coooolwhip

I've never owned a car with leather seats until now. My friends are telling me that I should have something to protect the leather from the sun.
I live in NYC so I guess at times it can get well above 100 degrees in the car in the summer.
Do any of you use it? My dad's 2005 Accord has leather seats and he never used anything and his leather seats are fine.
Thanks

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

necessary is a relative term.
you'll find the answers received much like your friends/dad's answers.
some say you wont need it, and some will say you need it.

Protect your leather seats with a UV protectant like 303 aerospace, and keep the car under shade if possible.

Dont let this big debate get to big.
as its actually quite simple.
Do you want a sunshade or not?

KillerG

i completely disagree with everything justnspace said

sunshades are absolutely necessary and completely unneeded.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^i concur.

renedcruz

iTrader: (8)

TSXy Luster

Not.

ed_423

i use it cuz where i go to school its hot as hell. keeps the car cool

JavertHL

How often do you park outdoors? If you tint your windows and use sunshades (how expensive are they anyway?), you'll go a long way in protecting your leather.

I CU2

Does school = college in the states?

ed_423

haha school = hell.

just kidding, yes i go to college, but some of the younger members here, cough cough tsxkid, is still in high school

pinatubo

I'd spent $50 for the CoverCraft sunshade, worth every penny

Craig-D

Automotive glass is UV shielded and automotive grade leathers are of a protected variety - it's not an aniline or semi-aniline variety you'd find on high-end furniture grade leather that would indeed fade in the sun. So so if you're worried about fading, that's not much of a concern. being hot to the touch is also not a concern. Unlike the vinyl seats you remember as a kid that would burn your ass in summer, leather is a natural product that more or less will match your body temp. So leather will stay relatively cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Sunshades are useful if you want to keep the interior as cool as possible while the car is parked. But don't buy one for the sole intent of protecting leather interiors.

gwickes

I'm a fan of front window shades to keep things such as the steering wheel from getting "too hot to touch". While they may help deflect sun from the leather, protecting the leather with good window tint along with proper conditioning care helps.

For my TSX, I use a great (and inexpensive at around $12) folding set up - called Magic Shade Sunshade made by Auto Expression I believe). See the two pictures below.

Since I have to park the car outside during the day at work, putting these shades up really helps when I get in at the end of the day!


- shades folded up... I store them between the seat and middle console


- shades up! Note: I also open sunroof at back...

TSXy Luster

and what would a good window tint percentage be?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^depends on your State and your personal preference.

gwickes

As justnspace says, there may be local state laws. Also personal preferences for how "dark" you want things.

For me... I was more interested in UV% blocking capabilities of the tint and less motivated by a real "dark" tint.

I opted to invest in Huper Optik tint. (at 30%) More expensive than others, but I plan on keeping car for quite a while and really liked its UV blocking characteristics. After 2 years so far, I am completely happy with the tint.

Here's my original posting re tints when I did it (includes a pic before/after at bottom of thread): https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-2009-2014-143/opinions-tint-grigio-ebony-730774/

TSXy Luster

Thanks gwickes!

CA law sadly only lets me go to 70% on the fronts but I'm thinking that won't be much different than the 75% factory tint. sucks. Hopefully the sun effect won't be too bad out here.

CooldudeTSX

The law concerns only visible light, not infrared or ultraviolet. These frequencies contribute to heat and fading, respectively. All tints reduce the UV and some reduce IR much better.