I have noticed quite a few 04 TLs with their leather seat showing wrinkles and obvious hairline cracks even when they were still in the showroom.

Just want to hear from people who have owned the car for some time now to comment on the condition of the leather covering the seats. Does anyone know the 05TLs will use a different grade of leather for the seats?

 

Edmunds long-term test drive says:

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2004/acur...s.longterm.1.*
Other than that they love the car and only ding it for not handling quite as well as the RWD 3 series (duh).

John - considering a TL in my future but concerned about leather issues.

 

the only thing I have noticed is my seats are turning blue. I assume it's from Blue Jeans as the passenger seat is more noticable than the drivers seats, the wife wears jeans more often than I do.

Anyone else with this problem?

 

I have had my car since April. I have Camel. I conditioned my leather when new (it was thirsty) and several times since new. (Zaino "Leather in a Bottle")

I have no leather issues. No cracks or marks.

I also have a 28 pound dog, Zorro, who walks all over it even though I have covered the bottom of the back seat with a terry cloth towel. He goes back and forth and moves the towel.

No permanant marks, digs, or scratches from him.




XP

 

This is quite disappointinting really. Leather is quite expensive to replace. How much wear and tear can one take it through and for how long before its no longer considered under warranty?

 

I've had the car for almost 3 months now- ebony interior. Initially treated with Leather CPR and then followed up with Leather in a Bottle about a month after. No sagging, cracking or fading- everything's looking good so far.

 

Really? Mine looks like this even though I am religious about leather care. Oh, well....

 

Yeah, my leather bolsters look very much like that photo too, except mine's ebony so it looks slightly different. With black leather, you can tell when the leather's been worn and used because it gets that polished "smooth and glossy" look on it...

 

I added a photo taken today to illustrate post #4 above.

XP

 

Novice, I have similar wear and crease as you have (mine is a little better), besides those tricky factors with weight and how to get in/out the seat, mine has 16k mileage on it. I bet those later build 04TL could be supposed to have better quality leather. I used the leather conditioner twice per month.

Also, after MrCleaning it, my leather looks better.




BTW, Xpditor, how many miles does your car have? This would be the factor, too. Thanks.

 

Stats: 6'-2", 185 lbs, 1100 miles. Garage kept. Pampered. Today was my 3rd leather treatment since April.

I can't remember ever getting the interior wet. I usually drive my Jeep Wrangler if it's raining.

 

Novice...I've got Ebony and have the same "creases" you've got, but I'm not convinced that there is anything wrong with the leather.....it's just a tendency of leather to wrinkle...my tennis shoes do the same thing and the leather is many times thicker. If it were cracked on the surface, I'd say it was bad leather, but I'm not convinced wrinkles mean bad leather. All leather does that to some degree, and the softer and more supple the leather, the more it tends to wrinkle. I'm not exactly happy that it looks the way it does, but it's leather...and you just have to put up with some wrinkles.

 

I agree. Leather does wrinkle, it is a natural material and the softer it is, the more it wrinkles. The TL has smooth leather rather than the textured leather many other cars have. Because it starts off so smooth, it tends to show the wrinkles over time more. In other cars with textured leather, the wrinkles are there, they are just hidden more by the texture.

 

Novice-

Is it just the picture or is the plastic trim that houses the seat controls separating from your seat bolsters? It looks like there's a 1/4 to 1/2 inch gap in the picture you posted above.

 

dwcolt:

Nice observation! Believe it or not, something under my seat broke off and it caused this separation. My dealer fixed it though.

I know what you guys mean. I had a TSX a while ago which had a stiff leather seats. I like TL's leather better, I think.

XP: Your car looks like a brand new!! Amazing!

 

The leather seems *thinner* than what BMW and MB use in their sedans, my guess (and it's only that) is that this is related to the problem.

Interesting to see if the 2005 seats have a different feel as Acura was aware of this problem from the get go.

 

my Parchment wrinkled at first but stabilized. Using treatment it appears okay for now (9000 miles).

I would add, however, that it picked up some permanent, unremoveable (sp?) lines/spots that I've never had or witnessed on my other cars.