There's no doubt that this is not the same material that it was in the 80's and early 90's. I ruined the armrest cover in my 99 by trying to clean some stubborn dirt with 409. Now the finish is gone and the whole thing is a sticky gooey mess. The Tex in my 204D and the 86 and 87 models I've owned previously would stand up to anything.

My personal opinion is that this has something to do with being friendly to the environment. Just like they don't use solvent based paints anymore. Of course the cynics will say it's a cost cutting maneuver.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
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