Hi Guys,

Just wanted to come to any new owners with a bit of a concern i've got over the quality of the leather used in the interior. (black leather/alcantara in my case)

I've had the car now for 10 days and done 466 miles. I've noticed a few times getting in and out of the car that I keep catching my rear end on the outer support section. Not thinking much of it i've just carried on as normal but last night it particularly annoyed me so I took a look at it with the intention of adjusting the seat so as to minimise continuation of it over time.

To my dismay there is now an area about 2 inches long on the edge of the support which is now quite visibly scuffed.

I was just wondering what you guys thought of this and whether any of you think i've got reason to complain and have something done about it? Also whether anybody has noticed any similar issues?

I dropped the car off at the Pro detailers this morning and his opinion was that it should not happen after only 10 days, in time yes but not 10 days. I'm the typical jean wearing chap (which I know will take it's toll over time on leather) but bearing in mind we've had a leather sofa for the best part of 6 years now and thats never suffered any issues i'm a bit pee'd off to be honest.

Interested too hear your thoughts

I used to get this on my vrs as the side bolsters were quite prominent...just the downside of having deep seats in that case..cannot comment on none sports seats

Skoda use cheap leather/leatherette. Fact. Its one of the only areas of compromised quality on my Yeti imo. The Octavia leather looked and felt the same to me. :(

I used to get this on my vrs as the side bolsters were quite prominent...just the downside of having deep seats in that case..cannot comment on none sports seats

Skoda use cheap leather/leatherette. Fact. Its one of the only areas of compromised quality on my Yeti imo. The Octavia leather looked and felt the same to me. :(

Stick these both together and it probably goes a long way to answering your question - do it regularly on my Superb, the drivers side bolster is considerably more worn than anywhere else.

Skoda use cheap leather/leatherette. Fact. Its one of the only areas of compromised quality on my Yeti imo. The Octavia leather looked and felt the same to me. :(

It must be cheap to last all of ten days....Max!! I was going to buy a drivers seat cover but I dare say that isn't going to help a great deal. Not sure whether to take it up with Skoda Uk or the dealer I bought from as they're 160 miles away!

One other area I've got worries about long term is the plastic moulding that surrounds the base of the seat and meets the leather.....Just take a look at that and the way the plastic edge meets the leather and tell me that thats not going to look a mess after 3 years of driving.

Just for clarification, it's the quality of the leather and the scuff on it after 10 days I was hoping to have grounds for complaint on....... Catching my fat arse on it is my problem

Personally I'd start by taking it up with the dealer. Considering their distance they may accept some emailed photos which they could then take up with SUK if need be?

You can take it up with any dealer if its a warranty issue; doesn't have to be the supplying dealer..

So it appears skoda used "value range" cows for the seats. Surely if that is the case there must be a product that can be applied to perhaps soften? and protect the leather? I have used some treatments on previous leather seats to prevent damage from my little rascals, autoglym I think, I used it on sofa at home as well and it protected that well. It's not ideal but I can't see skoda holding up warranty claims for new seat covers for long, even if it does suck!!

For info, I had a VW Touran which had a cloth interior and the drivers seat base suffered premature wear and looked really poor after only a few thousand miles and VW happily retrimmed the seat for me, so I suspect Skoda would have to do it as well, its a common problem on the mk2 Octavia so presumably this has again carried over to the mk3, my mk2 vRS has leather bolsters and mine is OK, apart from a scratch on the leather but that was my fault, so I would certainly take it up with your local Skoda dealer.

The Mk2 vRS leather upholstery is holding up better than I thought it would. Initially I was a little concerned that the centre trim on the drivers seat base was starting to sag slightly at only a few thou miles but upon looking at nearly new MK6 Golf GTis (whose leather seems to sag and go v shiny v quicky!) Ive come to realise its really not so bad after all.

The base on mine has gone a little shiny but its nothing a decent leather conditioner doesnt sort out, the leather marks quite easily buy again the marks normally come out with a bit of conditioner. I am very careful with how I get in and out of it though.

Biggest bugbear is how easily the seat foam gets indented. My child seat has dented the hell out of my back seat; would probably return to form in time but is a bit unsightly when the seat comes out.

