[duegatti]

Happened around 4000 miles. I have absolutely no idea.

Is this what "leather" is like in cars nowadays? Some pasty white sheet, processed beyond recognition, with a cheap colored and textured laminate applied over it?

My third party warranty denied the claim, considering it to be peeling instead of a tear. At the start, the dealer didn't think it would be worth going to Porsche.

Has anyone else experienced this type of failure? Any sophisticated means of repair?

Many thanks.

 

[Viffermike]

That's not a tear; that's abrasive wear.

The abrasion is on the part of the seat where wear happens the most on most cars -- the driver's seatback on the side facing the door, which is where many rotate their torso to exit the car. In the 718, this area gets even more abuse because it's often where one grabs to push themselves up from the seat when exiting the car.

I don't know what to tell you about repairing it, but that kind of wear isn't normally covered by any warranty. In fact, it's to be expected (I certainly expect it eventually in my car).

 

[sevencyclist]

I wonder whether Sports tex is more resistant to this type of damage.

I don’t think Alcantara seats would have different material in this area.

 

[Viffermike]

An addendum to my above post: That's not piping. That's surface leather, but where it's rolled over (and probably glued to preserve the edge) outside the stitching. That particular site covers at least three other surface-layer edges, so it will almost certainly be the first place abrasive wear shows on the seats.

Note the first picture. The perforations through the leather to the left plainly show the structure of the fabric. It's definitely bonded -- industry-speak for a leather blend -- and the bonding involves at least three layers of fabric underneath the surface hide, which is (believe it or not) actually relatively thick and supple for bonded leather.

Thing is, bonded leather is nowhere near as resilient as 100-percent full-grain leather because the surface layer is thinner and it's almost always coated instead of tanned. Almost all automotive 'leather' is of this type in varying degrees of quality. The type used in our cars is relatively high quality. Bonded leather doesn't 'wear' as harshly, and with as much 'character', as full-grain -- that's part of the reason it's used in automobiles and many high-use, high-traffic applications. But when it wears through, it does not typically look good, as you can see.

 

[duegatti]

I think we'd all expect our leather to withstand 4000 miles of normal wear before doing what we see in my seat. We don't think this is from routine use: the service guys watched me get in and out of the car, and didn't see any particular contact with that area. Also, the damaged area has not changed at all with an additional 1100 miles on the car; it has not gotten worse.

More likely it is from a single, acute event. I can't imagine anything I've done to do it. I have let 2 friends, and the dealer's body shop, drive the car. Did someone's watch scrape, reaching for the seat belt? A pants belt, getting in or out?

Depending on one's point of view - and responsibilities - one could easily say that this is a tear. Not through the bulk of the material, but certainly through the tissue paper-like bonded layer. Pieces have been acutely torn from that area, and the area is stable now. I guess, since we can't know the mechanism, we can't distinguish between "abuse", and a "failure".

Disappointing, in any event.

 

[trusted]

Assuming you have the full leather interior and hence the seats are indeed full leather I'd escalate this until you get a satisfactory solution. This is not ok. If the dealer is unwilling to help I'd contact Porsche directly. Good luck.

 

[duegatti]

The dealer is involved, and intending to help. I'm going to see their "interior specialist" a week from tomorrow.

 

[GregW]

That's definitely "not good".:crying:

Even though 99% of auto leather is polyurethane coated the top shouldn't be peeling like that. If the warranty doesn't cover it (IMO it should) then a good leather repairer could make it better.

 

[glen8]

That is shocking after 4,000 miles. I didn't think the leather seats were such poor quality?

Do the sport-tex seats have leather in that area or not?