Dashboard Changes?
 

I used to own a 2003 Boxster S but sold it a few years ago. I'm back in the market and am interested in a 2003 or earlier non-S model. I looked at a 99 last week and was surprised to see that the dashboard top was a different material than my 03. Mine, at least from what I can recall, had a leather like finish to it. The rest of the interior had a similar look. However, the 99 dash had a grainy plasticee look to it. The owner said all pre-2000 models had this. He may have said pre-03, I'm not sure.

I looked at Wikipedia but it didn't get to that level of detail. Hopefully, someone here knows the answer.

Leather interior
 

I have an 03 2.7 Tip, the interior was considerably up-graded for the face-lift model. I'm pretty sure the top of my dashboard is leather covered, may vary from market to market.

the owner is right.
the pre-2000 came with plastic like dashboard, and all the trim is "regular" plastic.
2000 and up, the dashboard and door panels are leather like material, and all the plastic parts are covered with the soft touch material.
Some cars came with full real leater, but that was an option you could have ordered regardless of the year (as far as i und erstand ).
i also saw some pre 2000 cars with diamond shaped texture plastic dashboard.

I have a 98, it has a full leather dash and door panels. You are right Meir that it was an option. The leather is way, way nicer.

How has the dash leather held up over the years? I notice on some Ferraris that their leather dashes wrinkle up and come undone. I have the soft touch fake leather dash and it's totally unchanged after all these years. Can't really complain given the no maintenance.

I think that was also an issue with 928's. The leather became a problem whereas the leatherette was much better over time.

^^^What Meir said. ^^^

Some people actually like the plastic style dash better since it wears much better than the leather and dash is single color and material instead of what some people think is a strange mix of the two with the leather dash.

Two 99s that I have now, the leather is still in great shape, but one has a little color fade. It does need to be cared for and a garage, or good car cover makes a big difference.
A 99 that I sold had a couple spots on the dash where the leather was starting to separate - about a 2 inch round bubble in a spot and a little at the front.
I think that the worst thing that can happen to leather is to get it wet in the heat or full sun. It causes shrinkage and hardens it. I had that happen to part of a door panel.

I have a 2000 S with the full leather package. My Boxster has 46k miles and is garage kept. Unfortunately the forward portion of the leather dash has wrinkled. It is on my list to send the dash to Classic 9 in Dearborn Heights, MI to have it re-covered in leather.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like full leather may not be best idea for me.

My full leather interior smells great

The leather on my dash was in great shape. It was red (orange), but I decided to dye it black. It came out pretty good, no no can tell it's dyed. Actually all the leather held up great. Dash, door cards, storage console, roll bar hoops and e brake. The only thing that showed any wear was the shift knob, but that is to be expected. I think as long as you keep it conditioned it should be fine with no garage. I use Lexol.

I would also like to add that while the forward part of my dash is wrinkled the rest of my leather interior still looks and smells new!! I use Lexol on a regular basis.

Good luck in your search and enjoy the process :)

Happy Holidays :cheers:

Good to hear they're holding up well for some folks. What is it that causes them to peel up or wrinkle?...heat/sun and water? Hard to avoid if you've got a convertible.

I bought my car from a dealer, it was a 1 owner with 37k miles, very well cared for, with records of a dealer service history. The car sat on the dealer lot for a couple of months in the hot Atlanta, Georgia heat before I purchased it. I think the wrinkles happened from the hot sun on the car lot. The rest of the interior is like new. I've been very happy with the leather package. I treat the leather regularly, have tinted windows, and a Porsche sunshade from Suncoast.
With so many factors at play when purchasing a Boxster, my car met all of my requirements\expectations including a PPI with very minor findings. I purchased knowing I would eventually re-cover the dash.

Cheers