Inferior Interior

VW and BMW are both suffering from this sort of thing. There isn't a fix except to peel off all of the "soft touch" coating when it starts peeling and then just have plastic that has a harder feel to it.

The drivers door pull is rubber isn't it? And around the headlight switch there is some hard plastic to protect the area near the soft coating plastic.... Just take it easy on the interior... I don't know how you would get scratches on the dashboard, what is touching it that frequently? The last time I touched the dashboard was to clean it; the radio, lights, etc are all made out of hard plastic.

My 4.5 year old car is almost mint inside (two little scuffs from knees rubbing against the centre console) and it was a company car (ie, the people who drove it didn't care about it) for 3 3/4 years.

You gotta treat your interior with some care... Same goes with your console latch, go easy on the bloody thing, it doesn't take much effort to open... again the 2 A4 VW's (two golfs) in my family, and the 2 that are owned by my friend (golf and a jetta wagon) haven't had any peeling problems, or latches breaking... What more can I say, take care of it, and watch with sharp objects ;-).

Both door interior handles were replaced on my Eurovan due to peeling and both are peeling on my wife's Jetta. In both vehicles, the passenger side doors were almost never used, rather clearly indicating the problem was not excessive wear. I agree with taking it easy on the parts, but there are some issues that are arising independent of wear and tear.

Jetta Wolsburg 1.8T 2001 model - same problems as others reported - lots of plastic peeling. While under warranty the air conditioning hatches started peeling off by themselves and were replaced under warranty. The driver side door handle and panel peeled off and was also replaced. Middle console plastic closing latch broke outside of warranty so I haven't replaced it also some peelage on the back door handles is becoming noticeable. I am thinking that this might have to do with VW's "customizable" trim features - they just use a tiny film on top to create the color or "effect" desired. I've been looking on some aftermarket trim parts that seem more sturdy than the offered by VW but still it hasn't gone so bad that it all need redoing. On the dealer loaner cars I also noticed the same problems with plastic pealing as I had on mine and the middle console latch is broken on any friend with a VW that I know so those are definitely desing flaws in my opinion.

The Eurovan actually has a fix (sort of). When you're no longer covered by warranty and you're footing the bill yourself, tell the parts guy at the dealer you have a '96 Eurovan. They don't have the handles with the peely stuff on them but yet come in the "flannel gray" color that most later Eurovans have for an interior color.

Older '93 Eurovan handles will work but the gray that year has a different name (and therefore might be a different shade).

I guess it's something we'll have to just deal with. Peeling it off isn''t the best option b/c it won't come off that well where it isn't peeling already. Luckily, with the door pulls, the underlying plastic is the same color. I don't know about the black on the dash pieces. On my headlight switch, however, it was white underneath. That'll look real crappy if I peel it off.