INOPLOVR

Hi everyone,

I'm in the mist of purchasing a 06 - 08 TSX but I have heard from many people that the leather seats on the TSX are horrible they crack easily and tend to look worn out compared to other leather seats in the Acura line up.

Does anyone have some personal feedback on this issue or any type of help would be appreciated.

Thanks

mg7726

that's not true. while leather is not the greatest compared to other luxury brands, i have the 04 and i got zero leather issues. on the otherhand, i do take care of the interior with Lexol and 303 - YMMV.

808havok_tsx

the seats absolutely suck. check out my post here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...6&postcount=70

FWIW, i treat my acura seats with the EXACT same products as i did in my toyota - the toyota leather was perfect for the 7 years i had the car... i haven't had the tsx for a year yet!

miked8887

when I bought my 06 with only 17K miles, the seats looked a little worn out. It is cheaper leather. However, I still haven't had any major problems with it. It does look like cracks are forming, but its still just as comfortable.

There are ways to keep the leather good, like others have just mentioned. Using a leather care product is a good idea. Also, sunlight might be one of the bigger contributing culprits for worn out leather, especially with ebony black. It might be a good idea to, in conjunction with leather care products, also try to protect the seats from sunlight with one of those windshield visors. I don't like the windshield visors because putting it up and taking it down all the time seems like something I just don't want to bother with.

I like the leather in the RL. It seems better quality and softer. If I remember correctly, I THINK I remember the leather in the 2G tsx also being softer and seemingly of higher quality. I wonder how much it would cost to do a leather upgrade mod...

nj2pa2nc

my seats still look new and have the new car smell after 2+years and 67,000+miles. I clean and condition them often. My car is garage-kept. I live on the coast of NC so the car spends alot of time near the beach. (either here in NC or at the Jersey shore)

valeratj

Leather does absolutely suck. My driver's seat looks all worn off. The leather on it is pretty smooth, soft of like polished. The left edge of the back rest almost has a hole in it. Passenger's seat seems to be OK. Car has 29k miles.BMW has MUCH higher quality leather and I am already thinking about switching to sport seats in the future Or swapping seats from a BMW

CiViCKiDD

nj2pa2nc: if you're close to the Jersey shore that means you're close to where I work, awesome!

My drivers seat is showing signs of wear, which is odd considering I'm not that heavy (150lbs) and haven't had it that long (10 months, 10k miles, I was barely driving the car for about 3 of those months). I've also been using leather conditioner every 6-8 weeks. I'm really disappointed, I'm really anal about keeping my car in perfect condition and there's nothing I can do about this..for those of you with seats in perfect condition, what leather care products are you using?

I'm buying a house (hopefully) in the upcoming months so it won't be garage kept till then...

LuvMyTSX

My 04 still looks fine. I treat the leather with Zaino leather care products, usually once a month, but I've been lazy this winter and haven't done it in a few months.

TS_eXpeed

I will say that the leather definitely isn't the highest of quality. My car is 2 1/2 years old with 46,000 miles and the bottom side bolsters of the seat has quite a bit of moderate "creasing", but the leather has not actually cracked open yet. Mind you that I take immaculate care of my car as well. As far as the interior goes, the seats will get conditioned at least once every two months, but I try to do it once a month. I usually use Meguiars stuff, but I love Zaino products as well.

My mother's car ('05 Cadillac CTS) has 34,000 miles on it, and it seems to be holding up quite a bit better than the leather in my car, but I would almost hope that Cadillac would have better quality leather.



Overall, if I had to do it all over again, I would still get my TSX despite the leather and slight other nuance's of the car. The good's of the car FAR outweigh the bad IMO.

DC_TSX

Ill offer experience on my 2006. My passenger seat and backseats are fine as they do not get used often(I'm single currently). But as for the drivers seat. The left side of the "ass part" of the seat is cracked all over, really pisses me off, but what can you do???

Jottle

Remember that the bolsters on the left and right sides of the front seat cushions are vinyl. I have yet to see a TSX that doesn't have all sorts of deep creases in these. The leather part is the middle section with perforations for your butt. This section should last much longer. The bolsters just look godawful even after a few months of ownership. If yours doesn't have creases in it, I'd love to see some pictures. You'd have to physically avoid sitting on it when you get in and out of the car.

CinciTSX

I thought a fatty owned it before me because of the drivers side bolsters, guess not lol. The rest of the seats are fine though.

1slwTSX

I have an 05 with 46k miles and so far the leather seats are in ok condition. Got some slight wrinkles on the side bolsters but no cracks. I detail the car once a week in and out but havent used any of that leather protectant stuff. Maybe a big factor is the car is always garaged unless im at work.

LukeaTron

That does help. The sun hates leather. I would recommend adding a leather conditioner to your detailing routine. The first time you do it, the results are incredible.

Cush N' Haze

the leather sucks... cracks easy and kinda hard

DC_TSX

This i did not know, and the bolsters are what is cracked on mine, but its weird that its mostly just on the left bolster and not the right. I'm just glad i don't haul many people in mine as my passenger seat bolsters are still almost mint, no cracks, while my drivers seat is cracked and shiny from wear.

