Why do so many cars with not black interiors have a black dash?

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Traditional_Yak1126@reddit

Brake-> Let out the clutch about half way SLOWLY, when you feel the car bogging, let off the brake. You will start to roll, give it a LITTLE gas, and let off the clutch completely. If you do it this way, you will never stall, and you will never even roll back an inch! Even on the steepest hills.

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unknown_invalid@reddit

They’ll always be black or a dark color to minimize reflections on the windshield

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Snackerton@reddit

I had an LC500 with a gorgeous tan interior. The dash was the same tan and holy shit did it reflect sun and cause glare. Polarized sun glasses helped but didn’t totally solve it. Definitely a thing I’ll think twice about in the future.

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Koil_ting@reddit

Interesting, I had an old Mercedes with a tan dash and another one that was grey and never had any issues.

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Some0neAwesome@reddit

An old mercedes doesn't have a dashboard that's 2 feet deep. Speaking as a w123 owner.

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aquatone61@reddit

And it has a very upright windshield.

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Some0neAwesome@reddit

Very upright would be an exaggeration, but more upright than modern vehicles for sure. It's a steep rake compared to my Beetle. Not much less racked than my GMT400 or my Chevy s10 Blazer. Quite a bit more upright than my wife's subadu outback.

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aron2295@reddit

Could’ve bought a carpeted dash mat!

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GearhedMG@reddit

Nothing says luxury like a top of the line, state of the art Lexus LC500 with a carpeted dash mat from autozone.

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BenevolentDictator11@reddit

Don’t forget the fluffy steering wheel cover and bedazzle the airbags!

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PointPhoenixx@reddit

ahhh the famous rhinestone bomb XD

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Equivalent-Let-7834@reddit

Classy af!

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Emyxn@reddit

Nissan cube moment

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ObviousOligarchy@reddit

Yeah, that doesn't really help at all though. Have a black plastic textured dash in my car, and depending on the time of day, polarized glasses are a must while driving due to the reflections on the windscreen.

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Motorsport-@reddit

I think I learned this on the Bentley configuration in the mid 2000s - site would give you a warning on lighter color specced dashboards.

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C-C-X-V-I@reddit

My all red interior on my k car sucked for this.

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LightlySaltedPeanuts@reddit

Polarized sunglasses make them disappear

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Ithrazel@reddit

So many people out there who don't wear sunglasses. I have never basically because I have regular glasses.

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Colorado070707@reddit

I absolutely recommend prescription sunglasses. I tried transitions and I didn't really like how they looked.

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ratrodder49@reddit

Also seconding dedicated prescription sunglasses. I don’t know why I waited 15 years to get a pair. Only problem is carrying the regular glasses to swap them out whenever I go inside a building, I end up having to carry around my glasses case all the time

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Colorado070707@reddit

Yup, I've got the same issue with carrying around another pair. For the most part I just leave my sunglasses in my car, i rarely use them elsewhere.

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rdyoung@reddit

Seconding dedicated rx sunglasses. I main transitions but they don't change in the car and even if they did they wouldn't be dark enough. I've also had a hell of a time finding sunglasses (non rx) that are dark enough. I drive for a living so I am regularly getting my retinas fried by the sun either directly or with glare off something. I'd prefer to wear contacts with regular sunglasses but I'm still looking for ones dark enough without going for the just had my pupils dilated glasses.

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Capt_TittySprinkles@reddit

I have polarized clip-ons and they work great. Super cheap too.

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Ithrazel@reddit

Wouldn't that make my Heads Up Display also disappear?

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Capt_TittySprinkles@reddit

Hmm, I didn't think about that.. my car doesn't have one, so I don't really know

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jhabetler@reddit

You can get prescription sunglasses bud. I wear regular glasses, but I also have prescription sunglasses

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The_Strom784@reddit

Or transitions. They work great.

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fromthewindyplace@reddit

I got transitions, thinking they’d be great for my commute, only to find out that they only work in direct sunlight. If there’s a car windshield in between them & the sun, they won’t darken.

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The_Strom784@reddit

I think my car has a cheap replacement windshield. My transitions sometimes trigger very lightly when I'm driving.

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BassWingerC-137@reddit

Manufactures could never reply on that. The lawsuits would be astronomical.

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Sweet-Direction2373@reddit

Not entirely true but sounds like a good enough explanation

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dnyank1@reddit

And they suck. Not to look at, it’s beautiful - but to live with?

