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Really, the leather on this car is this bad, Really!

5K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Knolan 
#1 · (Edited)
Hear me out and let me know how to proceed.

So I posted a couple of months ago how the leather on my 2012 S60 was wearing between the legs and the dye was peeling away from the hide.

The dealer stepped up and replaced the seat skin, no questions asked. Fast forward to last week, the dye is peeling from the same location on the seat and the drivers-side left bolster is now wearing the color away. No I don't wear chain-mail to work, or carry tools in my pockets like you might suspect.

I picked the car up in June and it has a whopping 3500 miles on the clock.

Should I:

A. Take it back to the dealer for another skin replacement (seat and back)?
or
B. Escalate to Volvo North America?
or
C. Wait just before the lease expires to have it replaced under warranty.

It truly bothers me that a car of this quality, in this day can suffer from this sort of an issue.
My GD 2010 Passat CC's leather was better than this one.:mad:

As an example, I had a 1995 850GLT with 175,000 on the clock and the leather was pristine when I sold her in 2007.

I'm done now, appreciate you help and feedback.:confused:
 
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#2 ·
A. Yes, you should be able to enjoy your ride as intended - what you're paying for.

B. Yes, takes 3 minutes via the VCNA website.

C. Yes, if it even has a hint of wear.

Gotta stay on 'em to get change. It shouldn't be but usually is a battle.
 
#3 ·
The quality of the leather is actually very good, so your problem is really odd. The fact that it's now happened twice might indicate that the issue could be with the foam liner interacting with the leather covering. There might be some chemical contaminant in the liner that's causing the problem. If this is the case, a complete seat replacement might be the only option for a permanent fix.
 
#4 ·
That's what I was thinking......once maybe, but twice??? I would be looking for the actual cause.........
 
#5 ·
A. - Take it back to the dealer. I'm having similar issues on my 2012 S60. passenger side is flaking and driver side bolster is wearing.
I had similar issues on my 07 S60r with the nordkap dyed seats. I had the driver seat replaced three times under warranty in 28K miles.

B. Escalate to VNCA also. Make sure they are aware of the problem, and that its not an isolated incident.

C. Defintely don't wait. Its easier for the dealership to say that its "normal wear and tear" at that point.

As for the comment on the CD 2010 VW CC, 98% of those cars were build with Leatherette, ie very high end vinyl. Thats the same stuff used in Audi'ts and BWM's. Unless you had a VR6 more than likely its not real leather, hence the reason its holding up so well.
 
#6 ·
Team,

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate your responses. I plan to escalate to the dealer and VCNA at this point. I'll report back with my findings.

PM,

The seats in my CC were actually leather and not leatherette, as I specifically ordered it that way. You are correct, the leatherette wears like iron and apart from the smell (leather) it's hard to differentiate them in cars these days, especially in BMWs.

Happy Holidays!!
 
#10 ·
I have Beige seats with Off Black interior and have no issues like this on my seats after 11,000+ miles. I agree that the underlying issue is most likely within the seat (foam or other material) and needs to be addressed. Why can't the seats be replaced entirely?
 
#11 ·
I'm sure they are forced to replace the skins first, then if the issue persists then maybe they will replace the entire seat. The passenger side and rear seats are fine and are used quite often and shown no signs of worn off tanning.

On a side note, I have 2 other issues to bring to their attention at the next service.

1. The Sirius/XM reception is really bad, cuts out often under bridges and takes forever to change from one station to another. My Infiniti's XM always has reception, never cuts out, so I suspect a software issue, or my best guess is an inferior XM receiver selected to cut costs.

2. When in Sport mode, the downshift from 2nd to 1st is so harsh that it feels like I left a half-shaft in my driveway. I avoid Sport mode for now hoping there is a software fix or the transmission can be reset. I recall that my 2007 530i's transmission can be reset by some combination of depressing the throttle and having the ignition in the auxiliary position. Anyone aware of a short-cut for the Volvos??
 
#12 ·
Have you had the Sensus 3.0 update done? That resolves many of the issues you've noted.
 
#16 ·
Call Volvo customer service, explain the issue, and they will get your car entered into the computer for the update. I had the same problem with my dealer and they were able to get the update scheduled within a week of my call.

Jackson's a beautiful little town and hasn't changed much. North Conway is still the tourist/shopping mecca of northern New Hampshire. I'm located on the other side of Crawford Notch, not too far from Franconia Notch and Littleton. I'm heading out now for the annual snow tire mounting ritual. :)
 
#17 ·
Sounds like the Prep Guy had - cleaned the Seats in Very Cold weather . ( Water Damage from Freezing )

3 Times Lemon or get a - New Red Interior ;)
 
#19 ·
Which leather do you have Knolan?

I have the Beechwood in a 12/2011 manufactured MY2012 S60 T5 OSD picked up 4/2012. 3,000 miles in Europe, over 9,000 miles back in the US -- about 6 months of driving total -- seats still look great. I have not treated them (although I bought the Volvo cleaning kit).
 
#21 ·
Which leather do you have Knolan?

I have the Beechwood in a 12/2011 manufactured MY2012 S60 T5 OSD picked up 4/2012. 3,000 miles in Europe, over 9,000 miles back in the US -- about 6 months of driving total -- seats still look great. I have not treated them (although I bought the Volvo cleaning kit).
I have the beige with black accents.
 
#20 ·
I recently had a white loaner S60 with the all tan interior. The car had 26K on the clock and the drivers seat was trashed. The other seats looked pretty worn too. I have a black and tan interior and my drivers seat is looking somewhat worn in spots too (no chains worn by me either) 14K on the clock. While I was at the dealership I sat in a 13 and noticed that they had different leather with different texture. The dealer also told me that there is no more black and tan option. Maybe they changed it up to fix the problem.
 
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