Change from alcantara to cloth on PUP???

[Moderatefan]

Alcantara is composed of about 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane giving increased durability and stain resistance. The appearance and tactile feel of the material is similar to that of suede, and it may be identified as such.

Has better qualities and used in premium autos, so should be an upgrade from cloth.

 

[evster]

I actually prefer the cloth headliner. Alcantara is not a luxury material. Alcantara is just a synthetic material that some car companies charge extra for and hence ppl think it is great

A new Porsche Panamera or latest Audi A8 doesn't come standard with Alcantara headliner either btw. They have cloth. Looks and feels perfect.

 

[gregincal]

Is it only me that finds it a little odd that a single poster on the Tesla forum says they had a cloth headliner, but not one single person who has picked up their car on this forum has said anything about it? Has anybody here gotten a car with a cloth headliner? He says his VIN is 17xx, so it's not like it would be a recent change.

 

[CuriousG]

Alcantara here. VIN 20xx.

 

[03DSG]

Is it only me that finds it a little odd that a single poster on the Tesla forum says they had a cloth headliner, but not one single person who has picked up their car on this forum has said anything about it? Has anybody here gotten a car with a cloth headliner? He says his VIN is 17xx, so it's not like it would be a recent change.

Maybe it was a one off error using the coming non PUP material. Certainly possible. I just put it out there as it’s interesting.

 

[Sportstick]

That's like saying there's no difference between wool and cashmere.

No, it's not. Those are both genuine natural fibers with meaninful differences, and cashmere truly has luxurious properties. Alcantara comes from a lab and is just a synthetic attempt to create a commodity product which can be marketed as premium, while in reality, is just another cloth. Apparently, the marketing has worked quite well!

 

[Kenriko]

No, it's not. Those are both genuine natural fibers with meaninful differences, and cashmere truly has luxurious properties. Alcantara comes from a lab and is just a synthetic attempt to create a commodity product which can be marketed as premium, while in reality, is just another cloth. Apparently, the marketing has worked quite well!

I find that it's more durable and easier to clean. I don't care that it's made from melted plastic bottles or whatever.

 

[Stoneymonster]

Regardless of whether it's made of the same stuff, better, worse, or indifferent, the fact is that Telsa *has* sold it as a premium material in the past on the S, has been including it in the PUP on the 3, and has set the expectation in the customer base that it's premium. Removing it capriciously looks bad.

Having said that, I think we should all reserve judgement on a one-off report from random people.

 

[wpnelson]

Alcantara, or at least Alcantara-like. Picked up yesterday VIN 2200 series.

 

[JoshM]

No, it's not. Those are both genuine natural fibers with meaninful differences, and cashmere truly has luxurious properties. Alcantara comes from a lab and is just a synthetic attempt to create a commodity product which can be marketed as premium, while in reality, is just another cloth. Apparently, the marketing has worked quite well!

Just admit you're wrong. It does not matter if the material is natural or synthetic. What matters is the properties. Is one smoother or softer than the other? Is one more durable? Is one easier to clean and maintain? If an average person sees/touches one and then the other, is there a clear preference?

IMO Alcantara, though it's synthetic (who cares?), is much nicer than basic cloth you'd find in a normal car's headliner. Now, the supposed cloth headliner in question here could be a very nice cloth, even better than Alcantara -- we don't know. We don't even know if it's true at all!

 

[Az_Rael]

VIN 1986 here: Alcantara headliner in mine.

Honestly, I would not have been surprised at cloth (My previous S was cloth), and wouldn't have even noticed anything was amiss, so I am guessing most won't even notice.

Fascinating that they made changes that fast tho, if others show up with cloth headliners.

 

[DarthPierce]

Wow, thats a lot of hoopla....

With a glass roof, there's very actual headliner in the car anyway... As long a the materials are "upgraded" from non-PUP it's following what was agreed to - I don't think it actually specifies Alcantara anywhere.

I like Alcantara as a seat material in my STI, since it's grippy unlike leather and it's never blisteringly hot or cold, like leather can be. None of those advantages are present in a headliner.

Maybe I'm just a plebe, but I've never cared a whit for what headliner a car had aside from dark vs. light. It's not a common touchpoint - what difference does it really make?

