[Rick]

Ok, I'm just curious. Is anyone else having problems with bad wear on their steering wheels? This auction made me wounder:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2470187501
Pull up the picture of the wheel, it's not even black any more. And I've seen wear patterns on other Insight wheels, but just in spots where they are gripped, not the whole wheel. I mean my wheel has a lot more miles on it than that one and still looks brand new. I do recall someone having their wheel replaced a while back due to excessive wear like that.

And if anyone does I'm curious as to what sort of matenience if any is done to it. My wheel gets Meguiar's #40 on it whenever I detail it. It cleans it and adds uv protection so I wounder if that has anything to do with it or not.

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

That is one grey steering wheel! :shock: The discolouration looks too even to be wear & tear or sunlight fading - I think it is likely that someone cleaned that steering wheel with the wrong cleaning product (such as bleach!).

 

[Holicow]

I wonder if it was parked with the windows down a lot, or something.
The driver seat looks a little faded too.

Mine looks nothing like that. That looks bad...

 

[Corey872]

The car is listed in Port Richey, Flordia...if it has spent it's life there, it has probably had a good dose of sunshine, UV light, salt and sand. I agree, though, the wear looks too even to be just sun. But, looking at the seats, floors and other pics, it doesn't look like it's had an easy life for only 21K miles. Is it just me or does it look like the black kick-out at the bottom of the rear bumper is faded, a fairly good dent at the top rear corner of the drivers side rear wheel cover, and scratches/dents all down the passenger side too?

 

[Rick]

Whats really strange is the air bag is still black (kinda). It seems like it should have discolored more with it. I guess it's a different enough material that it doesn't. There was one Insight I looked at at an auction once that you could see where the drivers hand naturally rested. Two fingers on top of the left side grip, tips touching the air bag and thumb under with it's tip just barely touching the air bag as well.

One other thing I'm now noticing, no tinting on the windows so it's gotta be the UV exposure. At least by this car we know the dash is at least resistive to this. As for the seat I didn't really notice that before. Looks like it has stains in it that were never taken care of. I would think a good shampoo on it could go a long ways, but yeah, that seats forever ruined no matter what.

On the bright side at least the sellers being honest about it.

 

[Tim Maddux]

The seat and steering wheel both like the inside of a farm or construction site work truck. Auction also mentions the previous owner was a smoker.

 

[boogetyboogety]

Wow, ugly wheel... wonder what happened...

Yes, I know it says:

"CARFAX Reports NO Junk, NO Salvage Title, NO Salvage Auction, NO Police Accident, NO Airbag Deployment, Personal use, No Commercial or leased vehicle (italics mine)."

Hmmmmmm...

That could also mean it was broken into and the airbag stolen (hey, it happens, even on The Sopranos), the wheel damaged and painted or something, and the stolen airbag replaced with a new one.

But there is no rust! :lol: And 100% positive feedback! All eight of them! (One was as a "buyer," though)...

OK, I'll stop being a cynic now. Just get them to make the wheel pretty or replace it for you prior to taking delivery...

 

[Foxpaw]

Yikes! That wheel's funny looking. But the seats especially - mine have this cool netting stuff over them, but those ones don't. Is this an option or aftermarket modification to the seats?

 

[Rick]

Netting? Are you talking about the black portion of the seats? It is a net type material, you just can't see it in the picture very well. If not I'm confused.

 

[Guest]

Hi All:

___Did anyone notice that the seller is apparently a salesman, rep, or the Honda dealership itself that is auctioning off this Insight? With that, they are not including a Honda Certification which includes the 7 Yr./100,000 mile drivetrain warranty? Something is definitely not right here and that front driver’s side air bag cover looks like a replacement to me also … What in gods name could have destroyed that steering wheel as that is well beyond anything I have seen from over exposure to the sun? What a mess …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:t7yshkej][email protected][/email:t7yshkej]

 

[windmill]

Netting? Are you talking about the black portion of the seats? It is a net type material

I made a hole (1/2")in my seat ( on the black part), I was forgotten to take the screwdriver out of my rearpocket :evil: Is there a nice way to fix this ?
Or should I order a seatcover ?

 

[Rick]

I would take it to an apholstrey shop first and see what they could do. Honda wants absolutely insane money for their seat cover materials. Just one of the two pieces lists for over $200!

 

[Holicow]

That car in question went for over $9600. I think someone will be somewhat disappointed if they did not see it in person ahead of time. The passenger side was awful, with dents and scratches. And that steering wheel....


Here's another FL car up for bid with a similar steering wheel appearance, but not as bad...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2470940507&category=31839

 

[Rick]

Shout, that one looks a million times better. I mean yeah the grips have some fading going on, but I would think that one is very easily saveable.

Again, I'll put a suggestion in here to prevent this sort of discoloration. Meguiar's #40, apply with towel or foam applicator, then come back and wipe off with another towel and it will clean off the oils and acids your hands leave behind plus add protection and uv to it, and will not be artificially glossy or slick, it will feel like new again.

 

[Holicow]

I think the folks down in FL must sweat more....

 

[Yves M.]

Or they cleaned it with acetone or something similar

 

[Holicow]

That car in question went for over $9600. I think someone will be somewhat disappointed if they did not see it in person ahead of time. The passenger side was awful, with dents and scratches. And that steering wheel....
....

Ha Ha !! What did I tell you? It was returned, and is up for auction once again...:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31839&item=2473939249&rd=1

there were some scratches along the passenger side rear quarter panel and door also on the driver rear bumper area that have been repaired at reasonable cost to us

And who cares if it was reasonable for them? They had the same info the first time around and it didn't make any sense then either....

 

[Tim Maddux]

It looks like there is newly added text (not in bold) describing repairs after the car was returned from the previous auction that started this thread. The pictures also look better. However, it also looks like they dipped the car in Armor-All, which could be disguising problems.

caveat emptor,

 

[dan]

Hi Rick-

On my way up to the ski slopes the other day I was putting on my sunscreen (yeah I know, bad form; at least I wasn’t on the cell phone) and I began to wonder about sunscreen on the steering wheel (ya’ know Florida and all). Think that might have done it?

 

[Rick]

Hmmm, well I personally wouldn't leave sun screen on my steering wheel. I think since the one was completely work all around had to be caused by some factor like uv or maybe something they put on it. I've seen others where the wheel had wear where the person grabbed it. This type of wear is generally lactic acid that is on your hands, nothing you can do about it as some people put out more than others. An occasional cleaning will get rid of it before it can do damage.