I mainly have a general question for all of you who have expereince with leather within a vehicle. The TL is the first car I have ever owned with leather. Therefore, proper mainenance is a concern. I have read the posts about using lexol and various other products.

My immediate concern(s) are twofold --> after reading many of the posts concerning the leather in general (whether too soft, just right, and so on) I have noticed the leather in my front drivers seat sort of bubbling right where your back side would rest. I don't know if this should be a concern or whether it is normal wear? It seems as if 2,100 miles on a car should not product results like this so soon. Just curious though. Second, if you have mentioned the issue about the leather to dealers and they have remedied the situation, what was the extent of the leather problem and what did you show or tell the dealer to have it corrected?

I am in the situation where if there is a problem (there may or may not be- that is why I ask), I would like to have the heads up on what to look for and how to approach my dealer should it be something that needs resolution. The car was not cheap and I guess I do expect a reasonable degree of craftmanship to go with the appreciable pricing. Hopefully a reasonable person would expect the same. JMOT

 

if you are talking about butt prints its common. lots of people have noticed this. the driver seat in my car has butt prints. if its really bad you should take it in to the dealer and have them look at it. it will be hard to get them to replace the seat, but even if they do it will probably happen again.

 

Some input from experienec with automobile leather interiors.

'91 Accord SE: Waxy. unyeilding feel, area at leading edge of bottom cushion cracked.
'94 Volvo 850: High quality, thick feeling grained finish, showed no wear after 7 years, but seat cushion leather dimpled from use.
'93 BMW325i: Not as stiff as Honda, but not plush either, finish on left back bolster wore away from use, bottom cushion dimpled.
'00 SAAB 9-5: Soft leather, nice feel, all seats have that "lived-in" look.
'98 BMW 528i: Not unlike SAAB.

Bottom line: After some use, it will not look like it did in the showroom. Some stretching, creasing, and "give" are normal; that is what provides comfort as the cushions mold themselve to your body. Think of pleather that always looks taut....until it cracks!

 

it isn't normal wear for leather, but it is common place in the leather they used for the TL. leather care products will not correct it in my opinion, it's just one of the downsides of this car. don't get me wrong, i love the car, but when people stick up for the leather on this site they are just wrong.

 

Everything you need to know and treat leather - this is a serious company, very well known in the airline, marine, and custom markets. I have the kit, and it surpasses anything I have ever obtained in the "auto" Forums.

http://www.townsendleather.com/

 

You can find Townsend Leather products in almost any corporate jet. These bad boys have seats that cost as much as a TL. It's not uncommon to see one seat priced at $40,000 guys. Their products blow away Lexol or Zaino....it's the real deal.

 

All good products blow away Lexol. Zaino Bros does. Have you tried Pinnacle, or Wolfgang? They are even better then Zaino. I'm going to try Zymol TREAT ($24 product) next week. And by the way TOWNSENDLEATHER conditioner, what about it's smell? Natural new leather smell?

 

Unless used over a long period of time - how exactly are you comparing these products? One or two time use will not prove one better than the other - unless one is obviously so terrible - like someone comparing Armor-All to 303 for the dash - there you would get immediate dissatisfaction from one right away. What do you feel makes a good leather treatment - you sound like you have a lot of experience...please provide some details of your product experimentation....


thanks!

 

leather will and does stretch - fact. Leather will wrinkle - fact. It will do so excessively if not treated, to the point of cracking if left untreated.

 

I have about 2500 miles on my TL. When I bought the car, the driver's side seat had a small tear in the leather. They tried to "fix" it but I was unhappy with the way it looked, so they got me a new seat at about 1000 miles. Since then, this new seat has been giving me the infamous butt prints. It looks like crap! Every morning when I get in my car and see how bubbly and uneven the leather looks it bothers me. I recently went back to the dealer and they agreed that it did not look right. They have ordered me a new seat again. Hopefully this one will be better.

Now a question... Is there a product that I could/should use on the seat to keep it resiliant? I can handle cracks and lines, but these butt prints and wrinkled, bubbly look is disturbing.

 

 

I used Coach Leather conditioner that I bought from a Coach leather store at the local mall for $8. It works great. I have 2701 miles on my TL and have no butt prints.

 

Well a couple of month for each product maybe is not a very long time, but I'm judging by how the product smells (new leather smell), how well it conditions leather (softness, not stickyness), how it lasts. It's my own opinion of course, you might want to try all those products yourself and post your results if you disagree.
Thanks.

 

The Townsend Leather products don't have the same smell as Zaino. The smell that Zaino has is really awesome, but it evaporates in a few hours so it's worthless. I had been using Zaino on my leather, but after trying Townsend products, I found that the creasing and wrinkles in the leather stopped instantly. It didn't get rid of the wrinkles that I had before, but I'm not getting any new lines or wrinkles. Also, the lines I had before seemed to be less obvious. Their products are really good...IMHO.