My first gen Bolt had a similar color dash, probably made from cheaper plastics but still…. Reflections were super distracting

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Sweet-Direction2373@reddit

Oh trust me I do not like Cadillacs and agree that the lighter dashes glare pretty bad. I’ve driven one with that interior and all around it’s an undesirable driving experience for me, the dash reflection I’m sure contributes to that feeling

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Weak-Specific-6599@reddit

I’ve not had this issue with my Bolts light grey dash. The poorly positioned/angled infotainment screen on the other hand.

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andrewia@reddit

Yep, even small bright things cause annoying reflections. The only variation could be a very dark tan, like in my Genesis, or a very dark navy.

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aquatone61@reddit

Because not black reflects in the windshield badly.

Porsche has a disclaimer that tells you that you will get terrible reflections with a light colored dash and no they won’t do anything about it.

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Tricepatina@reddit

Light dash colours are hazardous to your visibility. Out a piece of paper on your dash, have a go. It's distracting, dark colours help reduce reflection to your eye line.

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BeautifulSundae6988@reddit

It's cheaper than producing two dash colors

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Schnitzengiggel9@reddit

Cost savings

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fuz3_r3tro@reddit

I disagree. I like a little contrast with the dash and steering wheel leather. I have white leather seats & doors with a black leather dashboard and steering wheel— it’s very refreshing to get into every day.

What car companies need to stop neglecting are the doors! A lot of manufacturers don’t match the doors to the seats (usually because they won’t put leather on the doors).

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SoCalChrisW@reddit

Alternately, why do cars with a dark interior always have a light grey or beige headliner? That drives me nuts.

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

Makes the cabin more airy. I wish my Maverick had a black headliner though.

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dumahim@reddit

Does it? The color doesn't seem like something that would impact the airiness of the interior. Helps me notice smudges from whatever rubbed against it though.

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MandoBaggins@reddit

It’s a very well documented and established rule of interior design that darker ceilings have a tendency to shrink the space. Does it have this effect on everyone? Of course not. But it’s common enough that car manufacturers noticed

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MamboFloof@reddit

So I had 2 explorers a life time ago. One had a black interior with a black headliner, the other was white and white. The white one felt a LOT bigger inside despite being the exact same car.

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Weak-Specific-6599@reddit

It most definitely does. Black headliner makes a smaller cabin feel like a cave.

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dumahim@reddit

I have a car with a black headliner and one with a light headliner. The color doesn't change how it feels.

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Weak-Specific-6599@reddit

The wonder of the subjective nature of vehicle interior design. I can feel one thing, you can feel differently, and we can both be right.

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1988rx7T2@reddit

it wasn’t always that way. It’s a money saving opportunity. Lots of cars in the 80s and earlier for example had pure red or blue interiors, including headliner, panels, carpet, seats, etc.

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sovereignpancakes@reddit

My 1997 Crown Vic had a willow green interior. Everything was that color green including the dash and headliner. With the (fake) wood trim, it was like riding in a spruce tree. I miss those days...colorful interiors were awesome.

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truthputer@reddit

So they can upcharge you for the “black headliner”.

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ryguy32789@reddit

Our Pacifica has black carpet, black seats, black headliner, every surface in the interior is black.

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TerrorMango@reddit

I can't stand the beige or light grey with the rest of the car being black. Especially as it so noticeably cuts to the other color halfway up towards the headliner.

So I just always go for the dark interior with dark roof.

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ImLiushi@reddit

One of the reasons why I chose my CX5 specifically with the sport design trim is cause of the black headliner. Looks way better than the usual beige ones. Feels more luxurious, sporty, and just looks more “finished” imo.

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MarsRocks97@reddit

Dark headliner makes the car seem extra dark at night or even at dusk. The map lights a rear headliner light can barely light anything up with the dark interior and dark headliner.

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Arkiherttua@reddit

Consider getting your nuts checkef since that is over 9000 better than black

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bearded_dragon_34@reddit

Because sometimes a light headliner will help a car to feel less cave-like.

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QLDZDR@reddit

If you have a light coloured dash you will experience the terrible reflection in the windscreen.

I bought a car with a blue interior and dark blue dash. It wasn't dark enough.

I had to get a black dash mat

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AnonymousEngineer_@reddit

Windscreen reflections off lighter surfaces.

