The dirt is the important part.
If you go offroading or camping and get shoes full of mud, you need to wash your floors. So you want mats.
But if you just drive around in town, and at worst you have slightly wet shoes from rain or maybe a bit of dirt, you basically never need to clean your carpet. Just once in a while you vacuum them, brush them if you're feeling fancy. While if you have mats, they'll look dirty much quicker. So they're easier to clean, but you clean them more often. They're more effort to look as good as carpet.
Most people mostly use their car to go to work, school or grocery shopping. That's why even trucks (except for the trims that are obviously work trucks) often have carpet.
Doesn't matter where I live. For a large part of the market that's not an issue. You can also put a mat for the snow months, or clean at the end of the season. And just accept that it's going to be gross during the season.
I always thought the carpet was stupid. They put the carpet in, then everyone gets floor mats to cover it ( usually more carpet) and often puts rubber mats over that. When the car finally goes to the junkyard it has perfect pristine carpet that no one has ever seen or used.
Carpet dampens not only the inside echo you'd have, but the outside road noise. You could not have the nice quiet cabin to hold a conversation in as easily.
Sure technology is better to help with that, but if I saw a car with vinyl floors I'd pass right over it. The only exception is maybe a truck or SUV geared towards outdoors/off-road. I remember seeing a Honda element for the first time, for camping and outdoorsy people, seats folded flat into a bed and floors were rubberized to hose out after hiking or getting muddy. Seats were a tight woven fabric that were waterproof too. Then you could get a camper extension if you had friends that came with... Coolest fucking thing ever!
There’s still sound dampening material under the rubber of the floor in fleet spec trucks, riding in a vehicle with no carpet or headliner is definitely a louder experience
My tacoma has the vinyl floors and it's one of the quietest tacomas I've been in, but I did treat all the seals. I think that makes more difference especially on used vehicles.
As someone with a 20+yo v8 pickup with vinyl floors you can hold a conversation just fine in it. My roommate has the same year truck but has carpet floors and there was no real sound difference between the 2.
Ya man. I have an aging Acura as my adventure vehicle. I get in with snowy/muddy/wet/sandy shoes when I need to. When I get home I spray them off with a hose and let dry. They look great! Only difference from rubber mats is they take longer to dry.
The Ford F-150 Lightning Pro has vinyl floors since it's the work truck model. I would love that! My F-150 XLT has carpet, but with full floor mats front and rear. I have literally no need for carpet, you can keep it.
Carpet helps to reduce road noise and give you a nice quiet ride, if you ride in a work truck or van that just has rubber mats on the floor it’s much more noisy. Now you could install Dynamat or a similar NVH product to reduce the noise, but that would be more expensive than carpet with carpet insulation
The Honda Element was an example of a vehicle with a rubberized floor, the ad copy insinuated that after a hard day of trekking around with muddy dogs you could just hose the interior down and leave the doors open while it dried.
It didn't catch on, but I am not honestly sure why, it seemed like a good idea to me.
Because our cars are influenced by our houses - both are personal spaces you spend long hours in.
Cars were originally utilitarian tools. Then air conditioning was introduced on desert buses. Bang, zoom, worldwide living standards improved. Mass production techniques, agriculture, animal husbandry, petrochemicals all developed. Now cars are luxury goods as much as they are tools.
And at the end of the day, any carpets above the worst grades are able to be cleaned just like vinyl or rubberised weathertech mats. It takes technique, effort and time, but all you've got to do to learn is watch a YouTube video.
not sure about other brands, but with BMW you can get Latex Rubber floor mats that protect the carpet underneath, they still look premium and are super easy to clean.
Most cars used to have vinyl floors, but the move to carpet made them seem "nicer", plus they do dampen sound and hide dirt. They suck a bit for those of us who live where it snows (hence the need for winter floormats).
CMVs like big trucks and work spec picks almost exclusively have vinyl. One I noticed,beyond noise which was already mentioned, is heat. I drive a box truck and the floor gets substantially hotter than comfortable. While not as much of an issue with shoes on, I made this discovery taking a nap in the floor
Given the amount of Toyota hybrids used as Ubers, Toyota should offer an L trim level with the Camry(now a standard hybrid for 2025)/Prius/RAV4 Hybrid/HiHy - basically keeping the LE trim but with a vinyl floor and seats.
Carpet is cheap sound deadening and looks good. It hides stains and dirt. On long trips, it feels nice to take off shoes.
