Caught this pic from the interiors thread and was wondering where these silver/metallic buttons on the center console came from? Were they an option or from a previous generation? The horrible gummy "soft touch" buttons on my car are the only thing about the car that bug me. If those buttons are from the previous generation, the decision to go with the gummy buttons was a huge misstep, as other manufacturers learned to move away from them years ago.

That said, does anyone know a reasonable way to replace or refinish them? My dealer says you need to replace the entire gear selector assembly, which is $1900. The buttons bug me enough that I'm almost tempted, but there's got to be cheaper way.

 

Well huh... all my 2010 buttons appear to be brushed stainless. They don't gum or wear.
Maybe hit a salvage yard and see what's going on with used one?

 

They changed in 2012. I have the matching 2010-2011 control panel listed in the classifieds. HOWEVER the backlight until 2012 was green, in 2012 onward the backlight was white. Not a problem with the control panel as the electronics are easily exchanged but not certain about the shifter assembly.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/p...p17718-174802/

 

What is that interior color called?

 

Are you referring to the Startech one? I believe it is London tan with ivory piping.

 

It feels silly to put in words, but the sticky button situation on my XKR was affecting my enjoyment of the car to an irrational degree. I tried to just ignore them for a while, but found I couldn't since they're right where your eyes and hand go anytime you start the car. Other than those four buttons, the car is almost pristine. Besides the buttons feeling like they'd been freshly glazed in honey that won't wash off, the first owner apparently felt compelled to dig his fingernails in every single one of the console buttons and left visibly deep gouges in each of them. I've seen the soft touch coating degrade on my old Boxster and on my niece's A4 before, and on those cars the coating would first get gummy then eventually start rubbing off revealing the base color of the button. Not only would the partially white buttons look horrible against the rest of the panel, the label or icon on the button would also get lost, like these:

So for a while, I thought I was going to end up with the same situation on my otherwise beautiful XKR.

I finally decided I'd had it with the buttons and was willing to just paint over them even if it meant losing the icons. But as I started rubbing off the coating, I discovered the soft touch used in the Jag is just a clear coat and separate from the underlying black finish of the button, so the button stays black and the illuminated icon isn't affected by rubbing off the coating (which is quite thick). It took a bit of work and some Goo Gone, but the buttons now look and feel like new . They just feel like hard plastic now (same as the "Start" button), but that's perfectly fine with me. I really can't fathom why Jaguar decided to "update" the XK's interior with the soft touch buttons when almost every other manufacturer learned their lesson about the coatings years ago.

Here's the before/after:


Anyway, just thought I'd share my small, but oh-so-satisfying (to me) success story .

 

I mean the one in the opening post by Simon Tan.

Still London Tan? Gorgeous colour.

 

Simon, thanks for taking the dive on fixing this issue. My buttons are also gummy, I will peel, rub, and otherwise remove my coating to get the hard black buttons also!

 

Edited my post above to add some before / after pics.

Only caveat I would add is I don't know for sure whether the underlying black is the actual color of the plastic used for the button or if it's a layer of paint over translucent plastic to allow for the illuminated icon. I had to do a lot of hard rubbing with wet wipes dipped in Goo Gone to get the soft touch layer off and didn't affect any of the black, so even if it is in fact paint, it doesn't rub off easily like the soft touch layer.

 

Excellent work!

 

Yes, that is from Startech and yes it is London Tan.

 

https://stickynomore.com/

 

Just an FYI, i learned way back when our TV remote controls had the same problem of the soft feel coatings getting old and "gummy" that people use acetone (nail polish remover) to remove the coating. Its fast and effective and just like your buttons our remotes looked like new. Something to consider if doing it manually is tricky/slow. Best, -Steve

 

Acetone will take the finish right off. They may not stick, but aren't going to look like they use to...

 

Simon, I had my car into the dealer today for yearly service, mentioned to the advisor that the buttons are very below average. He immediately told me to get some Noxzema makeup remover pads and start scrubbing to remove the rubberized coating and expose the plastic underneath. He said that they offer this solution for $300. As he told me, when I start the process I will need to rub a LOT and that I would probably beg to pay the $300. I don't think I could be convinced that avoiding applying elbow grease is worth that scratch!

I thought you would be interested to know that the fix you came upon and implemented is the same as my local Jag dealer uses.

 

Ha! That's funny that the dealer is aware enough of the problem that they have a set fee for the "solution." It's a little tedious, but I only did the four really offending buttons, so definitely nowhere close to $300 worth of work.

 

Simon I assume the cost is based on time as there seems to be little material involved. So depending on the dealers hourly rate it sounds like the job could be anywhere between 2-3 hours. My dealer has a cute sign in their service area . It says $75 per half hour labor rate. Tricky as most shops would have the hourly rate listed.

 

Ha, I think that's their way of saying "no job's too small." Reminds me of lawyers billing in 6 minute increments, although I've seen some that do 15 minute increments and round any bit of work like a 2 minute phone call or something up to at least a quarter hour.

 

I need to get around doing this on mine.

 

That's interesting. One of my dealers (I go to two now) replaced the wheel buttons under warranty, the other dealer replaced the console buttons under warranty and ordered the dash set. They are on back order. The second dealer did this work without my prompt. This is on a 2013 R.