It's apparently also a thing with the latest trend of having exposed digital instrument clusters without a hood to shield the light.

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gfewfewc@reddit

That trend really boggles my mind, the hooded clusters of yore had a decades of thought put into them in order to solve a variety of issues like the sloped outer plastic layer to minimize reflections and protect the instruments; I can't imagine how fucking irritating one of those glossy slabs must be when the sun is behind or to the side.

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MamboFloof@reddit

They do something because for some reason they don't get viewability problems.

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skepticaljesus@reddit

I can't imagine how fucking irritating one of those glossy slabs must be when the sun is behind or to the side.

I have a BMW with the big dumb screen. There are things i don't like about it, but this legitimately isn't one of them, have never had an issue with glare or reflections of any kind on it.

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popsicle_of_meat@reddit

Any time the sun is low enough to come through the rear(ish) and hits the center screen in my 2008 Legacy, I'm incredibly thankful I have regular gauges. Not being able to see something as basic and critical as the speedometer is a massive drawback. If the angle and refraction angles of the screens were changed it would help, but with how they are now if the sun is just right you're getting a full-intensity reflection off the glossy screen into your eyes. I have no idea how they thought that was ok.

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MamboFloof@reddit

Put a piece of paper on your dash and go for a drive

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wwhijr@reddit

All of my trucks have black carpet pads over the dash.The glare off a light colored Dash is horrible.

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INEEDMEMANSHERB@reddit

My XC90 has a caramel interior and the dash is black leather. I personally love the way it looks. The black dash and headliner go well with the black wood. I don’t like black interiors, but i like black interior accents I’ve learned

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Ljw1000@reddit

Cost, imo.

My previous daily had a light grey interior & everything matched.

Dash & door tops, carpet on floor & boot, door storage bins, all the same matched colour.

Current daily, same make & model but later generation, has light tan seats, carpet is black, floor & boot, also a much lower quality too as it’s already showing excessive wear after 4yrs & 60kmiles, dash & door tops are black, as are the door bins.

Cars these days are built to a price & just making the parts in 1 colour works out way better for their bottom line.

It also means I need to hoover the interior almost every time I wash it.

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drivingdotca@reddit

It's often not just the dash that mismatches, but the headliner, carpet, and rest of the interior, too.

A friend of mine pointed that out recently while we were driving in my '71 Plymouth Valiant. It's green outside (GF3) with green interior and it's—a green interior. Seats, carpet, headliner, door cards, dashboard, dash-pad, all of it various shades of green. About the only things that aren't green are the gauges and the faux plastic wood-grain on the bezel around them.

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bigev007@reddit

I've had some more modern GM cars where EVERYTHING was blue

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drivingdotca@reddit

Oh, damn! Fair enough, I stand corrected.

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CapitalFill4@reddit

I think the dash should almost always be black, and I appreciate the contrast with the colored interior. the crime to me is why people buy shit-colored interiors. they look old and tacky.

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phxbimmer@reddit

It’s cheaper to manufacture because you only have to make one color of dash.

Also IMO it looks better to have a black dash… look at BMW and Mercedes from the 90’s and early 2000’s with their poop brown dashboards, gross.

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Bamres@reddit

Fuck it, i live me a full tan dashboard.

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shades92@reddit

LC500 Toasted Caramel...

I'll deal with those reflections for that beautiful dashboard.

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Bamres@reddit

One of the nices interior's I've sat in.

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bigev007@reddit

This, a lot of other reasons in this post, but it's all about cost. That's why you can get $$$ models with any colour you want.

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truthputer@reddit

This is the most likely reason. People forget that cars are products with thousands of parts and something as simple as changing the color of the dash can introduce hundreds more unnecessary parts to their supply chain.

If you’re very rich and want custom colors that’s why bespoke manufacturers like Porsche and Rolls Royce with dozens and dozens of options still exist.

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DellGriffith@reddit

I had a 92 Accord with a glorious dark maroon interior.

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LexKing89@reddit

Lexus’ had that ugly brown back in the day and the tan/brown interior is the most common interior color on old Lexus. I see black interiors more often now and other shades besides that ugly brown crap on the top half of the dash and door trim.

My SC300 and GS300 have that tan/brown combo and I hate it so much. I’ve seen that crappy color combination on a few old BMW’s and Mercedes that I was interested in, but it’s a deal breaker for me now.

