Cup holder inserts making cup holders to small?

[Owner4523]

I bought a used Tesla that came with a nice front cup holder insert. The problem is I have found it makes the cup holder smaller than I'd like. A normal coffee cup from the gas station, or cup from a fast food place, still fits, but you have to force it in, and it's very tight. It's not easy to place the cup in and out. I have found if I take the cup holder insert out, the cups go in and out much easier.

Has anyone else ran into this issue? Is there anyone who just doesn't use cup holder inserts, or perhaps just puta something in the bottom to catch spike versus something that fills the entire cup holder?

 

[geom]

I do not use an insert at all. The stock holders are water tight and clean easily, so in my opinion inserts are not needed.

 

[Owner4523]

I do not use an insert at all. The stock holders are water tight and clean easily, so in my opinion inserts are not needed.

I think I'm with on you on this. I'm not sure why so many people want to use them.

 

[Owner4523]

I do not use an insert at all. The stock holders are water tight and clean easily, so in my opinion inserts are not needed.

Do putting cups in and out scratch that area easily? I was more so putting the plastic in to keep things from getting scratched up.

 

[VipinLJ]

Yes. The cupholder insert makes the cupholders tight. Depending on the insert, it can be very tight. I had one (came with the console organizer I bought) that make the cupholder unusable.

The reason I use cupholder inserts is because I only use the cupholder to store a small bottle of water occasionally. I used to use it to hold my phone (I don't like the wireless charging pad and I couldn't find a phone holder I liked for a while). The gap between the cupholders made my phone move around a lot and it rattled and scratches the screen protector too. The insert I use made that gap real small. So my phone wouldn't pass through it. It also stopped rattles. And it also holds the small bottle of water I store there well. No unnecessary moving around or added sounds. I wouldn't have bought the insert if it didn't come with the console organizers.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

I wonder why the people who make cupholder inserts . . . don't make cups too!

Seems like a lost income stream to me


and don't take this the wrong way but this is the epitome of a First World Problem

 

[lolsups]

I think I'm with on you on this. I'm not sure why so many people want to use them.

Because certain cups/cans are still loose sitting in the cup holder, and for those ones it helps keep them snug.

 

[lolsups]

I bought an insert with smaller flaps instead of the larger round bumps on the inner walls. This helped me be able to fit larger cups in the insert a little better.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

I had a car that had a cupholder with little spring loaded "fingers" inside it so that any cup up to the size of the opening could be accommodated

 

[Goobers]

I use a cupholder insert (single piece that spans both) in the cupholder to hold my… cupholder.

I use a 50oz mug, so that obviously wouldn’t fit in any kind of normal cupholder. For my previous cars, I took some PVC pipes and connectors to make a square (covered with a microfiber cloth to catch minor spills) with four posts with foam padding taped on, on its sides (not corners, so the square is bigger than the base of the mug). It worked well enough at preventing my mug from tipping over (most of the time). No PVC glues, in case I wanted to make adjustments or pull the posts out to remove the cloth to wash.

But when I got the MYP… it wasn’t enough and my mug instantly flips over on any turns, so I made a new one with four “legs” to it to secure it. Two of the legs straddle the center console (almost like a rider on a horse/motorcycle/bike). The other two legs were short stubs also with foam taped on that sit in the center cupholders. Without the insert, the whole thing was still a little wobbly. It was much more secure with the insert. It took up a little bit of space gap and the silicon(?) material made for a high friction interface between the two (the “outside” part of duct tape and the smooth surface of the Tesla’s cupholder don’t do much as far as friction goes).

The reason I made a new one, instead of just modifying the old one is because I still have one of my other cars, but it won’t work with the legs attached in that car. It’s easier to make a second instead of modifying it back and forth.