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After being away from my MS for a week, strange residue on interior hard plastics.

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I was on vacation for a week and this morning when I entered my MS for the first time, I noticed all of the hard black plastic interior trim pieces (primarily lower door panels and back of seats) were covered with a mottled shiny residue. I haven't had an opportunity to formally try to clean it, but it looks like it's easily "buffed out" with a cloth.

The car was inside of a garage for the week (and I'm guessing the average temperature in there was around 25ºF. (I confirmed that there wasn't any containers of liquid inside the car that might have exploded...).

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has run into this?

IMG_20140217_075706827_HDR.jpg
 
I suspect it is most likely residue from a cleaning product or protectant used to clean, "condition," or prep the interior. Probably the cold temperature caused the product to partially solidify or come out of solution. I have seen this before in "show cars" that are frequently prepped for display. Usually wipes right off using fresh product. You might try 303 Protectant or 303 Cleaner to wipe it off.
 
I suspect it is most likely residue from a cleaning product or protectant used to clean, "condition," or prep the interior. Probably the cold temperature caused the product to partially solidify or come out of solution. I have seen this before in "show cars" that are frequently prepped for display. Usually wipes right off using fresh product. You might try 303 Protectant or 303 Cleaner to wipe it off.

I think this is the most plausible explanation - especially as related to temperature. I have gone on 3-week trips and have not seen this on my return - but I am in Florida.
 
I was on vacation for a week and this morning when I entered my MS for the first time, I noticed all of the hard black plastic interior trim pieces (primarily lower door panels and back of seats) were covered with a mottled shiny residue. I haven't had an opportunity to formally try to clean it, but it looks like it's easily "buffed out" with a cloth.

The car was inside of a garage for the week (and I'm guessing the average temperature in there was around 25ºF. (I confirmed that there wasn't any containers of liquid inside the car that might have exploded...).

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has run into this?

View attachment 43463

I saw that same type of stuff on my corvette, cleaned up with soap and water and it never came back. I think it was some kind of cleaner or leather preservative over spray.
 
I was on vacation for a week and this morning when I entered my MS for the first time, I noticed all of the hard black plastic interior trim pieces (primarily lower door panels and back of seats) were covered with a mottled shiny residue. I haven't had an opportunity to formally try to clean it, but it looks like it's easily "buffed out" with a cloth.

The car was inside of a garage for the week (and I'm guessing the average temperature in there was around 25ºF. (I confirmed that there wasn't any containers of liquid inside the car that might have exploded...).

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has run into this?

View attachment 43463

Mold... take a sample..
 
The picture looks like some kind of soap/leather care product.

However, mold has been discovered around the pano-roof on norwegian cars (something to do with a pano creek foam piece solution). So there is already a mold problem in the Model S :(

There are *some people that have discovered mold in their model S. It is not universal. Those people need to get this fixed and stop the leakage.
 
Just checking back (as the original poster)...

As some previously suggested, the strange "residue" must have arose as a result of some combination of whatever "conditioner" was applied at the factory, along with our very cold temps and the fact that my car sat unused for 8 days.

While the residue did easily "buff out" (with a microfiber cloth), I found that the strange phenomenon largely disappeared on it's own (with, perhaps, a combination of warmer temps and re-engaging of the HVAC system in the car)...