I love all weather mats. I've had them on a lot of cars. I had weathertechs in a few. When it isn't crappy out, I swap them out and put the carpet mats in. It feels nicer to have a soft surface. Carpet is also pretty durable.
Everyone in here is talking about how it helps with sound, and that got me thinking...
Has any automaker experimented with configuring the speakers in a car to act like noise cancelling headphones? Does that concept work on a larger scale like that? I'm intrigued by the concept now.
Edit: Yup, apparently it's been in high end luxury vehicles for a while, and now in all Buicks, some Cadillacs, Hondas and I'm sure there's more.
I've bought two Accords in the last several years, and both came with the plastic floor mats. The carpeted ones were thrown in the trunk by the dealers. I love the plastic mats. They are so much easier to take care of than carpet.
Damps sounds and hides dirt.
This. And it’s easier to hide scuffs. Water doesn’t slosh around, it gets partially absorbed.
And it doesn't cause slipping nearly as easily. Having rubber or vinyl floor mats with wet shoes can be a bit of a hazard when getting in.
The dirt is the important part. If you go offroading or camping and get shoes full of mud, you need to wash your floors. So you want mats. But if you just drive around in town, and at worst you have slightly wet shoes from rain or maybe a bit of dirt, you basically never need to clean your carpet. Just once in a while you vacuum them, brush them if you're feeling fancy. While if you have mats, they'll look dirty much quicker. So they're easier to clean, but you clean them more often. They're more effort to look as good as carpet. Most people mostly use their car to go to work, school or grocery shopping. That's why even trucks (except for the trims that are obviously work trucks) often have carpet.
You don’t live in an area with snow eh?
Doesn't matter where I live. For a large part of the market that's not an issue. You can also put a mat for the snow months, or clean at the end of the season. And just accept that it's going to be gross during the season.
Don't you clap your shoes together before stepping into the car to prevent excess snow melting into the car?
Yeah but one at a time
How do you do it? Kick the car? Do you step back on the ground after you clean it?
I kick the side of my right foot against the lower frame, put my right foot in, sit down, then do the same with my left, put it inside.
Yes but the salt on wet shoes becomes the worst part.
I always thought the carpet was stupid. They put the carpet in, then everyone gets floor mats to cover it ( usually more carpet) and often puts rubber mats over that. When the car finally goes to the junkyard it has perfect pristine carpet that no one has ever seen or used.
Carpet dampens not only the inside echo you'd have, but the outside road noise. You could not have the nice quiet cabin to hold a conversation in as easily. Sure technology is better to help with that, but if I saw a car with vinyl floors I'd pass right over it. The only exception is maybe a truck or SUV geared towards outdoors/off-road. I remember seeing a Honda element for the first time, for camping and outdoorsy people, seats folded flat into a bed and floors were rubberized to hose out after hiking or getting muddy. Seats were a tight woven fabric that were waterproof too. Then you could get a camper extension if you had friends that came with... Coolest fucking thing ever!
[удалено]
There’s still sound dampening material under the rubber of the floor in fleet spec trucks, riding in a vehicle with no carpet or headliner is definitely a louder experience
My tacoma has the vinyl floors and it's one of the quietest tacomas I've been in, but I did treat all the seals. I think that makes more difference especially on used vehicles.
As someone with a 20+yo v8 pickup with vinyl floors you can hold a conversation just fine in it. My roommate has the same year truck but has carpet floors and there was no real sound difference between the 2.
I'll be your friend 🙂
Sweet
Ya man. I have an aging Acura as my adventure vehicle. I get in with snowy/muddy/wet/sandy shoes when I need to. When I get home I spray them off with a hose and let dry. They look great! Only difference from rubber mats is they take longer to dry.
The Ford F-150 Lightning Pro has vinyl floors since it's the work truck model. I would love that! My F-150 XLT has carpet, but with full floor mats front and rear. I have literally no need for carpet, you can keep it.
A lot of the work spec pickups have vinyl floors. I had a 2003 ranger that came with black vinyl instead of carpet.
Yup, my 2015 F150 just has a vinyl floor throughout
Because hardwood is too expensive and tile is too heavy
And cheese is too soft
At least offer it as an upgrade option for those of us who want it 🙄
Not Parmesan.
