Any hope for this dashboard?

Factual Questions
1

The dashboard of my 2008 Toyota Solara convertible seems to be chemically degrading. It is black. The surface has become sticky to the touch and the edges are showing signs of disintegration. Cleaning doesn’t help.

The windshield also seems to be getting smeary, which I attribute to off-gassing of whatever is going on with the dashboard.

Is there any hope for restoration, or has it just irreversibly degraded from exposure to UV and time?

I imagine that replacing a dashboard would be very expensive.

2

That happened to an '06 Lexus we had. When we researched it we learned that there had been a recall years and years before to replace the dashboard, but we could no longer get it. Eventually we traded it in due to that and other problems with the car.

3

It’s a common enough problem that they sell dash covers for it. Much cheaper then a replacement dash.

4

Thanks for that, never heard of it. Interesting that they are carpeting.

5

I have seen them in different materials that mimic the original dash. Search around a bit.

6

I bought a dash cover for my new Crosstrek out of a (perhaps unfounded) concern for long term UV damage. I bought mine from CoverCraft and it fit the weird contours of the dashboard pretty well. They had a number of different materials available and the one I selected felt reasonably suitable for the interior of my car.

7

The dashboard turned to goo on my '08 Toyota Sienna. The dealership said it was a free recall replacement, but the queue was several years long. The grip on the rear hatch release also got soft, and on warm days would coat my fingers in tar. That wasn’t recalled despite numerous complaints.

8

I searched for a recall and my car was covered by it but it appears that was only up to 10 years after original service date, and I bought my car in 2008 or 2009 (it’s model year 2008). But thanks for the idea. There may also be a class action lawsuit or something.

9

Dashboards getting nasty is a problem on many makes & models. There’s a reason many companies sell “dash mats” intended to protect them from the constant light & heat.

The “Dashmat” brand has been subsumed under Covercraft since the last time I bought one.

If you intend to keep a car much past 6 years old, and it parks outside in a sunny climate, getting a dashmat by about 4 years is smart. Better to prevent the worst of sticky nastiness than to simply hide it.

10

Good advice but I’m past that now, I’m afraid. Now I’m in remediation mode.