Hi, I recently picked up a 2014 458 Italia. I love it! Unfortunately the interior has a couple of controls that look worn out, like the display control in the picture. Is there anything that I can do about it (besides buying a new one)? Thanks, Alvaro Image Unavailable, Please Login
As mentioned up thread, there are companies that can refinish them. Depending on what is causing the worn out look you can try cleaning them first, just to see if it helps: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/cheap-simple-sticky-button-fix-tried.648061/#post-148149737.
You would think that the controls on the 458 were all made of the same exact plastic. They are not; at least not on my 2012 458 Italia. If you use the technique I outline below, you'll be left with the underlying shinny black plastic finish, but only for the 7 items I listed. Unfortunately, neither the flat area on the controls to the left of the steering wheel, nor the mirror/light controls to the bottom left of the steering wheel lend themselves to sticky removal. If you try to clean the sticky coating off the flat area on the control the left of the steering wheel, you'll work your way all the way down to a layer of white plastic (ask me how I know), and it will look even worse than what you have now. The other switches you can't clean are the mirror/light controls at the bottom left of the steering wheel. The best solution is to send these controls to StickyRX. If you do that you'd better be prepared to wait and pay dearly, but for most of us the wait and cost are worth it, considering the overall cost of the car. Buttons/Controls With Removeable Sticky Coating: 1. Auto/Reverse/Power-Start buttons on center console 2. HVAC facia and buttons 3. Turn signal, windshield wiper, and high beam buttons on steering wheel 4. Steering wheel bezel and boarder around main instrument panel 5. Control panel and buttons on ceiling above the rear-view mirror 6. Controls on right side of steering wheel (Main/Men/Back buttons, large round button, small volume button, and flat area around buttons) 7. Lift and glove box buttons on center console The technique that I used to clean these items is as follows: 1. Buy "Jax Super Soap" or "Grease Lightning" degreaser. I like Jax because it is an all-natural surfactant. There are stronger surfactants like Turtle Wax's tar remover that will make quicker work of removing the sticky coating, but I prefer to use a less abrasive all-natural soap, and just take my time. 2. Purchase a pack of Neutrogena makeup-remover towelettes. They don't leave any cotton fibers or other kinds of residue behind. 3. Let the Neutrogena towelettes air-dry and them soak them with Jax Super Soap or Grease Lightning. Then place the saturated towelettes on top of the controls/buttons you want to clean. Let the towelettes sit on the surface for 5-10 minute to give the surfactant time to penetrate the sticky coating on the surface of the buttons/controls. 4. Take a soft pine toothpick and break it in half. Chew on one end of the broken toothpick a little to break it into tiny soft fibers. You'll find that this tiny "wooden paint brush tool" is hard enough to mechanically remove the sticky coating, without being so hard as to scratch the underlying shinny black plastic. 5. Remove the towelettes from the buttons/controls and use the toothpick tool to slowly/meticulously remove the sticky coating. The sticky coating will peel away sort of like rubber cement. The technique outlined above works well, but again, the flat area around the control to the left side of the steering wheel, and the mirror/light controls, don't lend themselves to this technique. So, you either live with it, or you remove the controls from the dash and send them to StickyRX. I'm rather OCD, so in the end I completely dismantled my dash and sent all the controls to StickyRX for refinishing. PM me with your phone number of you'd like me to call you and share more details.
Has anybody tried Dunlop 65? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002OOMW6/?coliid=I3DSSAGJGK3CN0&colid=S41A7QZI04LD&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it It is supposedly used to clean guitars. I read on a Mercedes forum, that people have used it for sticky buttons, and it supposedly works very well, without removing paint, or white lettering. I never tried it, but figured I would throw it out there, in case someone wants to try it, and report back. They also recommended the Neutrogena make up wipes on that forum as well.
It tends to happen to people in warm climates, or people who dont garage there vehicles say in Florida or California where the cars sit and bake in the sun all day. You would think Ferrari would just quit with this coating, I mean its not like its a car here, car there.
Even if you have a climate-controlled garage you can still fall victim. For example, the service department of both Ferrari dealerships I've dealt with keep lots of cars sitting out in the sun (they put a sun screen on the dash but still the temperature inside the car can get real hot). So you can go to great lengths to keep your car in a climate-controlled environment, but all it takes is one bad exposure to extreme heat at a Ferrari service department, or an outdoor parking area, and you can find yourself with sticky buttons. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to the previous owner of my car.
I use Dunlop 65 to clean and protect the buttons on my 458. I think it will retard the aging of the buttons.
Are you saying that you put Dunlop 65 on the rubber coated buttons to preserve them (with the rubber coating intact)? Or did the coating already fail, and was removed, and you clean the buttons with the Dunlop 65? The reason I ask, is that I was under the impression that people used the Dunlop 65 to remove the failed rubber coating, in a safe manner.
My buttons are in good condition but some are slightly sticky. I use Dunlop 65 to clean and protect my buttons, then they become smooth and pleasant to the touch.
Wow, that's really interesting! I'm shocked that same stuff that some people use to get sticky stuff off, is the same stuff that increases the life of buttons that are starting to fail. It's like the miracle solution! lol But, I can see how that can work. I'm thinking if they are "slightly" tacky, the lemon oils, essentially lubricate the coating so it doesn't feel tacky. But once it actually fails, and starts to fall off, the lemon oils just safely clean the coating off. Thankfully, my buttons still feel pretty much perfect, but I always like to have a plan on what I'm going to do when they finally fail (they all do eventually)
I think it’s humid conditions combined with heat. My 360 looked perfect and one day I left the top down at the beach and it turned into crap instantly, it seemed. I have redone the 360 and it looks perfect and I think it cost me around 5k when all said and done. My 458 buttons look perfect thus far after 7 years. This is about the time it took my 360 button to deteriorate. At least there are good solutions when the time comes. It is kinda laughable that this issue has not been corrected after all this time.
I know that heat and humidity can accelerate the process (as can suntan lotion, cleaners, etc), but avoiding heat and humidity still doesn't prevent it 100%. I have heard that some report that BRAND NEW parts sitting on the shelves in boxes, have also turned sticky!
The cleaning products causes sticky buttons. After you go to the dealer, tell them NOT to clean the car. Sent from my SM-G977U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
100% true. They hit every spot on mine ,then left it in the Fl. heat. I found a great Independent & will not go back to dealership except recalls. This is my 6th Ferrari. They removed my stickies, in-house repaired all at less than 1/3 the price, the car never was in the sun, heat etc. and was finished quickly, satisfactory
Yep most ferraris don't sit in the sun and the owners have sun visors. I learned by asking other ferrari owners at cars and coffee if I can touch their buttons. What you're gonna find, most feel the same. Not sticky icky yet but not like new. But when you find the ferrari that has buttons that are not sticky and not repaired and feel new, they tell me they know all about it from day 1 and they put no cleaning chemicals on them. Sent from my SM-G977U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
At this point, they have to prove it or assume to avoid it Sent from my SM-G977U using FerrariChat.com mobile app
The process certainly much faster with high humidity, high heat & sun, then add Dealerships BS with Covid Cleaning PROCESS. My 360 was in CO. much of it's early life & there were very little problems in this area. It was a downward spiral after moving to FL. The 15, 458 in Fl.was another story. The Ferrari initial solution of prevention--the $100.00 -- HydroCleaner 00 665 Slow (silicon remover) was NOTHING but Snake Oil.
