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My apologies for venting but I have just about had it with the leather or what ever it is in my 2010 RX450h.
At 110K KM the leather on the lower part of the passengers seat (one that is not as heavily used as the drivers seat) is orange peeling around the perforations.
Before the initial warranty ended the driver door panel was replaced by Lexus because the leather on arm rest cracked. Now the passenger arm rest is cracking.
Before I get lectured on leather care, my 1996 Camry has leather seats and the car has 325K KM and the leather seats are in excellent condition.
Leather care is one thing, but I'm inclined to agree with you...
It's all the "greenies" that have forced modern manufacturing to reduce quality as that drives up the costs. Most of the leather in these isn't even leather... there's leather PARTS on the seats but they aren't 100% leather.
Bought a MY12 CT200h and its not cracking but one can feel by the touch that the leather is in fact inferior.
Even in the 2nd gen. RX you can see the differences, my old man has an '04 and the later years are worse for wear... no pun intended...
Hell, my 2001 ES300 had 250k on it, and the leather was near-mint with a handful of fine cracks!
You can see by the Lexus lineup over the years of how much more inferior the car finishes have gotten! It's not just Lexus... in case you get that idea!
Many factors from a possible defect, to the conditions the car is used in, the care of the leather re: cleaning and with what, weather and humidity, pets and pet oil, etc., can affect the condition of the leather surfaces. What one person experiences over time will probably be different than a neighbors with the exact same material. As one person suggested environmental and governmental controls have forced manufacturers to change the materials in many ways as sometime in the future all of these cars will be recycled.
All that said, I have one of the 1st 2010 RX450h models, and it was manufactured in May of 09, the 1st month of consumer production. I keep my car garaged, the A/C on auto year round, no pets and have about 63K on the clock now. The interior throughout is like new with only minor and expected wear showing on the drivers seat. I also keep the sunshade on the sunroof closed whenever the sunroof is closed and it's never been left open when I wasn't driving.
My new 2014 Corvette Stingray has leather that is sort of a blend and it's not as good as the Lexus sadly. The interior window film builds up much faster than my Lexus to the point I'm leaving the windows open when parked in the garage to help the interior vent better.
RE: your 2010 (h) it seems the interior may have been subjected to some weather with the windows down, possibly on the dealers lot before you got it. It doesn't sound normal for this car. But sorry your experiencing it.
Most modern leather car seats have a polyurethane coating over the leather. That is what usually cracks first, then dirt gets in the cracks and they look even worse. Cleaning sometimes helps, I use a soft toothbrush over the cracks.
I had good luck using dye from Leather Renew to recolor my 2010 parchment seats as they had bad cracks. I was initially forced to find something because I stupidly got tar on the driver seat. Removing it removed the finish in the perforated middle part. The Leather Renew kit exactly matched the old color. I then went ahead and repainted all the bolsters on the driver seat as they had bad cracks at only 34,000 miles! Now the seat looks new and I plan to repaint the passenger seat bolsters. It has held up well over the last month since application. The instructions are easy to follow, I used the provided small foam brushes to paint it on. I was afraid to try their spray option inside a car. I will take and post photos of the 2 seats in a day or so.
Most modern leather car seats have a polyurethane coating over the leather. That is what usually cracks first, then dirt gets in the cracks and they look even worse. Cleaning sometimes helps, I use a soft toothbrush over the cracks.
I had good luck using dye from Leather Renew to recolor my 2010 parchment seats as they had bad cracks. I was initially forced to find something because I stupidly got tar on the driver seat. Removing it removed the finish in the perforated middle part. The Leather Renew kit exactly matched the old color. I then went ahead and repainted all the bolsters on the driver seat as they had bad cracks at only 34,000 miles! Now the seat looks new and I plan to repaint the passenger seat bolsters. It has held up well over the last month since application. The instructions are easy to follow, I used the provided small foam brushes to paint it on. I was afraid to try their spray option inside a car. I will take and post photos of the 2 seats in a day or so.
I followed their drop down menus and selected 2134 - Parchment. http://www.leatherrenew.com/Color_chart/Lexus.jpg
Do not judge it by the strange color on the color chart, it did match perfectly. Be sure to follow their directions.
I got the repair kit it and it had enough color for the front seats. The re-coloring kits contain more paint but is only $20 more.
They can help you select the correct color if you are not sure which to choose.
I followed their drop down menus and selected 2134 - Parchment. http://www.leatherrenew.com/Color_chart/Lexus.jpg
Do not judge it by the strange color on the color chart, it did match perfectly. Be sure to follow their directions.
I got the repair kit it and it had enough color for the front seats. The re-coloring kits contain more paint but is only $20 more.
They can help you select the correct color if you are not sure which to choose.
The first photo with both side bolsters is the driver seat after I painted it with Leather Renew. I painted the back half of the center portion closest to the seat back and both side bolsters. The dark spots are shadows, mostly from the steering wheel and the garage ceiling light through the windshield. The second photo with one bolster is the passenger seat with cracks in the side bolster. The cracks in the driver seat before painting were much much worse.
I was thinking of trying to make a warranty claim for it but sounds like they'll deny it. I've got a 2011 with Parchment and only about 15K miles. The previous owner kept the car in a covered garage so I know all the cracking on the driver's seat bottom cushion is not heat related. The owner wasn't an overly large person so I don't think extra body weight played a factor either....just bad quality used by Lexus.
Looks great. However, this method may not work for ventilated seats because the liquid will likely clog the holes. I wonder if the leather protectors recommended in the detailing forums actually degrade the artificial top coating faster???
It did clog a few holes, and I used a toothpick to open them up while it was wet. The trick is several, I did 4, light coats. My main damage was on the ventilated section and now looks the same as before or better.
hey clutchless,
after no response from lexus headquarters, finally had time today to repair my 2010 semi-aniline front seats, im pretty satisfied with leatherrenew repair kit, need to unclog a few holes though.
heres before photos with driver and passenger seats.
Rick, nice job. After five plus years, my drivers seat is only showing very minor wear and I'm usually in jeans. But I'm careful and the car is usually in the garage.
In the summer I'm usually in shorts and body oil (we all have it) could account for some of it. Just a WAG tho.
10-19-14, 11:24 AM
Leather or what ever it is, is terrible
