Show us pics of your Audi leather seats..........
- Thread starter Jassyo06
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WTF, after one sitting. I know where my next journey would be.....
Absolutely right - thought the words to that pic were going to say 10k miles or so.
I still struggle to see why people are complaining about the normal patina you should expect to from on a soft leather. It shouldn't crack and the colour shouldn't come of (at least for many years/significant mileage), but creasing and stretching is what soft leather 'does'. As a natural material leather needs 'feeding' and looking after. But it also ages (rather than wears out). I certainly prefer this to the unnatural Dakota leather in our current 1 Series.
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It is just how high quality leather behaves so why should it bother people? I didn't even notice my creasing until I went out and specifically looked for it, and then I even bought my car pre owned from Audi so I went over everything meticulously to find faults, but the creasing didn't even register because that's just how all my leather products look.
It sounds so weird to me that people are actually complaining that Audi used higher quality leather than it's rivals do in the same class of cars. Because the only alternative if you want to be crease free is using something like waxed leather as the BMW 1/2 series uses, but if you do that you will have leather that does not feel natural.
Have to say, on my old A3 and even the TT, the leather on the bolsters had crease marks from day 1. The A3 was particularly bad on the drivers bolster, but I reckon it just looks "natural". It could be worse, it could look loose and saggy...
Putting the creases to one side for a mo then - is it not reasonable for all seats to have a consistency from new and to all look the same ? Clearly there are some much worse than others.
Hmmm I'm not sure. Since leather is a natural product, like a piece of meat... I don't think you're going to ever get exact consistency. Although, I guess when they treat and prepare etc. they should be fairly consistent in look/feel at that point. #confused
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Amounts to the same thing in my book. lolIt's not cost saving, it's weight saving.
I agree about it never being exact but there will or should be an acceptable range like when buying the hides in the first place Audi wouldn't accept any that the supplier tried to ship that had barb wire damage or other imperfections.
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I go back to what I said in an earlier post.I think that the leather is thinner than in years gone by and as a result creasing and sagging is much worse.
Whether it's a cost cutting or a weight saving exercise Audi I reckon will have a lot of people complaining about their seats...
Whether it's a cost cutting or a weight saving exercise Audi I reckon will have a lot of people complaining about their seats...
Working with natural products it is next to impossible to assure consistency, which is the beauty of it, each seat is unique. All it takes is one factory worker sitting in the seat once and putting weight on the side bolster when getting out and you can get creases. I think the problem is your starting position is that theres something bad or wrong with a crease.
Scottyg
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The first car had Nappa and second Dakota. Agreed, both felt slightly different but not overly. The Nappa didn't crease, crack or sag and the Dakota didn't either.
Here's a pic from my TT, pretty much like that when I collected... and for the record, I ain't no lard ***
Av not heard so much cack about oh it's a natural thing to happen.....blah de blah so just except it,it's poor quality cushioning FACT and also mediocre leather,av had full leather in my past 3 cars a S3,Ford, and a Peugeot none of them had this problem even in the high sided bolstered Recaro seats which also had soft leather which where a ****** to get in and of...this thread could be started in every relatively new Audi model designation on this forum
No its not a fact that it is due to mediocre leather and poor quality cushioning. What is a fact is that there is an inverse relationship between quality of leather and "crease resistance" and overall durability. As soon as you get out of waxed leather territory you will see this and the highest quality leathers are really delicate.
At the end of the day this is just a decently fast and somewhat more luxurious daily beater Audi is selling us, it is not some supercar we need to cherish. Even so, creases happen in way more high quality cars than these. It is just not as big of a problem because these cars are used less and if you check forums for these cars the owners seem to recognise it as just being how leather ages.
It doesn't bother you obviously to most it does.....l personally don't have this crease problem but l feel for others that do,l have just seen a November 2015 Audi S3 with no creases at all....go figure with 4670 miles on the clock,Chris has a brand 2 day old car with a crease on it that looks like a knife wound sewn back up.....
Seems like I am one of the few to not have any problems. I would never had specced full leather due to all the well documented wear issues, but it's standard on the S3 and Alcantra is even worse and would have gladly swapped for reg half leather you get as s-line standard which appears to be more robust as the major wear and crease areas are cloth.
That said Audi do need to do better with the robustness and reproducibility of its leather interiors even if softer more supple leather wears quicker than other leather types available elsewhere.
That said Audi do need to do better with the robustness and reproducibility of its leather interiors even if softer more supple leather wears quicker than other leather types available elsewhere.
