Leather Seat issue

[dolo]

So, before Christmas I noticed that the leather was cracking on the drivers side seat bolster.
Took it into the dealer who took photos to send to Audi to approve a warranty repair.
Car was in yesterday as the service guy was sure he would be told to replace it.
Low and behold Audi have said it's wear and tear and not covered.

The car is 20 months old and done less than 12000 miles.

Leather has been treated regularly with various things, Furniture Clinic Leather Care all over and
Gtechniq L1 AB Leather Guard on the high use parts.

So I have just sent of a complaint e-mail to Audi UK customer Services and will wait to see what happens.

Anyone else have an issue in the same place.

Seat1.jpg by Philip Dolan, on Flickr
Seat2.jpg by Philip Dolan, on Flickr

 

[cemerson]

I would keep pushing on it. Something that wears that quickly is clearly not fit for purpose. When the leather around my steering wheel started cracking after 2 and a bit years they replaced it for free for me.

 

[SamR92]

Good luck! Audi Customer service are pathetic. However at least your dealer sent it off a claim. Mine refused and I had to go to Audi to complain, and they just hid behind the dealer

Here's a link to my thread from last year - http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/seats-splitting-tearing.287970/

Audi refused to budge and wanted to bill me £300+ to fix.

 

[Tom.H]

In my experience they'll always try it on. VW tried it with me when my front wing was showing signs of rust (car is now 10 years old but guarantee is 12 years) they tried telling me they'd pay half as a good will gesture and I'd have to pay half, after a lot of back and forth they agreed to pay 100% of the cost to replace the wing.

 

[Rob2k68]

Think @OliS3 had something similar and they replaced the seat cover.

 

[OliS3]

Think @OliS3 had something similar and they replaced the seat cover.

I did but mine was just under 6 months, I agree 100% it should be replaced but you'll have a battle on your hands unfortunately. Just keep pressing them whatever wear and tear rubbish they give you

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Scottyg]

If you search the forum you'll find that some cars are coming out the factory with leather creases that make the seats look like they've covered 30000 miles. What Audi will say, is that it's a natural product that will change appearance over time and no two seats are alike. Doesn't solve your problem but you know what you can expect in response if you keep pursuing it.

 

[Rob2k68]

The crease pictured doesn't look too bad and as others have said probably on a hiding for nothing discussing this with Audi. My advice would be to labour on what looks like the leather surface breaking away - maybe it's ultra thin in this area and a manufacturing defect.

 

[Jassyo06]

Not being funny or trying to defend the gash Audi leather, but that broken leather may have to with how you enter and exit the car?? my car is almost 2years old covered 21000 miles and doesn't look nothing like yours.because l lift my **** off the seat instead of sliding it, yeah l shouldn't need to do this but l knew what would happen to my seat if I didn't,besides that l suggest you contact a car upholsterer get it fixed as it will only get worse

 

[Wibbly]

Looking at that, I'm surprised Audi didn't imply you'd caught something sharp/abrasive on it, as it looks kinda like that?! Maybe they did, and that's what 'normal wear and tear' means?

 

[Ormesome]

Im with @jassyo06 on this. I enter my car in a way that i can feel the plastic side support underneath the material. I have cloth Sport seats but long been wondering how long they will hold up. It seems like yours have cracked under pressure of where you get in & out of the car. check next time you do it or apply pressure to that area whilst standing next to the seat, i bet its cos of that. The weight will crease the leather and crack/rub against the plastic moulded part you can see in the picture you provided. Audi could well come back and say this is the reason and they might be right in claiming its wear & tear in this case! Having said that, i find getting out of the A3 any other way a bit difficult! If you changed your wording then maybe a claim on warranty could work? like design fault instead of wear&tear?

 

[Wibbly]

The weight will crease the leather and crack/rub against the plastic moulded part you can see in the picture you provided. Audi could well come back and say this is the reason and they might be right in claiming its wear & tear in this case! Having said that, i find getting out of the A3 any other way a bit difficult! If you changed your wording then maybe a claim on warranty could work? like design fault instead of wear&tear?

Ah yes I'd agree if it's clearly caused by the plastic moulding it's that moulding that is the "sharp/abrasive" thing I was refering to above and, as it's part of the car, I too would say it's a design fault! And the wear and tear isn't "normal", as you've been using the seat normally and the leather cover and plastic are together clearly not fit for the purpose they were designed for (the seat cover has 'failed'). What can they say - "You're too fat/heavy for the seats, which are depressing too much when you sit on them"?!?

Now off to look at mine :-S

 

[Wibbly]

Now looked at mine... if I press down hard on the edge of the seat the leather does not try and move/retract behind/or even rub the plastic moulding (hardly any movement by the moulding). It compresses well above that point as if there's something in the seat nearer the moulding that's highly supportive. Maybe it's this "support" that's failed in your seat, which is now allowing the leather to move/compress against he moulding? How's the leather movement on your other front seat when you push down hard on it?

 

[Ormesome]

Take a look at when i sit in my seat. Compare my seat to the leather one. My bolster side is compressed way further down because I'm adding (a bit of) weight to it. when i move and swivel to get out the cloth is pushed even further down and I'm basically on the plastic. Admittedly its cloth but same principle and seats right? i still think its the side plastic that has rubbed and caught.

 

[dolo]

Disagree with the leather rubbing on the plastic, it does not.
No matter how you get in or out the leather does not rub on anything at the point it is failing, but it does crease at that point.

I am no contortionist and I shouldn't and do not change the way I get in and out of my car, but I do think it may have something to do with it.
The car is garaged with not a massive amount of space to get out. I realised last night when putting it away that my leg rests on that part as I get out.
But saying that I this has not happened to my last 2 Audis with 95,000 miles between them.

At the end of the day the car is there to be used and should be manufactured to a standard that it lasts longer than this.

 

[Ormesome]

Disagree with the leather rubbing on the plastic, it does not.
No matter how you get in or out the leather does not rub on anything at the point it is failing, but it does crease at that point.

I am no contortionist and I shouldn't and do not change the way I get in and out of my car, but I do think it may have something to do with it.
The car is garaged with not a massive amount of space to get out. I realised last night when putting it away that my leg rests on that part as I get out.
But saying that I this has not happened to my last 2 Audis with 95,000 miles between them.

At the end of the day the car is there to be used and should be manufactured to a standard that it lasts longer than this.

Fair enough. Just trying to help.... If your leg (thigh) is resting on it as you get in & out then you are putting pressure on that point, ie your whole upper body weight plus more as you are creating pressure to get up. You can see this in the photo as there is a crease to the left of the cut that goes from the top of the seat bolster right down to the level & below the crease/cut...As i stated in my 1st post, your weight is creasing the leather at that point = design fault. Audi will also argue that they are sports seats and are all designed this way (sports seats in general with side bolsters). Up to you to prove that quality is below par. Good luck.

 

[Tom_86]

Hi, I had a similar problem with the side bolster on the upper part of the seat. After only 5000miles it was wearing like the car had done 50,000 miles. I have to say though, Audi replaced it for me as a 'good will' gesture. Whatever that means. Keep pushing, I found Audi UK to be a lot more helpful than my dealership when they were unsure whether it was wear and tear or not.