PalmBchTL

Just was wondering. Is my leather covered for color change. I have Camel and the lumbar area is turning black (color wearing through). It is not dirt and never sit in my car wet or dirty. I have 9k on it and dont think it should be doing this yet.

AlexAmescua

I've seen many posts of people having leather issues (mostly peeling) and I think in many cases it was covered under warranty. Do you have any picts? You will get better feedback if we can see the problem.

J RIDE 81

Leather is covered by warranty but it has to be passed a certain point.

cullal

I had the same issue with by Quartz Drivers Seat. The leather in the lumbar region was wearing through and a white patch formed on the seat. The dealer replaced the seat back cover under warranty.

flnsx

Doing this yet??

It should NEVER be doing that! Not even with 200k on the odo.

Why can't Honda step up and give us some quality leather? I would pay more for it as an option.

ensley696

I'd like to know why the stinken leather is wearing so quickly too. I have 2800 miles on my car and the front seat is starting to show wear? Sure the leather is covered under warranty now, but what about later when the car is no longer covered. I plan to keep this car for a while ya know.

J RIDE 81

I believe you just need to condition it, I have about 6k (a little under) and my leather looks new. I use Lexol.

ensley696

It does look a bit better after I used Lexol, but I have conditioned it twice in 4 months. Is that normal?

Novice

Conditioning won't matter if the material is cheap. See my thread.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94766

johnny_software

Is there any chance that you frequently wear a black belt? See the following thread...

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85664

J RIDE 81

I appreciate this link, however, i just don't agree. I condition at least once a month and I never have any problems. I have friends who have cheaper cars and the leather looks great as long as you take care of it. Any leather will start braking because of the heat that builds in a car in the summer or the constant pushing. Trust me, take care of your leather and your leather will take care of you.

P.S.- Make sure you are using good conditioner or you will defeat the purpose.

dsc888

I will have my leather seats looked at on the 25th. The upper flat part of the driver's seat where the bottom of the head rest would sit into is bulging upwards in the middle. If I lowered the headreast to touch the seat, it hides it by pushing the leather "hump" back down. Has anyone else here seen this? Also, I can see the cloth backing at the point where the seat cushion meets the seat back because the leather has stretched so much "butt print" that the leather has been pulled forwards revealing the cloth lining from behind. Oh yeah, I only weight about 150 lbs. so it's not like I am the cause.

dsc888

J RIDE 81

G'luck, keep us posted. Do you condition the leather?

Road Rage

That sort of wear is not from a lack of conditioning - it is from abrasion. Dirt is the primary cause of that, although some people have particularly acidic perspiration. Over-conditioning can cause the leather to macerate - the TL leather has a top coat, which does not need to be fussed over all the time. And conditioning without cleaning first is a good way to lock in damaging body salts and oils. The Townsend Leather kit (with the cleaning wipes) has kept all my cars except the Cobra with perfect elather (the Cobra has that cool Alcantara suede-like material; the S2000 seats are Recaros).

bejocund

I test drove a 2004 and the leather shows crackes that looked like dry desert ground.

My cousin's has had his car for 4 years and his leather looks great without any sort of maintenance. I personally think Acura is selling cheap leather.

Also, shouldn't the leather be softer? Other luxury cars' leather don't seem as stiff.

Road Rage

Those are creases, not cracks - big difference. leather is from a living creature, not a tub of plastic. It will have, like the skin of your palm, noticeable variations and folds. It is called Nature. If one's skin si cracked, it will be painful, and body fluids may weep through. If the seat leather were cracked, one could see the foam and other materials used to make a car seat.

You did not state what kind of car your cousin has - that makes a difference. Peforated, soft leather is very comfortable, but not designed to haul rock climbers. The leather in my wife's Outback is - and is so hard that it feels like vinyl, and looks like it even though it was made in 1996.


I do not think the TL's leather is stiff at all - in fact, it is quite the opposite. As to whether Acura is "selling cheap leather", do you have anything to back that up? Have you ever priced the cost of replacing the skins on a TL, vs. a Corvette? Just speculating and making an accusation is a bit one-sided IMO. And I can count on the fingers of one finger how many other cars in the near-luxo market niche have better overall interior materials than the TL. The G35 doesn't, and some of the 3-series interiors are not A-1 either.

Leather is one of the many components in a car that have to meet design and price objectives. Here is some useful info on some of the test OEM suppliers and mfrs use:
http://www.townsendleather.com/quality-standards.html

Novice

You have every right to disagree with me. However, you don't know how often I condition my leather seats. People at the dealer I go to said that they have seen several cases like mine already. FYI, I condition and clean the seats almost every week.

jcentrone

I have already had my seat covers replaced at 4500 miles and the new ones are getting replaced at 7500 miles next week.