To me it is more an acceptance of reality. Would I love for soft unwaxed leather to not get these creases? Of course, that would mean both my seat and my shoes would be perfectly crease free and perfectly smooth. The problem is that is not how leather behaves which means that these creases are a sign that a more natural type of leather have been used, which is something I value. So instead of feeling annoyance about it why not instead be happy about the leather not being waxed?
There are plenty of things we could be mad about with the cars which are due to actual cost saving or poor quality, Audi really skimped on things.
Again you cannot compare a pair of shoes to the seats on a £35k car mate
Im not, im comparing my shoes to my car seat. By the way, over here in Sweden its more of a £50k car.
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Yeah but yer all loaded over there in Sweden! lol
Maybe that's what I should be telling myself when I get to pay more for my cars?
Either way, it is always fun to discuss topics where people have completely different opinions.
At the end of the day I find this car awesome, interior and exterior but mostly when I put my foot down
.
Again we disagree l find the S3 numbingly boring to drive and l emphasise numbMaybe that's what I should be telling myself when I get to pay more for my cars?
Either way, it is always fun to discuss topics where people have completely different opinions.
At the end of the day I find this car awesome, interior and exterior but mostly when I put my foot down
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.........can't be boring mate you must be flying all over the cabin in that bouncy castle..................no chance for anything to get numb!! lol
Keep forgetting to take pics, but my bolsters are actually fine. It's just the sagging in the middle, which I assume is just poor fitment?
I cant imagine I would do much damage getting in and out my car even if I tried. I'm built like a string bean and weigh half as much...
I cant imagine I would do much damage getting in and out my car even if I tried. I'm built like a string bean and weigh half as much...
I'm also worried about blue bleed but good to hear it hasn't happened for you - I thought the Alcantara bolsters would be a magnet for that sort of thing. I like the look of the S3's tighter leather seats, although as with any tight leather seats - they will crease as the foam filling is worn down. The Golf's leather seats, even brand new, seem like they've already been sat on a hundred times and are already creased - the bright side is they can't get any worse than that!
That's exactly like the creasing I had on my A3. In fact, it was like that from new but got worse over time. I find it awkward to get in and out of A3 at times and find myself pushing against the bolster, which no doubt added more creasing. Oh well. Personally all my cars in future will be leases (unless I want a 2nd hand / classic car) so by the time the creasing becomes unbearable...it'll be the dealer's problem
Is the leather on the S3 seats coated & sealed or is it ok to use a proper leather cleaner & feeder?.
Not sure but I use this it's the best I've used and comes at a very reasonable price :-
Gliptone Leather Cleaner & Conditioner Ultimate Car Seat Kit **COMES WITH 2x APPLICATOR PADS & 2x MICROFIBRE POLISHING CLOTHS**
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008G0ZGHS/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_MrnPxbYPED88
Exactly the same creases as yours on the bolsters - 2016 S3 with only 3500k on the clock.... Life shine and treated with the autoglym leather balm each week. Annoyed to say the least
CarloS3
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Mine's finally left the port for the dealership and i'm paranoid that turning up to see the car for the first time the side bolster is going to be semi-collapsed :/
Whilst it's a brand new car and as annoyed as i'll be, i'm not sure i'll tell them to fix it or reject it as it's bound to happen over time in using the car anyway no? First world problems I guess..
Whilst it's a brand new car and as annoyed as i'll be, i'm not sure i'll tell them to fix it or reject it as it's bound to happen over time in using the car anyway no? First world problems I guess..
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I dont find creased leather surprising in a brand new car. For you to expect your leather to be crease-free whether it be new or several thousand miles old is unreasonable. I'd like to shed some light on this with some knowledge and industry experience.
I know reading that may make people angry but hear me out, buying a new car (as an OCD car detailer like many of you here) I do get a tad annoyed having creases on my bolsters too but think about it like this... Are you the first person to sit in your brand new car?
I've personally seen technicians and operators on the production line sit on the corner of bolsters (i.e sitting half on the seat base IN the car but feet outside on the floor) as they plug their laptop into a brand new car...numerous times as well. This is crease torture for your bolsters!
They should be more careful as that is someones new car theyre sitting in but frankly they just want do what is comfortable for them.
To me there are 3 main reasons amongst many as to why we have creases in our seats AFTER delivery - Audi compromising the quality of our leather is credible as OEM's are trying to save costs.
I dont disagree with anyone saying that their quality has deteriorated so please don't start creating arguments about this when I actually agree with you to some extent. I just think I need to shed some light on other possible factors.
