Anyone's leather seats getting chips in them?

[crussell83]

nobody had sat in the passenger seat of my car yet and i noticed a few days after driving off the lot that the vinyl was starting to peel away from the backing on the left shoulder of the passenger seat....took it in....got a brand new seat cover replaced under warranty

[Ironheadspearo]

as a detailer that has been detailing and maintaining people cars for over 20 years I can assure you that pretty much every car on the road with leather seats goes to hell quickly. unless you never use the car you will see wear and cracking and eventually holes. hate to bum anyone out but it is true, they use the worst leather in cars. the only cars i have seen with good leather are mercedes benz and porsche anything else i would skip the leather unless you dont mind craking and unsightly wrinkles popping up. as far as care for these honestly nothing will prevent the damages associated with leather but i would reccomend 2 to 3 times a year using a lightweight conditioner.

[2010 SSRS]

mine still looks like the day I picked it up

[x626xBlack]

Originally Posted by Ironheadspearo

as a detailer that has been detailing and maintaining people cars for over 20 years I can assure you that pretty much every car on the road with leather seats goes to hell quickly. unless you never use the car you will see wear and cracking and eventually holes. hate to bum anyone out but it is true, they use the worst leather in cars. the only cars i have seen with good leather are mercedes benz and porsche anything else i would skip the leather unless you dont mind craking and unsightly wrinkles popping up. as far as care for these honestly nothing will prevent the damages associated with leather but i would reccomend 2 to 3 times a year using a lightweight conditioner.

Some people apply products to clean the leather, I assume that causes it a little bit. Also over spray from Windex when cleaning the inside of the windows on the steering wheel will cause premature drying out.

[jcamere94z28]

maybe a picture of what you are talking about?

[djm96z28]

Originally Posted by Ironheadspearo

as a detailer that has been detailing and maintaining people cars for over 20 years I can assure you that pretty much every car on the road with leather seats goes to hell quickly. unless you never use the car you will see wear and cracking and eventually holes. hate to bum anyone out but it is true, they use the worst leather in cars. the only cars i have seen with good leather are mercedes benz and porsche anything else i would skip the leather unless you dont mind craking and unsightly wrinkles popping up. as far as care for these honestly nothing will prevent the damages associated with leather but i would reccomend 2 to 3 times a year using a lightweight conditioner.

Agree 100%. The "leather" drivers seat in my '96 has cracks in the side bolster. I always lift myself out of the seat and gently sit down, but that didn't stop the wear. I've cleaned and conditioned as recommended in the owner's manual, but that didn't stop the wear. This was the first and will be the last car I own with leather seats.

[EWR]

My Durango R/T has black leather interior and I use a good horse saddle conditioner from a tack store once a month. Not sure what it's called, I've only bought twice in 10 years it cause it lasts forever. Anyway the seats in it look ALMOST new. For 10 years of use they look AWESOME. I plan on using it when I get my camaro.

[Captain Awesome]

It always amazes me that people think leather is so weak and that it's a poor choice and by doing so they imply that cloth material is like kevlar body armor. I got news for you... cloth sucks too.

[mikel441]

Originally Posted by Ironheadspearo

as a detailer that has been detailing and maintaining people cars for over 20 years I can assure you that pretty much every car on the road with leather seats goes to hell quickly. unless you never use the car you will see wear and cracking and eventually holes. hate to bum anyone out but it is true, they use the worst leather in cars. the only cars i have seen with good leather are mercedes benz and porsche anything else i would skip the leather unless you dont mind craking and unsightly wrinkles popping up. as far as care for these honestly nothing will prevent the damages associated with leather but i would reccomend 2 to 3 times a year using a lightweight conditioner.

Not true in every case. My Bonneville still looked great after 15 years and 230k miles. Never cracked or dried out. Most of its life was spent in D/FW too. The leather didn't even begin to really wear until the last 20k miles I had it. My Camaro has 10405 miles on it and the leather still looks great.

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by Ironheadspearo

as a detailer that has been detailing and maintaining people cars for over 20 years I can assure you that pretty much every car on the road with leather seats goes to hell quickly. unless you never use the car you will see wear and cracking and eventually holes. hate to bum anyone out but it is true, they use the worst leather in cars. the only cars i have seen with good leather are mercedes benz and porsche anything else i would skip the leather unless you dont mind craking and unsightly wrinkles popping up. as far as care for these honestly nothing will prevent the damages associated with leather but i would reccomend 2 to 3 times a year using a lightweight conditioner.

My 1999 Mazda with 129,000 has leather interior looks great and I've never taken care of it. It's held up well thru summer, spring, winter, & fall. No rips what so ever, just tiny signs of wear on the drivers seat, but that probably can be cleaned. It's a family car and all the seats get used. Also, I drive it to work and pile all my work stuff in the back seats every day. Food shopping goes in the back seats too.

However, my Camaro seat is seeing some wear on the front left bottom corner of the drivers seat from getting in and out of the car. This leather scratches more easily than my mazda does. My camaro has 3500 miles on it right now.

I don't think the mazda and the camaro have the same kind of leather !

But, how much is the seat cover? and how easy is it to put on? I don't know. I thought about this. If the seat wears out just get a new cover in 5 or 10 years. That way I can enjoy the car and not worry about it.

[kjd15]

My leather seats are showing some wrinkles (the vinyl part). It's not really a big deal, but it's noticeable.

I have to add that Caddy has some good leather as well as the others mentioned. At least they used to. I had an '86 Coupe that we sold after 17 years. You could still smell the leather as if it was new, and it was in beautiful shape.

[savage71ChevelleSS]

That's why I bought the 1SS. I was impressed with the quality of the cloth in it. Plus if I ever want to go leather, i will go aftermarket, and get full leather covers that are 100% better than the vinyl/leather combo from the factory

[x626xBlack]

If leather does not wrinkle.. I have issue. It is not leather.
Even a pair of $750 shoes will stretch out a little and wrinkle.

[Romeloc]

i have a few with 10,000 miles