With the ongoing discussions on the pleather in the TSX, I'm curious how everyone else's interior has held up. I would like to trade in for the ebony interior but I'm concerned about wear showing a lot more on it. What's your experience been? For comparison on my quartz interior, the center armrest has worn a little from my forearm resting there a lot. The wear shows up as a brownish color in the gray. It might be cleanable, I've just been lazy. I've got some wear in the side bolster from getting in and out of the car as well, but again because it's quartz it doesn't really show up. Then there's the coke spill in the backseat due to a friend being a little clumsy, cleaned it up afterwards but it's left a little outline, again in brown. I'm just worried about big white crease lines developing on the ebony interior. I got the car in April 2003, have 32.6k miles on it.

 

it really depends on how heavy you are, what you wear, and how often you take care of the car.

 

I have an '04 with ebony interior and I think it has held up very very well . For comparison, we also have a 2005 MDX with dark gray leather that we took delivery just March of this year and those make it look like we've had the car for 5 years . My wife drives the MDX and she's in the 120lb range.

 

The seats are fine except for the side bolsters, which are beginning to crack.

 

Same here, took delivery of my ABP w/ Ebony interior Dec 03 and never looked back since. But then again, I wash and detail my car every week so I guess that helps replenish the look of my seats you could say!!!

 

If you keep the seats clean the black leather will age very well. If you let dirt or sand stay in there though that will abrade and wear out the seats quickly. Especially in the seams/such. Dustbuster and damp cloth are the key tools here.

I use a leather cream/conditioner on it between oil changes, roughly every 2 months.

I think the Leather seats feel more comfortable now than when I got the car. Creases will appear on the side bolster leather in all cars and more so on the drivers side due to the usage. This happens on pleather/vinyl just as much or worse.
But if you use the conditioner it should stretch rather than crack or tear over the years.

I try to think about it like I'm breaking it in a baseball glove.


Even the airlines have found leather to be a cheaper material for seats in the long run.

 

aside from my mistake of using goof off on the center area where the gear shifter is, everything still looks good in the interior.

 

The type of leather used in most cars today is chrome-tanned, which means it is tanned using chemicals and dyed to the needed color.
This is opposed to vegetable-tanning which uses organic ingredients in the tanning process.

The problem with chrome-tanning is the process locks, or seals the leathers natural oils under the surface so that heat and dry air can more easily cause cracks. Also, friction, such as from dirt can easily scratch the surface.

The key here is removing dirt, crumbs and the like on a regular basis. Also, leather conditioner will help prevent cracking and act like a sunscreen for the leather.

Chrome-tanned leather is harder to stain, you should try saddle soap as directed by the owner's manual to try and remove any staining.

 

the side bolster on both the driver and passenger side is very worn down with a lot of cracks. Also on the driver side by the left leg behind the knee area has a crack. I've had that crack since the first month i took delivery on the car. the interior seats look like ive owned the car for 3 years rather than 4 months.

 

Wow, all this damage in four months. That's effing incredible. I've had mine almost two years and have experienced no such problems. Try using a little conditioner once in a while.

Meguiars makes some nifty little wipes that are quite convenient.

 

I Zaino the leather in my car once a year and mine is holding up great under heavy use (I'm not heavy, but the family is an active bunch). I would give the leather portions an A on my car and the pleather a B. More importantly is the foam core. I would give that a C. Though it is holding up fine now, I can see it will be weaker in the 6-10 yrs of ownership.

 

My interior is fine, but my keyfob is horrible. I can't believe how quickly it shows wear. It looks like a cheap kid's toy. My old Toyota fob and our Volvo fobs look great after years of use. This Acura one sux.

 

got mine in April 03. Ebony leather. It has aged much better than my previous car's leather (01 accord coupe). Just some wrinkling along the side bolster from getting in/out of the car. I clean / condition 3x a year.

 

to provide some perspective on the leather issue - I had a '95 Integra with gray/quartz leather. It showed most of it's wear on the left side bolster of the drivers seat (most prone to rubbing from entry/exit) it also tended to really show wear in other areas such as the armrest as well. I stemmed the tide of wear by using Lexol conditioner every few months. But when it came time to trade the Integra for my TSX, I went with the ebony leather that I believe (based on other reports) will wear better especially when keeping up with conditioning it regularly (4x a year or so). By the way, beware how you get in and out of your car when wearing jeans. I noticed that the little rivets on the back of many are perfectly positioned to rub hard on the seats side bolster and even catch on the stitching to really accelerates the wear process.

 

Ebony, 2004, 2 years w/ 20,000 miles ~ looks perfect with the exception of some wear appearing on the outboard driver's seat bolster.

 

Has anyone with parchment interior noticed the stiching along the side of the seats getting stained from jeans. Both driver and passengers seats are light blue along the sticking from getting in and out. Anybody had this problem and found a way to get it out. Use lexol cleaner and protectant and it doesn't help the get the blue out. Haven't tried the saddle soap.

 

I can fix that for you.

Do a search on Key Mod.

 

I have noticed this but I don't believe that its blue jeans that are causing this. I don't wear jeans all that much. I don't know what the f*@k that is.

 

No particular maintenance or treatment here, except for cleaning, and it's holding up well.

 

I have three Acuras, the oldest being a 98 CL and the seats in all three are holding up great. The CL especially takes a beating with my dog getting in and out every day from her walks and she's usually dirty and wet. I have no cracks, rips, tears etc in any of the seats.

 

Yeah, I've been eyeballing it for a while

My mother-in-law has an '05 Accord, and the key is great.

 

I hate to dig up an old thread, but I don't want to get flamed for not using search. I was detailing my interior last night, and to my horror I found a spot on the upper portion of the side seat bolster, driver's side, that has ripped/abraded. It looks like the top layer of the pleather has been ripped away right near a seam. I weigh 115 lbs., I don't ever wear anything with buckles or hardware, and I clean/condition my leather about every 4-6 weeks. I took delivery of my '06 on March 20 of this year, so it's not even 6 months old. I'm the only one who drives my car, I haven't had it in cold weather yet so it's not a buckle/snap/zipper from a winter coat. I can't think of anything that would have caused this and now wonder if it will be covered under warranty? Has anyone else had this issue in an '06?

 

everything seems to be holding up well in my 04 ABP/Ebony which I took delivery on 4/04. The only problem I have is that the foam is totally wore out on the driver side door arm rest where I like to rest my left elbow when driving

 

Wearwise, everything looks great. But, I've only got 21K mi. on my 04.

 

Have alot of wear and scratches on the steering wheel from my wedding ring. Besides that the interior is holding up very well.

 

my interior has held up fairly well except for the creases on the driver and passenger side seats.. which is normal due to constant going into and out of the car. Car is 05 and currently has 22K

 

the perforated leather has a little more creases than i'd like @ 17000kms. but, no cracking/peeling, etc.

friend has a 1995 bmw 318i @ 140000kms, and the leather in that looks like it's still brand new. no creases, nothing...