By the way, creases look worse when the surface looks oily, giving them a regularly reduces the eye-sore of them, but these are the 3 points:
1) The smooth/soft textures our leather show up any sort of crease MUCH easier than grainy textured leathers leathers seen in BMW/Merc/VW's equivalent models and even previous Audi models. People are therefore noticing these 'creases' a lot more.
2) The angle to which you actually go to place your backside in your seat obviously determines how much you compress your bolsters as you get in. Some seat bolsters have a flatter approach angle which reduces how much you make contact with them and therefore crease them. Our seat base bolster isn't very flat (Audis vaguely sporty design) and hence we end up compressing it as we get in and out giving us our creases. Some of us do what we can to prevent damage getting in and out but inevitably we're still going to contact/compress it. (I used to, but I've given up now as after a while they've stopped forming which I think is because the leather is creasing in the places where creases already exist when compressed). Imagine having a completely flat seat base with the same leather, do you really think you'd experience as many creases?
3)The frequency of how often you get in and out of your car. Sitting in the seat itself doesnt cause as much damage you might think in regards to bolster creases (unless you have a big bum), only general dirt and wear is a more prominent factor and seat design obviously plays a massive part.
People seem to be mentioning that within a few thousand miles their bolsters look bad, but is mileage a good metric vs bolster wear? An example, a 5/10 mile journey to the shops/work and back home requires you to get IN and OUT of your car at least 4 times. Compare this when I used to have an 80 mile commute to work and back, 4 times IN and OUT. 10 miles vs 160 miles. I'm not making a dig at anyone, we always use mileage as a metrics as its easy but if you think about it, its not completely representative if you wish to talk about 'bolster creases' (not leather sagging this is a different issue I havent touched on)
Cushion/memory foam quality used by OEMs can be considered to be of low quality, but if the sponge was designed in a way that helped reduce the amount of crease possible in the leather it would have to be pretty firm foam which wouldn't comfortable to most. Just imagine an 80kg bloke sitting on the corner of your bolster, it would take one stiff sponge to prevent leather not fold/crease! A better quality or more expensive cushion does not solve the issue.
Some bucket/recaro seats (from my own experience) do not crease as much due to them have a seat frame which is more incorporated into the bolster itself so there is less foam (or they might have a harder foam). This gives a firmer bolster which doesnt allow it to fold/crease as such but does make it prone to wear easier. Our seat base bolster is all cushion, it does not incorporate any sort of solid framing in the seat base bolster itself .
Many OEM's face this issue. This nappa effect/type of leather has a soft finish which prones it to creases especially on harsh base and back bolsters not just in Audi's but in high end BMW's, Range Rovers, Merc's, Lexus' and Bentleys. We vent about such issues on forums but we really are a small minority who care. New Audi A8/S8's, 7 series', S-classes I recently been in have the same issues we're seeing and the leather in them certainly isn't 'cheap'. They're creases in soft skin.
IMO, these grainy leathers seen in (most) VW's, BMW's and Merc's and Fords/Peugeots are not as nice to touch as the leather in our cars. They are more hard wearing thus have this 'plasticy' feel about them which doesn't feel as premium compared to the leather in our cars (which are still hugely mass produced so am grateful for).
When I picked up my brand new Volvo V70R with semi-aniline leather several years ago I remember how quickily the bolsters began to crease from new, but the leather was so soft it felt like a baseball glove. People who didnt maintain them now have seats that look tired and battered whilst mine have aged nicely, theyve creased since new but its leather it was going to happen!
My point is, regular maintenance is key guys, do what you can to keep your seats looking factory fresh with plenty of maintenance methods on this forum.
Sorry for the lengthy one, some of the creases on bolsters at such a young age of car is crazy but hopefully my points above clarify just a few possibilities but its inevitable and has been happening on new cars for years, I dont think the new raft of models are experiencing this.
Regards
SJ
P.S - I don't work for Audi lol
I know reading that may make people angry but hear me out, buying a new car (as an OCD car detailer like many of you here) I do get a tad annoyed having creases on my bolsters too but think about it like this... Are you the first person to sit in your brand new car?
- At the end of the production line when your car is made an operator(s) will sit in your car to run end of line tests.
- Numerous transport drivers between the factory and the dealership will sit in your car
- When our car is delivered at the dealership and the technician does its PDI, they will sit in your car.
And I'm sure there are more opportunities too. Who knows how they get in and out of your car?I've personally seen technicians and operators on the production line sit on the corner of bolsters (i.e sitting half on the seat base IN the car but feet outside on the floor) as they plug their laptop into a brand new car...numerous times as well. This is crease torture for your bolsters!