PalmBchTL

Just an Update. While I understand all about conditioning, which I do often, The seats should not look like they do. My dealer agreed and was very nice about it...Almost to nice. He said to me that this is not the first time this has happened. He will replace both front skins next week. I was very pleased with the service. Now, if I can only get my Sport Shift fixed..it still goes totaly out from time to time and will not shift at all.

Road Rage

Please describe the nature of your problem - thx.

Moosh

I just want to add that my car has 730 miles on it and the leather on the drivers side seat is starting to look like it has 90000 miles on it, wrinkly cracked looking, faded....

Novice

Well, I just got back from the dealer-they replaced my leather cover. One thing they never forget to do is scratching some more plastics. I am so sick of these morons at the dealer.

Tommygun

check out the leather in the new RL. It's a big upgrade to ours.

bmduncan

RL leather upgrade? Looks and feels almost exactly the same to me when I checked out the local RL demo.

static808

Reopening an old thread. I got 45,000 miles on my wife's 2004 TL. The drivers seat leather is a total disaster.

I want to see if the dealer will replace the awful seats but curious to see if anybody got this successfully done so late in the warranty period.

Thanks in advance. Pictures to follow...

Be-in my TL

My driver seat is wrinkling also, and all the other seats... I never have people in my car, I only take it on on special occasions. My seat, the driver, especially is cracking.
I don't condition it, though... maybe I should start doin that.
It's only a couple months old... is it necessary to condition every week? That seems like it might do more damage than it will help.

static808

Going to the dealer in two weeks to investigate if my wife's '04 TL Driver seat can be replaced. Some pictures...

vc123

that isn;t too bad for a 04... my 06 tl has 16000 km on it only and the driver seat is worst condition than that and i m only 130 pounds too
i wonder if the dealer can replace my seats with the TL-S leather i rather pay extra for that

static808

Sorry to hear that...that totally stinks.
The Acura interior designer who chose this leather should....

With the low km's on your car (16,000), you should definitely visit the dealer. I am sure they'll replace the seats...Can't hurt

If not, I might go the leatherique way and recondition the seats..but that process is a pain and the dye HAS to match the parchment..

vc123

here r some pic of my "FINE" quality leather
remmeber it's from a 2006 TL with 16000 km on it

static808

That is not cool, for a 2006.

It wouldn't hurt to visit the dealer. You could ask them to check out one of their TL loaners. If the leather is better then tell them you got a bad seat and would like a replacement.

Sometimes those loaners for some strange reason get the good seats.

MR1

I think some confuse the look of leather (natural and random) with your thoughts about vinyl (consistant and even). Go look at some good leather household furniture or a jacket.

Flame suit on.

luscioman

I had a 2004 with some issues. The lumbar area on the drivers seat basically had the perferation holes rubbed together from my belt. On the back seat I developed some sort of yellow stain that wouldnt come off. I also left a book and bag ont he back seat and the heat of the sun and the weight melted a burn in the seat. It looked like it was round like a coffee mug but i dont drink coffee. Anyways I thought the leather was crap and just got an 2007 type S so i hope its better.

ecliptics

hey static, could you let me know if the that works out for you? my tl has 43K miles on it and my driver seat leather is looking.... pretty bad, too. i was going to go in to have them fix the rattles/ squeeky breaks but i'd wait to see if it works out for you so i can go in for all three. i hope they fix it for us :[

Ricky Vaughn

Any updates how you guys did at the dealer regarding the leather? I am having the same problems in my 04.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

are there any service buellitins regarding leather issues?

DanL

iTrader: (2)

Mine wore all the way down to the underlying leather (top pigment layer was completely gone in places). It's been bad for a while but knowing that most dealers will only swap it out once, I waited until I had 40K miles before bringing it in earlier this week. The service manager took one look and said it was the worst he'd ever seen and ordered a new seat bottom.

msr1011

I was washing my wife's 05 TL the other day and noticed the back on the driver side seat is cracked and some white colored stuffing is showing. I will be going to the dealer with it on Saturday.

I will post a response from the dealer when I get one.

ecliptics

i have about 47.. and i was wondering if they'd still replace it at that milage? my driver seat is in pretty bad condition on the left side and the passsenger side could do so help too..

it'd be awesome if acura could replace the seats, anyone know if they will? cracked cracked cracked

Dave_W

I had both front seat bottums replaced under warranty at 42917 miles in my 04 TL. If you explain to them that you have conditioned since new they should be willing without any argument to replace. Good luck.