mseymour

OK, not sure if the title of this post is really appropriate. But the driver's seat in my RX330 (light grey leather) is already showing signs of wear at 3,500 miles. The side nearest the driver's door is showing discoloration and cracking near the edge.

Anyone have this problem and are there any ways to minimize or fix?

Thanks
Mike

Vagus

How much do you weigh ?

Tammy

This can be minimized by condictioning your leather seats. I habitually do mine the first of each month. There are several good condictioners on the market, depending on your likes and needs. Even Lexus sells a bottle. Check out our "Automotive Care & Detailing" section for further information.

tfischer

Obviously that's the place that gets the most wear, and anytime leather is "cracking" it means the leather is drying out.

As mentioned, use a good "conditioner."

Try Zaino's "Leather in a Bottle." It's not only an excellent product for the leather, it smells great.

JZA80MHU38

13000 miles, light grey leather also, no problem. And I have never put any conditioner on the seat. Maybe I should do that soon.

The leather on the left side bolster of the driver side seat on my Supra did crack though, but it has over 117K+ miles on it and has spent most of its life parking outdoor. Can't complain. I will get a Recaro seat when the wear becomes tear.

lexuslover

unfortunately, this is a common occurrence on the RX's. the problem is twofold: (1) the side bolster cushion is way too soft and (2) the leather lexus uses is very supple. combine these two elements and what you get is creases (not real cracks) that occur in the leather on the side where driver and passenger enter. the creases are unsightly and can not be removed. you might be able to slow down their development over the years by using conditioner, but unfortunately, that's just bad design on lexus' part, and eventually the creases will develop. it's a shame that such a beautiful car looks so worn after a few months. i had a 98 GS w/ ivory leather and an 01 GS with black leather and both exhibited the same creasing.

my friend has a 4 month old 400h with gray leather that has about 5000 miles on it now and showing the same creasing i had around the same time (and what you described in your post). below are a few pics of my black leather after 50k miles. it could be a lot worse, but i try to keep it in check by doing regular interior details and conditioning.

the good news is that i think lexus is firming up the side bolster seats b/c of complaints from owners. the new GS and IS have much stiffer side cushions, and after 15k miles on our GS, no creasing whatsoever. the downside is they are a little more painful to "slide into" upon entering the car because the cusion won't just squish beneath your rear. so i am pretty sure this is going to become standard on all the "L-finesse" redesigns.



it's hard to deciper in this picture, but the cushion material below is actually bent out of shape and there is a lump in the side cushion, not just a crease.

lexuslover

oh i forgot to mention. i had two different loaner RX330s for 2 weeks during warranty related repairs for my RX - 1 canadian built, 1 japanese. and i noticed that the canadian seat supplier is different from the japanese one, and the material is slightly different, as well as the stiffness in the cushion. that one had quite a few miles on it and the seat still looked new.

Edison_Chen

So far my seats aren't quite there yet.. But i'm slowly seeing creases on the side bolster

Grumpa72

Imho, the most common reason for that is ones butt scraping across the bolster. I ALWAYS slide my power seats way back so that there isn't any chance that I can catch the bolster as I slide in. As an example, my 13 year old Acura Legend has almost new looking leather seats and they are black. I clean and condition them in a two step process several times a year to help keep them soft.

Gary

mseymour

Thanks everyone for the info. I have to agree with Grumpa72's assessment. The trick will be in convincing my pregnant wife to not slid into the seat...

Grumpa72

Well, if I can convice two teenage daughers to slide the seat back, I bet you can convince your wife to do the same!

Gary

crosborne

And don't ever use Armour All on leather, it will mess up your leather. Use only quality leather cleaner/conditioners.

tfischer

My suggestion would be to not use Armor-All on anything.

It's not designed for leather, and 303 is far superior for rubber and vinyl, including tires and ESPECIALLY dashboards. I threw that stuff out years ago.

Todd

Look at any leather furniture, it has creases, that is part of the "appeal" of leather. It is not meant to nor will it stay in pristine condition. It ages with use in any car or on any furniture that is used at all.

srashid

tfischer, I use 'Armor-All Multi-Purpose Auto Cleaner' spray on the dash, and on plastics and I am quite pleased with it but I am no expert on car detailing. What is '303', and why does it leave a better look than Armor-All? Also one more question please, what is the best thing for removing whitish marks on plastic on the extreior from waxing? Thanks.