They should be more careful as that is someones new car theyre sitting in but frankly they just want do what is comfortable for them.
To me there are 3 main reasons amongst many as to why we have creases in our seats AFTER delivery - Audi compromising the quality of our leather is credible as OEM's are trying to save costs.
I dont disagree with anyone saying that their quality has deteriorated so please don't start creating arguments about this when I actually agree with you to some extent. I just think I need to shed some light on other possible factors.
By the way, creases look worse when the surface looks oily, giving them a regularly reduces the eye-sore of them, but these are the 3 points:
1) The smooth/soft textures our leather show up any sort of crease MUCH easier than grainy textured leathers leathers seen in BMW/Merc/VW's equivalent models and even previous Audi models. People are therefore noticing these 'creases' a lot more.
2) The angle to which you actually go to place your backside in your seat obviously determines how much you compress your bolsters as you get in. Some seat bolsters have a flatter approach angle which reduces how much you make contact with them and therefore crease them. Our seat base bolster isn't very flat (Audis vaguely sporty design) and hence we end up compressing it as we get in and out giving us our creases. Some of us do what we can to prevent damage getting in and out but inevitably we're still going to contact/compress it. (I used to, but I've given up now as after a while they've stopped forming which I think is because the leather is creasing in the places where creases already exist when compressed). Imagine having a completely flat seat base with the same leather, do you really think you'd experience as many creases?
3)The frequency of how often you get in and out of your car. Sitting in the seat itself doesnt cause as much damage you might think in regards to bolster creases (unless you have a big bum), only general dirt and wear is a more prominent factor and seat design obviously plays a massive part.
People seem to be mentioning that within a few thousand miles their bolsters look bad, but is mileage a good metric vs bolster wear? An example, a 5/10 mile journey to the shops/work and back home requires you to get IN and OUT of your car at least 4 times. Compare this when I used to have an 80 mile commute to work and back, 4 times IN and OUT. 10 miles vs 160 miles. I'm not making a dig at anyone, we always use mileage as a metrics as its easy but if you think about it, its not completely representative if you wish to talk about 'bolster creases' (not leather sagging this is a different issue I havent touched on)
Cushion/memory foam quality used by OEMs can be considered to be of low quality, but if the sponge was designed in a way that helped reduce the amount of crease possible in the leather it would have to be pretty firm foam which wouldn't comfortable to most. Just imagine an 80kg bloke sitting on the corner of your bolster, it would take one stiff sponge to prevent leather not fold/crease! A better quality or more expensive cushion does not solve the issue.
Some bucket/recaro seats (from my own experience) do not crease as much due to them have a seat frame which is more incorporated into the bolster itself so there is less foam (or they might have a harder foam). This gives a firmer bolster which doesnt allow it to fold/crease as such but does make it prone to wear easier. Our seat base bolster is all cushion, it does not incorporate any sort of solid framing in the seat base bolster itself .
Many OEM's face this issue. This nappa effect/type of leather has a soft finish which prones it to creases especially on harsh base and back bolsters not just in Audi's but in high end BMW's, Range Rovers, Merc's, Lexus' and Bentleys. We vent about such issues on forums but we really are a small minority who care. New Audi A8/S8's, 7 series', S-classes I recently been in have the same issues we're seeing and the leather in them certainly isn't 'cheap'. They're creases in soft skin.
IMO, these grainy leathers seen in (most) VW's, BMW's and Merc's and Fords/Peugeots are not as nice to touch as the leather in our cars. They are more hard wearing thus have this 'plasticy' feel about them which doesn't feel as premium compared to the leather in our cars (which are still hugely mass produced so am grateful for).
When I picked up my brand new Volvo V70R with semi-aniline leather several years ago I remember how quickily the bolsters began to crease from new, but the leather was so soft it felt like a baseball glove. People who didnt maintain them now have seats that look tired and battered whilst mine have aged nicely, theyve creased since new but its leather it was going to happen!
My point is, regular maintenance is key guys, do what you can to keep your seats looking factory fresh with plenty of maintenance methods on this forum.
Sorry for the lengthy one, some of the creases on bolsters at such a young age of car is crazy but hopefully my points above clarify just a few possibilities but its inevitable and has been happening on new cars for years, I dont think the new raft of models are experiencing this.
Regards
SJ
P.S - I don't work for Audi lol
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CarloS3
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Lol, Apologies for LONG post I just had to express my opinions as I do have knowledge from the industry which hopefully will stop some peoples worries about the issue
Just got carried away!
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Just got carried away!
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