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bearded_dragon_34@reddit

Correct. You’re also seeing cars with fewer headliner color choices. When I ordered my ‘22 X5, the only color for the headliner was black. Your option was between a standard headliner and an Alcantara/faux suede one.

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dangercdv@reddit

Because when they DONT do this, people would be all over the internet like WHY CAN'T THEY JUST MAKE THE DASH BLACK? The reflections can be really intense and is a huge complaint in every car with colors on the dash. Plus, the black dash just goes with everything AND cuts down on reflections.

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marksocials97@reddit

You must’ve never drove a car with a white dash

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FragrantGas9@reddit

There are several justifications that could be stated for it, but ultimately it's just cost saving for the manufacturer.

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oldwatchlover@reddit

Besides reflections, black goes with everything. Saves money and makes manufacturing easier.

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Nephroidofdoom@reddit

My last car was dark blue with tan leather interior all the way through the dash. Was a sports car so the windshield was quite raked and on sunny days, all could see in the windshield was the top of the dash.

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GtrplayerII@reddit

Literally just saw a video of a visit to the Porsche Sunderwunsch factory in Stuttgart and the director, while going through an catalog if their services from the 80s such include the full cocaine white interior(not it's actual name), stated that they'd never did that these days, knowing the issues with glare and reflection on the windshield.

Back in the 80s and earlier, most windscreens were steeper, dashboards weren't as deep, and therefore reflection was less of a problem.

These days everything has the same rake as a Countach. With at least 18" or more of dash.. Making reflections a serious issue.

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deysg@reddit

Old school cars with color matched pained metal dashboards are best

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Prize_Ambassador_356@reddit

A light colored dash will reflect glare onto the windshield

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Open-Struggle-153@reddit

So you can see out when it's sunny

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unfitforduty88@reddit

Glare reduction

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TheMagicalOppai@reddit

Because it's blinding to have a light colored dash

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Left4DayZGone@reddit

Only car I've had with a non-black dash was my wife's 2010 Malibu, which had a light grey interior and dash.

When the sun hit it, it reflected on the windshield quite badly. Not a problem I've EVER noticed in a car with a black dash, because, well... it doesn't happen.

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Spidaaman@reddit

Costs

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Fresh-Possible9696@reddit

Half tan and half black is never the move, looks cheap

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daredaki-sama@reddit

Because black matches other colors as well?

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GreenDifference@reddit

al black interior look cheap honestly

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GeneralCommand4459@reddit

I had a Honda with a tan interior and black dash except the lower half of the dash was tan. It worked really well. Toyota does something similar with the current Corolla.

Even with the black dash I typically buy a custom dash mat that cuts out all the glare.

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Me_Air@reddit

I had a tan dash on my highlander, it would constantly reflect on the windshield and would render a good chunk of my dash cam footage unviable especially at night

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a-jasem@reddit

FWIW, My Macan has a red interior with a black dash/steering wheel. I’ve seen Porsche interiors that are literally ALL red and thought it was too over the top. I think the black cuts it up nicely.

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xkmackx@reddit

The dash is caramel with the caramel seats on my Lexus IS

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Stunt_Vist@reddit

Peak pensioner spec interior. Fucking love it.

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Bamres@reddit

I would say that's more Beige than tan

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Shmokesshweed@reddit

Werther's trim

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oOoWTFMATE@reddit

Black dash looks best. Colored dash reflects and can be very overwhelming. Lookin at Spyder classic interior. It isn’t for everyone.

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1995LexusLS400@reddit

I have a cream interior with matching dashboard colour. When the sun is at just the right angle, I can't see anything.

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CuntsNeverDie@reddit

I drove a Jaguar once with a beige dash. The moment the light hitted just right, the dashboard reflected on the windscreen. It was really annoying. It also happened when it was dark outside, and you putted on a lightsource in the car.

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waterfromthecrowtrap@reddit

Had a rental car more than a decade ago, some bargain bin fleet Chevy, with a tan dash and the glare was outright dangerous. Still the worst rental car I ever had for only that reason.

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Radiant7747@reddit

My 2025 Kia Telluride SX Prestige has a Navy and grey leather interior. No black anywhere. Dash and steering wheel are Navy leather.

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renawld@reddit

Safety. Bright dashes cause reflection/glare on the windscreen when the sun hits.

Try throwing a beige shirt or towel on the dash before a drive on a sunny day - it obstructs a lot more than you think

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