Hello Gang. The interior of my '01 SS is in pristine condition. My car is a daily driver, although I am considering garaging it.

The other day I test drove a 2003 pace car edition and the well used dash and steering wheel buttons were very rough looking and corroded. What is the best way to preserve the buttons and dash. I have been told that Armorall is not what it is cracked up to be.

The second thing is how do you "prevent" the yellowing of headlights. I have two new ones, the look great. Is there as good preserving product on the market?

Thanks in advance for any advise.

 

I armory rail my interior about once a year. Keep the interior vacuumed.
Some other tips, clean hands!! If you eat food or do a job where your hands are dirty, wash before you drive. The oils, salts, dirt and other contaminants you leave on your hands paid it's toll in damaging paint on the wheel controls and radio buttons and the condition of the leather. Keeping fingernails trimmed and trying to press buttons with the tip of your finger and not your nail is a wise idea to avoid scrapes in painted surfaces too.
Hand sanitizer is nice but most of that is alcohol based. Alcohol dries things out, I suspect that too could damage interior stuff.
I think most hand lotions don't destroy but can make a gross mess. Admittedly the wheel controls in my monte where gunked to hell with hand lotion when I grabbed them in a junk yard. Wow, cleaned them up and that stuff I think preserved them.

Oh a trick with armoral, I find best results using the cleaning wipes and then use the armoral product around the interior. The cleaning wipes seem to pick up lists of deposits and junk, so when you apply the actual armoral it gives a richer shine.

Basically I think a lot of how your car interior holds up depends on your hygiene and willingness to clean your car regularly. My monte interior is typically very clean (some times the dash could benefit from a simple wipe down), my grand am is clean but not nearly as clean as the monte (it's over due for a good vacuum out).

 

Thanks Maniac. It sounds like what you describe is the same regimine I have been using except I have not been using the wipes first. It makes sense that they will clean better. I do try to keep my hands clean.

It takes a little time but it sure is nice t get in a car that's 13 years old and it look brand new.

 

I agree with what he said. Just try and keep it as clean as possible. I regularly try to vacuum out the interior and wipe the dash down at least once a week.

 

As a new member, I will chime in here, and I know I will be taking some heat over it, but nonetheless, I will state an opinion.

Never use ArmorAll in any car that you intend to keep around. ArmorAll works by bringing what is called the "plasticizers" to the surface of the vinyl. There, they are broken down by UV rays. Next time you use Armor All, the process repeats. After a period of time, the vinyl starts to get hard and brittle and starts to crack, as without the plasticizers, it is no longer flexible, so cannot flex as temperature changes.

For one example, see:

Armor-All actually does more harm than good... [Archive] - NastyZ28.com

Also, when there has been use of Armor All in a car, you will note that there is a brown residue in the nooks and crannies of the interior. This is the UV broken down plasticizer that is left behind. There are good products out there, but Armor All is not one of them.

Kostas

 

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The problem with the steering wheel control buttons is that they're just clear plastic that is coated with some type of material. It isn't very strong.

My car is a Sandy flood car, and just exposure to the water was enough to cause that coating to peel off of the buttons.

 

I just posted this in the daily blog, but this is what I use for the interior, both leather and vinyl. 303 Aerospace will probably greatly help your interior, both from your normal body rubbing, along with UV protection.

 

Thanks kkritislas. I had heard this before but now I see it in print. I had switched to Meguires wipes but I do not know if they are chemicaly the same.