 

[CuriousG]

No, it's not. Those are both genuine natural fibers with meaninful differences, and cashmere truly has luxurious properties. Alcantara comes from a lab and is just a synthetic attempt to create a commodity product which can be marketed as premium, while in reality, is just another cloth. Apparently, the marketing has worked quite well!

So natural diamonds and man made diamonds are different? I bet De Beers would think so.

 

[voip-ninja]

That's not the comparison at all. Just because a headliner isn't alcantera doesn't mean it's made from low quality or bargain materials. You can have premium interior materials that aren't a brand name that normal people think means something premium.

Basically, Alcantera is what normal people think is premium. Just like normal people think Nordstroms is premium or where rich people shop.

I didn't say that only alcantera was used as a high quality headliner. Some cars have high end cloth or even leather as a headliner materials. Heck, some cars have leather dashes.

Arguing that alcantera is no better than standard cloth headliner, or isn't an upgrade is just absurd, because for many auto makes it is presented as an upgrade and in some cases it is even a line item upgrade with a higher cost.

As someone else said, it doesn't matter if it's made out of melted plastic bottles, it wears better, subjectively looks nicer, and has a nicer feel to it than the low rent cloth or synethetic material used in the headliners of most "budget" makes.

As to where "rich people shop", maybe you'd like to do a lesson on that. I'm not rich but fairly well off, so I guess I know where fairly well off people shop and I sure as hell know the difference in materials and workmanship between a high quality shirt made in Hong Kong or Italy and some cheap piece of crap they sell at K-Mart that's made in a Cambodian sweat shop.

 

[K-MTG]

I have alcantara on my 3 (at least I am pretty sure I do). Can someone confirm?

Does anyone have pics of the cloth interior?

 

[SteveG3]

I get that some people really like/want the alcantara, and as 3s have come with it to date, the idea of not getting it is not at all favorable to them. That said, it could well be that Tesla may have done this to take care of a far more widespread, far more "not favorable" for most customers, waiting even longer for their car than already known delays. Just a possibility.

 

[Mike K]

Drove VIN 16xx a few days ago. Alcantera there. I'm going to be cranky if I don't get the alcantera. Tesla has a bad habit of assuming they can just change things and people won't care but when you ditch the traditional dealership model and your customers are not seeing the car they're buying before they buy it it is absolutely imperative that you clearly communicate what you will be delivering to them.

But there hasn't really been anyone else here to confirm that they've received cloth so I'm not going to flail my arms and scream Armageddon just yet.

 

[wpnelson]

I have alcantara on my 3 (at least I am pretty sure I do). Can someone confirm?

Does anyone have pics of the cloth interior?

It's hard to tell from the video, since naturally you were a little more focused on the bigger picture. The color looks right. The best way to tell is to feel it, is it slightly napped or suede like, like the back side of an animal skin? that's alcantara. honestly, until somebody shows up with pictures of a cloth interior IRL, I'm skeptical.

 

[Brandon332]

The way I see it is that only one person claims to NOT have gotten alcantara. Perhaps the person that said it failed to have alcantara thinks alcantara means something else, like some kind of leather or something. Thus when they got their Model 3 with alcantara they complained because they thought they were supposed to have something else. I'm not sure why the Model 3 team would go along with what they were saying, maybe it's an exaggeration etc.

Or maybe Tesla made a mistake and gave out a wrong car. It's plausible that Tesla made some test cars with premium everything but with standard headliner to test out the manufacturing process for standard leather, and that one of those cars was mistakenly sold to a customer (as it's fairly well-known that some people have confirmed orders and are immediately assigned a pre-manufactured car from the Fremont lot).

It's a very weird thing to change, I very strongly feel like it was a mistake or a miscommunication with the one person that's reported it. Especially when the person said that "many other people were driving off without alcantara and no one noticed". Maybe it's because this person's definition of alcantara is different. I won't believe it until I see a pic.

 

[CuriousG]

I have alcantara on my 3 (at least I am pretty sure I do). Can someone confirm?

Does anyone have pics of the cloth interior?

I can confirm without a doubt your driver side floor mats need to be vacuumed for a presentation video. And possibly a homeless person living in your trunk.