Leather seat damage - warranty claim?

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

the issue is when they split leather its always almost too think to be useful, so they end up having to in effect remanufacture it.

Totally agree on the leather angle. IMHO its vastly overrated as a material for use in cars. Normal cars, ok maybe some exotica or very high useage vehicles it brings benefits.
When it was leather vs PVC, then leather, the benefits / drawbacks broadly the same, but the leather was nicer.
Cloth is nicer to sit on that leather as well, the issue with cloth is its far easier to get dirty, will absorb sweat etc, but to actually sit on its nicer.
Which is why I say alcantara is the one to have, its like suede to the touch, loverly.

Where leather is great to have though is on the sides, bolsters etc since these tend to get the most wear on cars where people get in and out.

 

[Dandle]

This is like what happened on my brand new 2006 Audi A3 with Vienna leather. It wore like that within 9 months and started to peal, they replaced the drivers seat cover. Then at 13 months old the passenger seat that was hardly used wore the same and they refused to change it under warranty. A snotty letter to Audi later and I had a reply from them on non headed paper stating trim was only covered from 6 months from new and they agreed with the dealer and wouldn't replace it. I part exed the car for a BMW and vowed never to own another Audi.

 

[Demon]

My Mazda CX-5 and Nissan X-Trails had full leather and it was durable, after 50K miles almost no signs of wear, with no special cleaning, and when looking around used examples, generally they all had quite well presented seats.

Every BMW I get in with low miles and under 3 years old invariably has quite obvious signs of wear, my M3 at 82K Miles had worn through the drivers bolster and was a bit of a mess. The same for many VAG cars, they wear atrociously. I actually prefer the Merc pleather, that at least seems to also stand up to normal use quite well.

I've even got friends with 6K Mile M140i's already complaining of fine surface scuffing and wear starting to show!

 

[Dandle]

I had Dakota leather in the last 2 BMWs I had and the leather in both was still mint after I had done over 40k in each one ( bar a little stretching). I have Merino individual leather in my current BMW which is far softer, will have to see how this holds up but so far it still looks great.

 

[jpaul]

interesting persepctive here on the bm dakota leather maybe that's what I wasn't doing wrong

Is Dakota Leather 100% real leather?
That is because the leather is coated, all you need to do is keep it clean. You do not treat coated leather since it brakes down the clear coating. What you need is something to moisten the topcoat. I have never "treated" my modern BMW leathers and mine look nicer than those that have been slimed all the time.

the whole feeding process/expense was wrong - lol.

eu defintion of leather ... doesn't seem to say how thick it has to be though

Leather
A hide with its original fibrous structure intact, that has been tanned (the process of treating animal hides to make leather). It may still have its original hair or wool. It may be a split (the underside of the hide), and can also have an applied coating no thicker than 0.15mm.

 

[Rroff]

My Mazda CX-5 and Nissan X-Trails had full leather and it was durable, after 50K miles almost no signs of wear, with no special cleaning, and when looking around used examples, generally they all had quite well presented seats.

The leather seats in my Navara (not that it was that old) were immaculate and looked pretty much as new when I bought it - pretty much everyone comments on them actually when I give them a ride. Which makes some of the other areas Nissan cheaped out to save pence even more frustrating.