CiViCKiDD

This is my first car with leather, in case you couldn't guess...

My original plan was to drive my beater Civic, but that was stolen two weeks after buying the TSX..unfortunately, it's going to rain A LOT here in the next few weeks and I'm worried about the seats. Should I be?

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Most of the pleather in the TSX is not real, same with some of Acura’s other models, they seem prone to pre-mature cracking and aging extra, I believe excel talks about wiping them down with warm water and a damp cloth, really helps. Whatever product you do decide to use make sure to not over apply, or your pleather might get addicted and start to wear out pre-maturely...

bring this thread over to "wash and wax", those guys really know their stuff.

LuvMyTSX

Rain?! Unless you're planning on spraying down your interior with a hose, you shouldn't be worried.

JayRoam

I wouldn't worry. I've been caught in downpours in the work parking lot and jumped in the drivers seat with a wet jacket and the leather's fine. I just took off my jacket in the car, and wiped down what was wet with a towel before driving off. Just common sense really.

davidspalding

Finished leather is meant to withstand this, no problem. They don't put leather in cars that can't handle the occasional spills, rain splash, etc. In fact, that's why some parents get leather when they have kids, it's MUCH easier to clean. So no worries.

GTSX-05 is a bit mistaken, some believe (I did for a month) that only the perforated sections are leather. Colin (who sells 'em) steered me right, if you "poke" the panels with your finger, the leather wrinkles, the vinyl will just stretch. Use that to determine whether to use a light leather cleaner/conditioner or Armor-All/equivalent.

I say "light" because I bought some Maguiar's (sp?) stuff which just impacts on the finished leather, and stays gucky. Now I wipe the next day with a cloth after the gucky stuff.

Agreed, much, much more info in the Wash & Wax forum, where you ought to browse and read. Search, too.

xjohnkdoex

iTrader: (2)

i find it annoying that whenever you open the door, rain or snow is guaranteed to fall onto your front seats.

S14 n Tsx

^^ meh. That happened to me many, many times, but my leather is still going strong. I won't worry so much about little water.

subdued

Well, since the entire center sections (seat and back) are have tiny hole perforations, the seat itself is neither waterproof or water resistant water can enter the sea interior structure/electronics. Though the leather material (center perforated area) and the "pleather" side bolsters would seem to be water resistent.

B. Want keep the seats dry? Close the windows and sunroof. (Ummm, what am I missing?)

ed

Mister Nam

!

i would have to agree to most of the posts here dont worry it about too much unless ur soaking wet because you didnt bring an umbrella

cestmoi

I've covered my two front seats with matching colored cloth from Walmart (the one with many pockets). It's not too bad actually (it's tan). Other than the fact that it is a rather too snug.

The water/sweat should at least partially protect the leather this way.

JLTSX07

I've gotten into my 07 TSX with ebony interior COMPLETELY saturated, and by the time I got home, the seats were completely dry. So, I'm thinking that they're fairly water resistant, as I haven't had any issues with the heated seats, seat functions, etc.

justinangil

Time to upgrade to Gullwing Doors.

On another note, you can spray shoe product water repellent on the leather. Though your car will have a hazardous chemical smell if you don't let it air out.

LukeaTron

What about the airbags?

davidspalding

Whatever you do, DO NOT GET THE AIRBAGS WET.

Tex929rr

Because?

TommySalami

something could short circuit and either they won't go off or they will when they get wet?

I've gotten into this and my old car soaking wet plenty of times and no problems, nor have I ever heard of someone having seat problems cause of water

Tex929rr

I don't know - I'm curious if this poster knows something. I went to a vehicle extrication school last summer (I am a firefighter) and this never came up. There was lots on info on air bags and seat belt pretensioners (I never knew seat belts used pyro charges to activate pretensioners, nor how dangerous hybrids are), but nothing about water versus airbags. Of course if you're trying to extricate someone you're not spraying water, either.

I've sprayed water on lots of burning vehicles and never saw anything that looked like an airbag deployment.

DLTSX6MT

I think the what LukaTron was referring to was the fact that it sounds like seat covers have been put on the seats. Don't forget that the side airbags deploy from the side of the seat, so wrapping them up is not a good thing!


I think Davidspaulding was kidding. Your car would have be practically be flooded for the airbags to get wet.

MMsTSX

Then again, not too many cars have airbags built into the seats themselves....

davidspalding

I was kidding about "fer gawd's sakes, don't get the airbags wet." But p. 36 (p. 35 in the 2007 and 2008 manuals) has a note about if water soaks into the seat back. Go read it. Very few people are probably at risk for doing this, but still....

P. 36 (or p. 35, for 2007 and 2008) also has a very strong admonishment about putting seat covers over the seats. Cestmoi and anyone else considering this should review the relevant paragraph thoughtfully before hampering the side airbags with an additional seat cover.

Again, go read it.

Yes, I think Lukeatron was hinting at this....

davidspalding

Um ... really? I thought that was the most common location for side SRS devices.