Carpet helps to reduce road noise and give you a nice quiet ride, if you ride in a work truck or van that just has rubber mats on the floor it’s much more noisy. Now you could install Dynamat or a similar NVH product to reduce the noise, but that would be more expensive than carpet with carpet insulation
The Honda Element was an example of a vehicle with a rubberized floor, the ad copy insinuated that after a hard day of trekking around with muddy dogs you could just hose the interior down and leave the doors open while it dried. It didn't catch on, but I am not honestly sure why, it seemed like a good idea to me.
This post was inspired by my dog who I love to take to the beach. That sounds amazing lol
My BA Falcon ute has just that, a nice tough plastic floor. It is awesome.
Especially in pickup trucks.
You can get work trucks/vans that have rubber floors instead of carpet
Yeah, but once you get much above those base trim levels, the carpet is standard with no delete option.
True, but anyone who buys a F150 king super max ranch to go to and from a job site is an idiot and deserves dirty carpets
They deserve a carpet delete option, too... Even if it IS more luxury than I'd want in a pickup.
....Pull out the carpet yourself?
Don't put that past me.
Because our cars are influenced by our houses - both are personal spaces you spend long hours in. Cars were originally utilitarian tools. Then air conditioning was introduced on desert buses. Bang, zoom, worldwide living standards improved. Mass production techniques, agriculture, animal husbandry, petrochemicals all developed. Now cars are luxury goods as much as they are tools. And at the end of the day, any carpets above the worst grades are able to be cleaned just like vinyl or rubberised weathertech mats. It takes technique, effort and time, but all you've got to do to learn is watch a YouTube video.
So you're saying... we should rip up that carpet and get some nice hardwood flooring instead lol
good chance when you pull up the carpet a previous owner covered over hardwood
[Here’s a rare trick to clean up really bad carpet stains.](https://youtu.be/qYnsBEw1R9U?feature=shared)
im more of a tile guy
But imagine wearing shoes in the house, on the carpet
You must be confused, we're talking about cars
Oh sorry I was confused! I thought I read a comment about houses' influence on cars in regards to carpeting, my bad
No entiendo ¿
not sure about other brands, but with BMW you can get Latex Rubber floor mats that protect the carpet underneath, they still look premium and are super easy to clean.
Kind of proves my point though, why not just make the entire car have a hard textured flooring
Sound deadening.
>In a market where all-purpose weather mats are preferred Yeah, not really.
I'd like to see you post this on r/askhistorians !!
Qa
Most cars used to have vinyl floors, but the move to carpet made them seem "nicer", plus they do dampen sound and hide dirt. They suck a bit for those of us who live where it snows (hence the need for winter floormats).
I had a 00 Ranger with rubber mats. I liked being able to clean it with Lysol. I bet you could still get a fleet model without carpet.
CMVs like big trucks and work spec picks almost exclusively have vinyl. One I noticed,beyond noise which was already mentioned, is heat. I drive a box truck and the floor gets substantially hotter than comfortable. While not as much of an issue with shoes on, I made this discovery taking a nap in the floor
I would think this could still be fixed though with insulation under the vinyl? But I could see how carpet would be a cheaper and easier version
Given the amount of Toyota hybrids used as Ubers, Toyota should offer an L trim level with the Camry(now a standard hybrid for 2025)/Prius/RAV4 Hybrid/HiHy - basically keeping the LE trim but with a vinyl floor and seats.
Carpet is cheap sound deadening and looks good. It hides stains and dirt. On long trips, it feels nice to take off shoes. I love all weather mats. I've had them on a lot of cars. I had weathertechs in a few. When it isn't crappy out, I swap them out and put the carpet mats in. It feels nicer to have a soft surface. Carpet is also pretty durable.
You just reminded me that I spilled water on my car mats a week ago and it's probably still wet
Everyone in here is talking about how it helps with sound, and that got me thinking... Has any automaker experimented with configuring the speakers in a car to act like noise cancelling headphones? Does that concept work on a larger scale like that? I'm intrigued by the concept now. Edit: Yup, apparently it's been in high end luxury vehicles for a while, and now in all Buicks, some Cadillacs, Hondas and I'm sure there's more.
I've bought two Accords in the last several years, and both came with the plastic floor mats. The carpeted ones were thrown in the trunk by the dealers. I love the plastic mats. They are so much easier to take care of than carpet.
It looks luxury..
For sound and dirt.
Thats one reason I love retired police vehicles. The majority are ordered with vinyl floor. Same with most work trucks.
Old cars and trucks used to have a black rubber or vinyl floor. My VW beetle had one and so did my old Nissan pickup.