Interior Panels Quality

[Jeff91]

Hey guys,

I posted a while back saying that I was considering selling my Dodge Nitro for an 8th gen coupe this summer...

One thing I really dislike about the Nitro (and Dodge for that matter) is the lack of interior quality. Nearly EVERYTHING in the interior is a hard, easily scratchable plastic. The dash, door panels...everything is hard.

From the pictures, it looks like the Accord's interior has a lot of soft-touch panels, particularly in the door panels and dash area...is this correct?

How is the overall quality of the interior?

In my family, we have a 2007 Maxima, and 2007 G35 sedan, both of which, in my opinion, have very nice interiors. How does the Coupe's interior compare to these vehicles?

Thanks guys!

[Gosha]

The only thing that scratches easy is the center console where the cup holders are, the rest of the interior is pretty good

[istunt]

Originally Posted by Gosha

The only thing that scratches easy is the center console where the cup holders are, the rest of the interior is pretty good

i concur. On a second note the Nitro fails period, I still cant figure out why Dodge even made that thing

[Jeff91]

Originally Posted by istunt

i concur. On a second note the Nitro fails period, I still cant figure out why Dodge even made that thing

The one thing that I do love about the Nitro is its ability in the snow..it does very well.

Other than that...
15mpg (3.7L 210 hp....pathetic)
Cheap interior
slushy 4 speed auto tranny

[DrumZ53]

No problems with the interior so far on mine

[atk2008]

On the hard plastic (trim around where the door locks and stuff are) I have a big scratch, probably from one of my friends. I guess it is kind of that same material from the center console.

[Trip]

I agree, the center console scratches easily.

Other areas that I had scratches on: Plastic that runs along the bottom of the door openings (above the fuel door release) and the door pockets. I'm assuming that they were nicked up from getting in and out of the car. It was an ivory interior but they were still noticable. My glove box had a scratch on it. Not sure where that came from . . . probably from a passenger or maybe when I changed the pollen filter?

My ivory interior had a black dash from the radio up. There were two small nicks that I filled in with a black sharpie. There's a thread about the black upper dash panels somewhere. Apparently the piece is painted white plastic or plastic wrapped in a thin vinyl or aother material. Probably not much of a concern unless you have a radar detector or portable Nav unit that you're constantly reaching onto the dash for ...

[Jeff91]

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like the Accord interior is better quality than the Nitro's (thank god).

Once I get home from school for the summer I will be putting the Nitro up for sale...once it sells, I will be looking to buy my coupe.

[Vixen89]

Make sure you test drive a coupe beforehand and find a nice color.

[Magiconthetire]

I actually respect alot of cars for what they are, and I think the Nitro would be pretty cool in the rare 6MT.

[Jeff91]

Originally Posted by Vixen89

Make sure you test drive a coupe beforehand and find a nice color.

Yup, that is going to be one of the first things I do when I get home for the summer.

Originally Posted by Magiconthetire

I actually respect alot of cars for what they are, and I think the Nitro would be pretty cool in the rare 6MT.

I am a big fan of the exterior styling on the Nitro, and it still gets a lot of comments from people on its design. Unfortunately, the powertrain in the vehicle is just not up to par with other new cars.

[fastball]

Honda interior plastics today are a wee bit harder than they were 10 years ago, but they're worlds better than the junk in a Dodge.

There are reasons Chrysler was within a millimeter of complete collapse and going out of business before the govt. bailed them and Fiat then bought them. This is one of them.

[TH23]

The Accord's interior has gotten "harder" the past two generations, but it's still decent.

It started with the 7th gen, which had very few spots of what I consider soft-touch materials (padded vinyl surfaces, or surfaces that squish to the touch). Compared to the 6th gen, which had padded vinyl covering most of the doors and at least half of the dashboard, the 7th gen only had it on the top strip of the doors and a very small amount on the dash (mainly on the passenger side). While more aesthetically pleasing, the 7th gen's interior was a step back in terms of interior materials versus the 6th gen. On top of that, the plastic surfaces on the door panels felt rough and lacked consistency in their finish. For example, the color and texture of the door panels in my 2007 sedan were inconsistent and almost looked like they were shot with a can of Krylon (my car's interior was black). There were actually places on any given panel that were shinier and darker than others, which is extremely noticeable with black. It looked cheap and was annoying, but it took me a while to notice it, so maybe not everyone will.

The 8th gen basically has the same amount of soft-touch surfaces as the 7th gen, however, the quality of the plastics used on the lower and upper dash and the bottom section of the door panels has improved greatly in terms of finish. I again have the black interior in my 2010, and the color and finish of the interior surfaces are much better than in my 2007. Each door panel actually has a consistent level of shine and color with none of the "blotchiness" and inconsistency I noticed in my 7th gen. I can't say that I prefer the actual texture used on the surfaces better this time, but the improvement in finish makes up for it.

Soft-touch materials don't always make for a nicer interior, but if they are executed well, they will. A good example of this would be my Mom's old 2004 RX330. That car had beautifully-crafted soft-touch panels on almost every surface of the interior: upper and lower dash, and upper and lower door panels. Everything not only looked great, but also felt great to the touch. One of the best interiors I've ever experienced in a car less than $40k.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have also had some experience with a 2009 Chevy Malibu that I had as a rental car when I was away visiting my parents. That car had soft-touch materials all around, but they looked more like hard plastic to the eye and felt like rubber to the hand. That's a case where I'd rather have high-quality hard plastics than low-quality soft-touch surfaces. Stepping back into my Accord after my stint with the Malibu was like going from a Honda to an Acura. The Accord feels like it cost several thousand dollars more, but in reality, the Malibu I rented stickered for almost as much as my basic EX w/cloth (roughly $22-23k for the Malibu LT versus a little over $25k for an EX Accord automatic). Granted, the Malibu has more nifty (and typical GM) convenience features like a full-fledged trip computer, ambient lighting in the ceiling and on the door panels (in the door handle recesses), OnStar, automatic headlights, etc., but it also lacked my Accord's 6CD changer, alloy wheels, Sunroof, power seat, rear A/C vents, stability control, and premium cloth seats. All those people who rave about how great the Malibu is and talk trash about the Accord and Camry, calling them ugly and boring, must be blind and have no sense of what quality feels like. I'd rather buy a pleasant-but-conservatively-styled Accord that exudes quality in every aspect than a piece of garbage inside of a nice wrapper like the Malibu. As much as I'd like America to build a car that can match or exceed the quality feel of the Accord, I still don't see it happening. Supposedly Ford is really close with the Fusion, but I haven't had any experience with the new one so I can't comment. However, my experience with a 2008 didn't exactly knock my socks off. I do want a Fusion Hybrid though. I geek out on technology, so I'd have tons of fun with it. Sadly, it's a little out of my price range...