Cruiter

That cracks me up, I still remember every time my parents got a new car with fancy fabric interior, they'd cover it with clear vinyl Fingerhut seatcovers. Take a drive on a hot sunny day with A/C from the 60's and wearing shorts you'd have to peel yourself from them.

I'm not sure what is giving folks so much trouble with the seats. I wear jeans most of the time, shorts in summer and no problems. But I do wipe them down with leather wipes once or twice a year and don't eat hamburgers or have drinks in the car. Travel is only with a bottle of water and maybe a bag of mixed nuts (no salt) for munches. And a towel under the console to wipe my hands on.

david9012

Quick update - took my car to get it professionally detailed and although it looked better right after the detailed (less visible wrinkles), they tend to come back. Not sure if this means I need to learn how to detail well myself and do it once a month or something. A little disappointing but I guess that's how it works with this leather.

rxsuperman

Does anyone know if there is any wrinkle and durability differences between regular and aniline (luxury package) leathers used on the RX vehicles?

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

I have a luxury package car, am 280lbs, and have 24000 miles on my truck. I wear heavy jeans every day. This seat sees a lot of abuse. My seat bolster has very shallow wrinkles. I'm assuming the leather is higher quality.

MEP7557

The semi-aniline leather is not as heavily top coated as the regular leather, plus the dye is further penetrated into the leather by tumbling it. Since the top coat is not as heavy on the semi-aniline it would not crack near as much. Also, the cracks would be the same color as the leather since the dye is more 'through' the leather. My 2 cents, from what I read.

MX5NES350

Correct. The standard leather has the dye on the surface. Semi has the dye penetrating the leather. This accounts for better durability as well as texture

Barrington

FYI, be careful folding down the backseat before making sure all items are cleared away. There was a small box of tissues on my rear seat that was almost empty and without paying attention I flipped down the seat for about 12 hours. When I flipped the seat back up it know has a permanent impression of the card board box in the seatback. This leather seems thin to me compared to other cars that I have owned.

krypttic

iTrader: (1)

Does leather conditioner even matter? When you apply it, you're not touching the leather at all--it's the protective clear coat.

MX5NES350

This is a highly debated topic in detailing forums. Do I use conditioner? Yes. Once a year. I clean my seating surfaces monthly. I use Lexol conditioner on the other leather surfaces once every 3 months after cleaning. So car so good and I have had the same seats in my Miata since 1993 with great results

Read this brief article: http://www.best-auto-detailing-tips.com/leather-car-seat-care.html

Take care

chaswyck

I joined this forum to ask about a problem I'm having with the perforated leather on our RX350 and found this thread. My problem is a little more serious, I think, than wrinkling. There is a spot about the size of a nickel where the finished part of the leather has flaked off from the leather below. It's very unsightly. It looks like a splatter but that's just because the separation is moving from perforation to perforation Nothing was spilled on it and that seat is rarely even used. The car is my wife's daily driver and she rarely has passengers. Even if something had been spilled on it, I can't even imagine what it could be that would cause that damage. I took it to the dealer yesterday the the service guy said it looked to him that something like acetone had been spilled on it. I told him that hadn't happened and I suggested it was a defect in the bonding of the leather and that it was a warranty issue. He immediately said it wasn't and told me I had to speak to the service manager tomorrow. This looks like it's going to be a battle. The car is a year old (2011) and has 14,000 miles on it. Has anyone else had a similar problem with the leather?

MEP7557

Finger nail polish remover is acetone. Does your wife put her purse on the seat while she is driving? A thought.

chaswyck

Yes, I knew acetone was nail polish remover so I asked her and she said she never carries nail polish in her purse. Thanks for the suggestion though.

markrivers

i'm sorry to see that stain in your seat.
However i kinda agree with the service guy who saw it.
1 year/ 14,000 miles is too long for something like this to appear this fast.
Do you valet your RX by any chance?

chaswyck

That's the problem, it's not a stain. The darker portion that looks like a stain is where the finished surface of the leather has separated from the leather below and rubbed off (and the problem seems to be spreading). As far as I know, we have only used a valet a couple of times and the last time was a couple of months ago, long before this problem surfaced.

krypttic

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. The article clearly states that conditioner is worthless, since it can't penetrate the surface anyway. In fact, it may make things worse since you will have to clean up the surface residue you just applied...