Looking for advice please people. The grey rubberised tactile finish on the centre console in my 2007
Boxster
is starting to peel and looks scruffy and unsightly. Luckily the hard plastic exposed is exactly the same colour. I need to sort it it so, I think my choice is to A: strip it all off and leave it shiny grey. (Poor choice) B: Find some soft touch rubberised spray substance. (Tried and failed so far) C: cover it with leather (classy but risky) or D: replace it with a new one ( too expensive). Has anyone got any workable solutions?
Two suggestions for you:
1) There are companies that will strip and paint it for you, with professional results. The USA company called Bumper Plugs does this, not sure if that is too costly or inconvenient to ship over here. I'm sure there is someone in the UK that can do it as well. It will probably cost a few hundred dollars, but the results will be high quality.
2) Your local paint store can mix up some matching flat latex paint that you can use for spot repairs. Just remove and take in one of the plastic trim pieces in the interior with the same "soft touch" paint, the paint store will use their color scanner to mix it correctly. I did this with my Sand Beige interior to touch up the scuffed plastic piece at the rear of the trunk and it looks fine. If there are large scuffed places, this might be less desirable.
Leather or
Alcantara
covering would be excellent, but I'd want a pro to do it. It would also cost at least as much as professional painting, and probably more for leather.
Good luck!
Hi Greg, that’s really great advice, thank you. I had looked at Bumper Plugs before but as you say, I’d have to ship it over. I’d love the
Alcantara
or Leather. I’m reasonably handy and also tight with my wallet so was tempted to try myself but you’re right. It should be a professional job. Definitely will try the local paint shop latex idea. I had not thought of that one. Many thanks again.
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iPhone
using Tapatalk
I had the same problem with mine and went the Bumper
Plug
route. I think he shipped me a painted console and I returned mine when it was swapped out.
Have you considered wrap film like 3M 1080 film? Takes some time and patience, relatively inexpensive and I have seen some projects with excellent results.
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/graphics-signage-us/1080-wrap-film-series/
I am a cheap, skint bastage, so I gave it a try myself. I bought a donor console, and sanded it. I built a cheap wood and plastic sheeting paint booth, and used automotive paint in
Porsche
Meteor Grey, as I like that color and my interior is Stone Grey.
It's nowhere nearly as beautiful as a professional job. I learned a few things. I got terrible crazing and strange metalflake patterns with my second coat oc clear. No idea how that could happen. One second it looked great then the
next
was arse.
However, I paid $135 for materials. For that, it looks good enough for me. If I resell the car, I have the OEM console in a box, if it becomes an issue.
