New Member 2015 Caprice PPV

[96ImpalaSS]

In December, I bought (and had delivered in January) a 2015 Caprice PPV that had 59 miles. It was a GM demo that they sold at auction to a dealer in PA. I got a good deal on it. About $9k less than MSRP and of course about half the price of a Chevrolet SS. So, I'm one of the fortunate owners to have as close as a new Caprice PPV as you can get. Mine is black and has the cloth and carpeted interior. I did the following 4 mods/changes/additions to make it like a civilian sedan. Maybe some of these ideas can be helpful to the community.

1. Took the drivers side spotlight off. The bracket appears riveted to the A pillar, so I'm not going to bother taking it off for now. I found 1/2" and 11/16" exterior plugs at Lowe's and found a black interior plug at O'Reilly's which I will dye gray when winter is over.
2. Bought Pontiac G8 "6637" double spoke alloy wheels to replace the black stock steel wheels.
http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/Pontiac-G8 ... -6637.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bought the matching center caps off of e-bay. This wheel has same dimensions (bolt pattern, diameter, width, offset) as the black stock steel, so no need to buy new tires, just change over. Used same chrome lug nuts as the OEM wheel. Also, had OEM TPMS sensors transferred over. No problems noted.
3. Bought Nenno center console with two drink holders and storage compartment.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-Caprice-P ... BL&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Figured out an even better way to mount than their directions. My idea covered up all the slots in the center plate, whereas their installation doesn't. Personally, I think the standard slotted metal plate is the worst change when they deleted the 9C3 model in 2014. Seems there should at least be a plain optional OEM console, just like there is the now optional plastic wheel covers.
4. Bought Chevrolet SS floor mats from Chevymall. The mat carpet is a great match to the Caprice's carpet. These are GM licensed products and fit absolutely perfectly in the grommets that are in the carpet. Got them in black with the black SS logo. Looks sharp!!! With the SS logo, gives a sporty feel as well.
http://www.chevymall.com/2014-2016-Chev ... 5687|5690/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If anyone has any questions about what I did or how I did them, feel free to contact me. Look forward to exchanging ideas.

[davidevo]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you got a great deal on basically a new car. I bought a new 2014 Caprice 9C1 (black, with spotlight, V8, no carpet) this past Nov, and it had only 15 miles. I bought my Caprice from Reliable Chevrolet in Albuquerque, NM from their fleet sales dept. I love the car and I plan on keeping it mostly stock but I do need the center console, and I have seen the one you have before. Is the console built well, and does it mount securely?

Here is my Caprice:

http://newcaprice.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 1c270f2678

I read that the 2015's have the backup camera. I would like to upgrade to that also. Have a great evening.

Dave

[elc32955]

Welcome to the forums!! There's a good deal of information on here that should be of help to you along with some very knowledgeable owners. The Caprice group is still small but it's growing daily. Next 12 months or so a lot more of these cars will start to cycle out of police service and we'll see a bunch more 100K cars hitting the streets. You got lucky and found a cream puff!

Again, welcome!
Eric

[eagle-co94]

Welcome! Where are you located? Are you also a member of Impalassforum.com?

[96ImpalaSS]

More on the console in my original post. The Nenno product is somewhat shorter than the length of the steel center plate. It appears that the console may be a more universal model and not specifically designed for the Caprice, although I'm not sure. What Nenno adds to the kit are two mounting brackets, one for the front and one for the back along with screws, nuts, nutplates, washers etc. So basically, the brackets attach to the steel plate. The console is then press fit between the two brackets and securely held in place by four self tapping screws. Two each through the front bracket and the front body of the console and two each through rear bracket and rear body of the console. It is an extremely secure setup and the console is very tight will not move at all. Although the metal brackets do stick up, they are not that noticeable. There is a heavy cloth like shroud around the rear half of the console that is supposed to cover up the area below the steel plate. Nenno's instructions call on you to place the back of the console at the far rear of the plate. But, that was too far back for my tastes, and left some ugly slot area exposed at the front. I found I was able to stretch the shroud a few inches and move the console and brackets forward enough to cover all the ugly slots. In order to do so, I had to replace two of the nutplates in the kit with two standard hardware nuts that went with the screws provided. To me, this looks a lot more natural setup with better arm rest position than Nenno's installation. The cloth shroud still adequately covers the back of the plate. Bottom line is that this product does give the console a decent stock like appearance and arm rest for a reasonable price without any cutting etc. I would certainly recommend it with the modifications that I worked out. I probably would have been disappointed if I didn't figure this out, however.

[NoMiCaprice9C1]

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for all the info on the console. I can't decide to buy one or do the console swap......Grrr

[9C1fanatic]

Welcome to the board! I also bought a brand new 2014 Caprice last year. Nice that you got one with carpet. That's rare on the 2014+.

[9C1fanatic]

[quote=

I read that the 2015's have the backup camera. I would like to upgrade to that also. Have a great evening.

Dave[/quote]

The 2015s do have a factory back up camera. I have already checked and they are not plug and play per se with the 2014s. The 2014 does not have the connector in the RH trunk harness that the camera plugs into. I too am interested in this since I have a 2014. I'm about to build two 2015 Caprices that had minor flood damage for the department since they did not make it to the upfitter with the rest of our 2015 batch of Caprices this year. Ill let you know what I find. I'm hoping that once I tear into the cars that I will find that if the entire rear trunk harness that is on the passenger side is replaced with a 2015 harness, then the camera would be plug in play at that point if that makes sense. Maybe a reflash of the BCM may be required also. We'll see.

[GTPprix]

We can program the radio to add them (and other features), the cameras are not plug and play on the mylink silver boxes.

[96ImpalaSS]

For what it is worth, here's the only other console option that I saw on the internet. This one spans the whole length of the steel plate. No idea on price though. Something for the community to consider though.

http://www.troyproducts.com/products/Co" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... soles2.pdf

Looks like you start from their standard shell and customize with cupholders and storage compartment, etc. Not sure what this does to access to the power outlet though. It looks like it may cover it up.