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but your passenger seat doesn't get used as much as the drivers seat.. the solvents may be relaxing the leather to the point that when you use the seat the leather stretches thus leaving micro tears..
I gotcha. i was thinking more along the lines of it just straight up damaging the coating on the leather.
My drivers seat is showing the same wear you have on the bolster.....although not nearly as bad. I’ll hit 40k on the odometer today. I just chalk it up as wear and tear. Be interested in hearing what you find out.
I gotcha. i was thinking more along the lines of it just straight up damaging the coating on the leather.
it's a combination things. the solvents could be relaxing the leather, you're sitting/using will stretch it, add to that hot and cold weather where the leather softens and hardens with the stretching and cracks appear.
I remember stumbling on a review that talked about something like this. I THINK I found it again. I was Edmund's 2015 RCF Long Term Road Test if you want to look it up. Here's a screenshot.
The detailing forum has lots of solid advice for maintaining Lexus coated leathers. They're pretty maintenance free for the most part, like the rest of the car, but if you hit the high traffic spots (as I did), they'll burn through. My Supra did the same thing, but took a little longer to do it.
I remember stumbling on a review that talked about something like this. I THINK I found it again. I was Edmund's 2015 RCF Long Term Road Test if you want to look it up. Here's a screenshot.
A couple of years ago I had issues with my ISF drivers side seat bolster wear which I reported to Lexus (Canada) when the car was about 3.5 years old with less than 30K. I am quite particular about maintaining my cars, most of which run 15 years or more so I have also kept the ISF spotless and meticulously clean. My bolster wear was worse than what I see in the pictures in this thread. At any rate Lexus did nothing for me. They basically attributed the wear as normal and that was the end of it.
Personally I think Lexus quality standards are not what they used to be and their commitment to customer satisfaction is nothing to get excited about. I informed Lexus that the leather in my '98 GS400 was looking better when it was 12 years old than my 3 year old ISF. My observations didn't seem to matter one bit to Lexus.
My red seats looked brand new even after 25K miles in 2.5 years. I make sure I minimize any rubbing on driver seat left bolster by bracing myself on the door sill and do not rotate my torso during ingress/egress.
Any wear really is just owner negligence unless you're pushing six figure+ miles. RCF leather is pretty durable.
The last 5 vehicles I have had all had leather (none were Lexus). I put 30 - 35K miles a year on my vehicles....needless to say I drive a lot. I have always used meguires leather cleaner / conditioner on all my vehicles with leather seats. In the past, I typically trade in my vehicles in the 130 - 150K mile range. None of my leather seats had displayed that kind of wear.
But, my RC350 is the first with the ventilated seats. I bought a small bottle of the leather cleaner / conditioner from the local Lexus dealership. I wanted to see what they recommended or used. Their leather cleaner / conditioner is very mild IMO. After a thorough cleaning of all the leather in the car, I was a little disappointed that the leather smell was not as rich as my previous vehicles.
To be honest and fair. I probably used a minimal amount of the stuff on the seats as not wanting to get any caked up in the ventilation holes of the seat. I will go back to meguires for the next treatment in a few months.
12-01-17, 11:16 AM