Daffunda

Mine has ripples in the middle section where the butt goes. (Like the sponge which keeps the leather surface taut. Kinda looks like a flabby grandma's skin, with all the skin tautnesss gone.)

I mentioned that to the dealer, and they said it was normal wear and tear.

I'll take it to them again, and play hard ball. Those fcukers.

DasTeknoViking

RSX, TSX and new TL all have synthetic leather.... its not real leather. Acura denies the fact. We replace them all the time, and let me tell ya the leather in my 94 Legend never seen any conditioning and it looks better than most 04 TSXs.

Cost cutting at its finest. Conditioning helps ALOT and helps to keep this pleather lookin clean

Gen4MDX

Same here, no issues whatsoever. Just keep um cleaned and conditioned.

mickey513

Had a RSX Type S before the 04 TSX, front leather seat covers replaced at 23k miles. The bolsters were worn like crap. The dealer gave me a hard time about the item being "wear & tear" but agreed to replaced them one time as a "good will gesture" per their service manager. I don't understand how it's a good will gesture when they get reimburse by Honda/Acura for it but I didn't care. My current car now too shows sign of shitty quality leather .... can't bring this one to the dealership since I got it used and it's out warranty.

davidspalding

Um ... right. Got proof? Having learned from Colin, it seems SOME of the panels are finished leather (not top grain, or full grain), and others are vinyl.

On topic: my driver's seat left (door-side) leather panel is creasing and looking worn, was a little like that when bought. I clean and condition the leather bits every 3 months or so.

LukeaTron

Do tell, what exactly is "synthetic leather"?

frank1123

my seats suck ass. my friend's IS250 seats feel so much nicer

valeratj

never heard a truer word....

davidspalding

How uncomfortable for you...!

LukeaTron

Wouldn't that depend on his... predilections?

davidspalding

Uncomfortable, but not necessarily unpleasant....

valeratj

those words sure matched LOL

Gen4MDX

u should go buy an is250 then.

MMsTSX

well, I'll tell ya, I can't wait to swap out my seats for some
Brides. I don't care for the TSX seats and I'm not afraid to admit it.
love the car, not the seats. I like that they're heated, have airbags
in them, and they're memory position controlled, but that's all I like
about them.

I don't like their lack of bolstering, I don't like the leather and vinyl
they are made out of and I don't like the pattern they are stitched in.
but I love the car to death, so the right thing for me to do is swap the
seats out.

now, after I remove the OEM ones, instead of selling them off, I'm going
to try to have them modified. for those of you with good interior shops
around your area, this could be an option. they can build up the bolstering,
modify the foam/pattern, and re-cover them in a nicer leather of your
own choice.

complaining about the seats will get you nowhere, so best bet is to modify
them or replace them.

Gen4MDX

cool!

valeratj

^ u can change the leather if u find the place

EuRTSX

+1 for my 06, since we pretty much got our cars around the same time.

My drivers seat looks absolutely AWFUL. My passenger and rear seats look flawless.

My driver's seat looks like it has a terrible ass crease and is wrinkling up. (Maybe my big ass is doing this)

But also, I'm not worried about this, as I'll end up changing it out for a different seat later on. Maybe a Recaro

Audioserf

I have an 04 with 51k miles on it and the seats are still fantastic. It's my daily driver, but I rarely transport more than one passenger. The rear seats have had pretty much no use. Still, if you take care of your leather it'll last a nice long time. Tint makes a big difference here too, in keeping the harsh rays of the son away from the leather.

frank1123

the cost for this must be a fortune wouldn't it?

MMsTSX

no, not at all.
it all depends on the leather you choose.
if you just replace it with similar quality leather, then it will be quite
economical actually, the OEM leather is dirt cheap.

also, you don't need entire new covers, you can replace certain
panels, just the ones that are worn.

sometimes you will find tint/interior shops, sometimes interior only.
sometimes you will find a great interior department in a customizing shop.
any one of them should be able to do a simple panel replacement or
re-cover without any trouble.

it probably will cost far less than you imagine, go ahead and call a couple
of your local interior people and ask them about panel replacement and
cover replacement and see what they have to say, you might be surprised.

I wouldn't suspect any more than a couple hundred.

davidspalding

Can't remember the name, but a recent TSX buyer here had the seats comPLETEly reupholstered with higher quality leather, inc. leather where there are vinyl panels. Cost a bit, but the results were magnificent.

5o9

tsx has plastic covered pork skin on seating surfaces. Pres Bush changed the definition of "leather" to include pork skin

So it is leather according to Bush, but I stick with cowhide only, so it is not leather then

valeratj

I know that stitching costs around $50 for about a half of a seat. I am sure it costs less to replace leather than replace whole seat with a sport seat. I will definitely be upgrading the leather if I will keep the car for another year. At least driver's seat

LukeaTron

*sniff sniff*

Smells like bullshit in here.