Which car phone mount actually sticks to textured dashboards?

Honestly... suction cups slide on textured vinyl once cabin temps rise, and tacky gel types creep and smear. For textured dashboards the most heat stable approach is a rigid dash disk bonded with closed cell acrylic foam tape, or bonding a mount base with the same tape. Silicone gel pads and reusable putties tend to ooze and leave film in heat, and standard polyurethane foam tapes soften sooner.

Run a small A B test on a hidden flat spot. Clean with mild soap then wipe with 70 to 90 percent isopropyl alcohol and dry. Apply 25 by 25 mm samples of acrylic foam tape, polyurethane foam tape, and a silicone gel pad, press hard for 30 seconds, then wait 24 to 72 hours. Hang about 500 g from each sample or push sideways with a spring scale to simulate load, then heat the cabin to roughly 60 C or park in full sun for an hour. Any sample that creeps more than a millimeter or releases fails. After cooling peel at a low angle and check for residue by touch and with a clean paper strip to detect oil transfer.

If removability matters bond a rigid plastic disk with acrylic foam tape and attach the suction cup to the disk so any residue stays on the disk. Place away from airbags and steep curves. Expect to replace tape or disk after a few years of high heat exposure.

Skip the gel pads and go with a sacrificial disk bonded with closed cell acrylic foam tape, if you want something that actually holds and does not smear the dash. That way any residue stays on the disk and the textured vinyl never sees the mount directly. Clean thoroughly, avoid any silicone interior products on that spot, and give the bond some dwell time before you hang a that model off it.

I worried about getting it off later in a lease. Slow peel at a low angle, floss behind the foam, a little heat from the sun or a hair dryer, and the remnants roll off with alcohol. No greasy film, no print left in the texture. The key is picking a flattish area and not using a long wobbly arm that turns bumps into a prying force, otherwise even the best tape loses eventually.

Texture and heat make suction cups and sticky gels fail on grainy vinyl, but closed cell acrylic foam tape holds under high temps and rough surfaces. Bond a thin rigid disk, keep the lever short to load in shear not peel, and clean then let it set a day for a lasting mount.

Hot climate driver here and I gave up on suction cups on grainy vinyl :) What survived the summers was a rigid plastic disk bonded to the dash with closed cell acrylic foam tape then the mount attaches to the disk. Clean first with soap and water, wipe with isopropyl alcohol, no dressings or conditioners anywhere near the spot. Warm day helps, press hard, and let it sit overnight before loading it. Works great.

Pick a flatter patch and keep the arm short so you are not creating a big lever. When it is time to remove, work dental floss behind the tape, lift slowly at a low angle, and roll off the remaining adhesive with your thumb or a little alcohol. If you avoid silicone gel pads you avoid the oily film and mid day creep.