DreDawg81

My mom has the same RX and had the front drivers seat replaced because a Lexus Tech split it while it was in the shop. Sadly, it now looks worse than the original seat did

ggebhardt

Almost every car maker does the same thing. It is all about marketing.

The dealer knows what sells best and that is the order for their lot. You can not make everyone happy.

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

Obviously, some people don't like leather better than cloth. But you are in a very small minority. Any company that sells a product to the public has to sell what MOST people want, not the few. Most of us like leather better than cloth. But everything has a trade off. When you get leather, you get far more maintenance and wear issues.

Tmaxfield

We just purchased a 2010 IS 250 with 25,000 miles - Certified. The driver side seat has cracked. Dealer said bring it in they would "recondition" the seat. I'm really disappointed this is happening but not much I can do.

ggebhardt

I have owned many Lexus and everyone of them develop these creases. The lighter interior colors show them the worst while the darker colors hide them. I have never had the seat fail. The drivers seat will take the biggest wear of all items on your new vehicle. How much you weight and how you get in and out are also a big factor but all will wear.

kitlz

Definitely agree with you, ggebhardt. I've had the dealer fix creases on the dark gray seats in my old RX300. Now with the black interior it's less obvious. Plus I don't have to worry about stains from jeans. But I still clean and treat the leather regularly.

RickC5

There's one thing we can't forget when we talk about leather:

It's dead animal skin, and once the host animal (the cow) dies, the skin begins to deteriorate, just like the remainder of the cow's carcass. Everything that is done to the leather is to slow or retard that process, but it is inevitable that--at least in car seat leather--that creases and cracks are likely to form over time, and eventually get unsightly.

One reason is that typical car seat leather is very thin--compared to saddle or belt leather--so it will remain flexible and soft. This means that it may crease or even fold when we sit on it. In addition, unless you are driving a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maybach or Ferrari, the leather used in most modern cars is a pretty inferior product, meaning that it will--by nature--be prone to creasing and cracking.

This situation is only made worse by the process used to prepare the leather. Rather than being vat dyed, where the color will permeate the leather through-and-through, our leather has a sprayed-on plastic finish that is much like a flexible paint. This finish is fast, inexpensive and covers minor imperfections in the leather. However, it will not prevent the leather from creasing/cracking, which is a natural decomposition process.

We can only continue to clean, protect & preserve our leather with quality products that will extend its life and looks. Also, light colored leathers--like parchment or light grey--will always look worse than black or dark grey, since dirt from the environment gets embedded in the creases & cracks and even cleaning/preserving will not restore the original look, feel or texture of the leather when it was new and hadn't been sat on.

Alternatives? Cloth interiors or reupholster the seats--all of them--in a higher quality, vat-dyed leather, which will still need periodic cleaning, protecting and preserving.

Hey, it's the nature of the beast, who gave his or her life so you could sit on their skin and eat their flesh.

corradoMR2

I'm on my 6th Lexus, 3rd RX , creases yes, but never a single crack and my two prior RXs each had about 75K miles. My past Acuras (TL and MDX) had cracks (not creases) well before that mileage.

To the OP, I have a hard time believing cracks are present and are likely misinterpreted as creases. To be clear, these are cracks, and from an Accord with just 8K miles.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...t=33096&page=4

avmba

We're disappointed with the leather wear on my wife's 2012 RX350. We're 26 months into a 36 month lease and her drivers seat looks like this:



In contrast, here is the front drivers seat of my 2011 Infiniti G37 that I've had for 36 months:



So...for those that say that cracking leather is inevitable - that's true. However, it doesn't have to be premature as it has been in many Lexus vehicles.


One additional question - does Lexus Financial hassle owners about creased or cracked leather on lease returns? I can't imagine how bad my wife's seat will look in another year when her lease is up.

Maertens

Yeah agree the Lexus leather is a piece of crap. But, somehow it does not affect their popularity. Maybe this is the reason they do not bother improving it. Maybe their main market is a 3-4 years lease and their leather can hold just for this long.
Must say though, once I had a Chevy Malibu and it had much more durable leather.

wheats

My wife's 2011 RX 450H with 30k miles looks just a yours does and she is questioning me if this is normal.
I guess it is from reading everyone's post. I have an 04 T-Bird all leather and the seats are near perfect.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

OR

the number of people who have unrealistic expectations of what leather is supposed to look like after use, don't know how to care for it, are heavy and subject leather to more wear and tear, or any combination of the above is so low that it renders the complaint meaningless when compared to the overall satisfaction of every other Lexus owner worldwide who have no complaints about leather wear in their vehicles.

There is always a flip side.

Lexus resale value goes against everything in this thread. Either that or you're saying the secondary market buyers do even less research than most people in this thread before they plopped down 60k to own or 30k to rent a vehicle.

corradoMR2

Pictures don't lie and it looks more creased than expected. My past two '04 and '07 RXs had very few creases, looked like your G, and this was after 60-70K miles. It's possible Gen 3 leather durability has changed, but mine so far after 15 months of ownership has barely any creases.

I cannot help but wonder if the method of how one slides into the seat plays a role into the creasing rate. For instance, I am conscious of "sliding over" the side thigh support so as to not crease it. A lower car like the G allows one to more easily slide over the side. Also, one's personal height would play a role in the ability to push into the side or slide over it. Shorter people would have a more difficult time sliding over it...

avmba

The G seats are MUCH firmer and the leather feels thicker. Not sure what the exact differences are, but the seats/leather in the RX are much more pliable than my G or my wife's previous car (CX-9).

The amount of "give" in the RX seat (especially when entering and exiting) likely contributes to the issue IMO.

Again, these are subjective evaluations here - your perspective may vary.

lgene

I agree. I also think a huge amount depends on what cleaner and conditioner is used. There is even an entry in the last page of this thread which advocates wiping down with a moist towel. Some conditioners may delay the deterioration of leather more than others. I think a poll will reveal what is working and what is not. So here are my questions - I can think of many more but might not get any responses if there are too many. Based on responses, we may be collectively able to decide what products to avoid or use:

1. What brand of cleaner do you use and how often?
2. What brand of conditioner do you use and how often?
3. Has your leather cracked or creased?
4. How old is your vehicle?

Please reply even if you have no crease or cracking problem.