That gooey sticky interior plastic

[tampabaymarkey]

Greetings from hot sunny Florida. My name is Mark, and I have just posted my 1st thread as a new Beetle owner in a different area of this site. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about a problem that I resolved this weekend. I just traded a vintage car for a New Beetle. I was a but apprehensive, as the interior of the car seemed destroyed by the Florida heat, or so I thought. I was not sure what the problem was, so i just attemped to clean it with "The Purple Power" cleaner available at Auto Zone. I have used this many times for different reasons. This stuff will take the crome off a trailer hitch!!! It cleaned all the black grime out of the gooey, stickey plastic interior, but every single piece of interior plastic still had that weird feeling of 3M rubber cement-like texture. After reading this forum, I tried a remedy that worked MIRACLES!!! Rubbing alcohol and the green scrungie pads from Walmart. The interior of my NB is sanatized better than the local hospital operating room now, from all the alcohol. It took a few days, but well worth the efforts. Thank you to everyone who posted their efforts and suggestions. I would not have thought alcohol would work. Alcohol belongs on ice in my cocktail glass, not on the interior of my car! (wink)

[Volkswoman]

Alcohol is good for MANY things, including detailing cars!

[h_2_o]

i've came to the same conclusion but to save some $$$ i use denatured alcohol, buy it by the gallon it is great for cleaning all sorts of stuff.

[ClaireW]

I'm gonna have to give this a try. I've got peely plastic coating crud on the upper door panels.

[Titchy]

Hi Mark, Welcome

I am doing this too, got the door panels and sides of the dash done with the same stuff with the help of some of those plastic razor blades. Takes a while but the results are well worth it! Almost like a new interior.

Tracy

[L33]

That is very good information. The rubberized trim surface treatment VW has chosen for certain production years just does not hold up to normal wear. It is not just a problem in FL.

[StoonTDi]

That gooey, sticky, shiney then scuffy, mexican armorall auction detailer quick fix mess maker crap. IT HAS GOT TO COME OFF!
This product was designed for tires, not dashboards. Are you listening detailers.
STOP DOING THAT.
I'm going to use diluted acetone. Yahoo Ask says the dilutant for acetone is water...
I'm giving it a try right after this post.
Pure undiluted acetone is too strong and not only removes the Mexican Armoral (should be Are Immoral) it removes the black paint top coat. That can be found on the new beetle black dash board.

[Titchy]

Yeah, mine pissed me off enough, I traded it but I like my new to me Mini

Tracy

[Albert'sLove]

So, after hours of cleaning my doors and trims I decided my time was worth more. Went to a auto trimmer and got some quotes to cover the doors. Haven't quite finished it (still have to get some chrome interior door handle covers to set it off) but... judge for yourself....

Old door trims at the top, new ones underneath, the day after.

[mactdi]

wow, it looks really good! the top part in black came out awesome!
Excuse my ignorance but where do you go to get this kind of work done ?

[Albert'sLove]

Thank you, I am rather pleased with the result. I am having all four panels done the same - will post when i do.

It all came about due to lack of time to remove the awful stuff myself (you can remove with rubbing alcohol) but you have to be careful the rag doesn't touch anything as it will stain.

I rang several motor auto trimmers near my area and explained the problem. I came on Org, got the instructions on how to remove the door panels and printed them off the guy who got the job. He went ahead and that was the result. I was guided by his advice with UV rays and vinyl in Australia (where i live) because i made it clear that i did not want to be doing this whole thing again in 5 years time!

I wanted the overall effect to be somewhat like "factory" appearence - that you open the door and think it was always like that. The people who owned my bug before me had done the same thing BUT! they put a BMW or Merc carpet finish on the arm rest (see top photo). My opinion - looked terrible! Good luck, let me know how you get on!?

[njjoeg]

Hello and thanks to all for your comments.
I live in FL, and I guess the heat contributes to the sticky breakdown of the plastic interior. In addition, this car has always smelled crayons! Did any of you ever notice that?

[Bratgirl]

Yup, that smell comes standard on all New Beetles . (It is the insulation under the carpet that causes the smell).