. The only downside IMO over the cheaper dash is the way it can reflect on the windscreen.

The new A3 is apparently quite a step down in interior quality from the last gen too. I'm wondering if one of the main reasons why manufacturers are moving away from 'soft touch' plastics is the way they age? Not so much the slush moulded parts, but the hard plastics with a coating. That coating looks great in the showroom, but a few years later it looks awful (especially if owned by someone who uses hand creams a lot, apparently).

 

[ayrshiredude]

I've read several places that VAG in general are reducing the quality of their cabin interiors. They will need to watch because people will go elsewhere.