I'm about 60 miles away from 50K miles on my 08 Type-S, and over the past several weeks I've noticed my steering wheel slowly peeling away. The "leather" on the wheel has just about completely peeled from 10 to 2. This aggrivates me to no end because I take EXTREMELY good care of my interior. I rarely ever drive while my hands are dirty, and if I do, I always clean the wheel right after.

Is this even remotely normal for a 4 year old 50K mile car?? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

can't say, but i installed an A-spec one on my 2007 TL-S, and will sell the OEM one if you want to swap it out. PM me, and I can send close up pics. My wife drives it, so no grubby guy hands got on it. changing the steering wheel is not hard.

 

Pictures please.

 

I have to say no. Are you the first owner? How did/do you clean your steering wheel?


I'm approaching 60k miles and there is no indicaiton of what you're reporting.

 

My steering wheel is peeled at the top

 

I'm almost to 78k in my '04 and don't have any peeling anywhere on the steering wheel

 

Yeah at 80k no peeling. But the dam chrome "A" on the airbag portion has parts of chrome that have flaked off. Wondering if there is a fix for that.

 

I knew this wasn't normal. My mom's Volvo is a '99 with 110K miles on it and there is zero sign of peeling.

Do you guys think I should take it to the dealer for a warranty fix?

I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer.

Will get some.

I am the first owner, and I am borderline obsessive when it comes to my interior being clean. To clean it I just use a MF cloth and lightly spray some interior detailer on the cloth and gently wipe it down. As I said, the wheel doesn't get dirty.

 

if it's under warranty, what's the harm in checking if it's covered? go give em a call or visit.

but yeah, 04 here with 68k and no signs of peeling. at least that i've noticed.

 

I had to replace mine at the 4 year mark. I was always gentle and only drove with clean hands. I even tried to change my hand position once I saw it wearing. It never pealed but it was about to, the wear was all the way through the leather in one spot.

I got lucky and found a factory new one in the BM on here cheap. About a year later I had a chick pull out in front of me and I swerved so hard it wrinkled the leather in my pretty new wheel.

 

mine too. i'm at 53k. it's the only part of my interior that is showing age.

 

You should definetly check on the warranty, but I think it might be considered 'wear & tear'.


Not saying it necessarily applies in your case, but imho, it's better to clean the steering wheel with a mild cleaner (like Woolite) and the protect with a decent leather cleaner conditioner. It is a leather wrapped wheel after-all; not sure I'd use a non-leather-specific interior cleaner/detailer.

 

Same here. My '04 TL came with this problem when I bought it and I'm not sure what the original owner did to make it happen as they indicated that it "just happened" over time. Never had this issue with any other leather covered steering wheel on any of my American or Japanese vehicles. Since it only is on the top of the wheel, I'm guessing that it might be a combination of sun and a reaction to something that the woman was using as a hand cream as noticed that she drove with her hands at the 11 and 1 positions on the wheel.

 

Have a factory wheel that looks mint and as taken off at 500 mile mark when car was new to switch out to the wood wheel if anyone is interested.

 

My money is also on the lotion/hand cream. I've had the same problem; my steering wheel was perfectly fine when I first got it but started to peel during the winter months when I had lotion in my hands. My curel intensive lotion for my extra dry skin did irreversible damage to it. Learned my lesson the hard way.

 

My hands were a little sticky from an icecream cone (99% clean though) when I drove home tonight. I thought of this thread and cringed.

 

Mine is worn out and ugly. 04 with 120k miles.

I tried to change it and stripped the godamn torx screw so I'm stuck with it forever now

 

I am curently at 80k and the wheel has been peeling since 50k or so. I take great care of the interior as well and the steering wheel is the only area that has noticable signs of wear. I am also a bit fidgity when stopped at lights and move my hands around on the wheel in a griping motion accross the top (which is where the wear is). So mine is mostly wear and tear due to my own actions.

 

Drill the head off! then get that ASPEC wheel!

 

It has alot to do with the person who's driving genetics. Some people have clammy hands. When you sweat. Hand lotion. I would think that's considered wear and tear. You should look into the wood grain wheel Acura makes it sweet!!!

 

I thought about it but the bolt goes into the airbag. If i drilled the head off the stud would be left inside and i'd most likely need a new airbag

I even bought a replacement base steering wheel but now have no use for it. yay for 60$ paperweights.



Anyone know of a good steering wheel skin? Maybe one of those stick-on type. I tried redline goods but they require you to remove the steering wheel to stitch it on.

 

I may have an oem solution for this, pm if need be

 

Damnit. I just realized this thread is a year old. I was going to jump on the OEM steering wheel but I'm assuming it's either installed or sold by now. If you still have it, I'll take it. Mine is still pretty new, maybe 2 years old but it never hurts to have a spare, especially if you're planning on keeping the car until the wheels fall off.