Id probably suggest the MK3 ought to be no worse, better if anything but on the flipside that one of the big things about the new model is cost saving, the leather could be of lesser quality?

Edited 7 June, 201313 yr by pipsyp

Try LiquidLeather.com for all your leather cleaning and conditioning. This isn't an ad! I used to use AutoGlym on my Scorpio (with its myriad ventilation holes). Not good. The Gliptone products on the Liquid Leather site are far superior. They also market ScuffMaster. May be worth checking out.

I looked at the leather in a new Superb L&K and in a new Yeti L&K earlier this week and thought the quality did not bear comparison with the standard (ie non-Nappa) leather Seat Surgeons uses for their retrims. JMTPW.

I looked at the leather in a new Superb L&K and in a new Yeti L&K earlier this week and thought the quality did not bear comparison with the standard (ie non-Nappa) leather Seat Surgeons uses for their retrims. JMTPW.

it doesn't, nor the leather VW use in their nicer models which is softer, thicker and has a more realistic leather grain. :(

This is one of the things that swayed me away from Skoda and towards Audi, the quality of all the individual things is far better. I was happy enough to get lower quality when i saved 10k on my mk2 vrs over an audi, but considering the small cost difference now, it was a no brainier.

This is one of the things that swayed me away from Skoda and towards Audi, the quality of all the individual things is far better. I was happy enough to get lower quality when i saved 10k on my mk2 vrs over an audi, but considering the small cost difference now, it was a no brainier.

I too was disappointed with the black leather in the Superb, hence only too happy to save a few hundred quid and stick with alcantara on the new Octy. I did get a ride in the newer L&K Superb recently and it had the ventilated leather option which seemed much better quality and softer to the touch. One of my problems with full leather is overheating on long trips, even in winter with the heated seats off. If I do go back to full leather in future it will have to be ventilated!

Edited 8 June, 201313 yr by Matt Pez

leather creases or wear are not covered by the warranty. is what you will hear when complaining about them

In that case, with wear showing after 10 days as above, I'd be arguing not fit for purpose! My local dealer has no problem bending over backwards and covering me for things without arguing re wear! Hence I'll be with them for as long as I own a Skoda!

Copied from the New Vehicle Warranty:

Items where the lifetime of the component is or can be influenced by driving style and external factors will only be considered under the terms of the warranty for a period of six months or 6,500 miles (whichever is soonest).

Beyond that limit, the defects must be classified as wear and tear and will not be covered by the SŠKODA warranty.

Components subject to wear and tear are as follows:

• Brake linings and disc pads

• Clutch release bearings

• Clutch pressure plates and centre plates

• Tyres

• Wiper blades (wiper rubbers have no warranty owing to their conditions of use)

• Seat and backrest covers

• Floor coverings

• Spark plugs

• Batteries for key fobs and alarms

• Light bulbs

• Shock absorbers

My reading of the above is that the scuffing being complained about should be covered by the vehicle's warranty.

.......although possibly not if you wear jeans with studs on the back pocket

Our son always manages to ruin his car seats by slopping into his cars wearing his studded jeans, often in a matter of weeks

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

The OEM leather must be paper thin to damage that easily. Real leather will take real abuse (which is why cows wear it).

I can confirm that this cars weakness is the leather(what little there is!!). I dare say that the cloth seats may be more hard wearing! On inspection there is not much leather at all!! It only seems to be on some of the outward facing parts of the seat and is mixed in between the alcantara and a PVC imitation leather. The back of front seats are imitation leather the fronts of seats appear to be as well, infact the leather is of such poor quality it difficult to distinguish from the imitation!!! It's a shame really,

I looked at the leather in a new Superb L&K and in a new Yeti L&K earlier this week and thought the quality did not bear comparison with the standard (ie non-Nappa) leather Seat Surgeons uses for their retrims. JMTPW.

Hyundai leather seems to be the most plastic. Toyota had decent looking cows.

Good thing I did not get the leather.

Well... *sighs*

I've ordered both leather AND the crome trim discussed in another thread as inferior...

Makes me feel a little bit like a looser now...

The irony of it all (IF leather is even worse than cloth) is that I went for leather since I got similar "wear marks" on my

previous Octavia cloth seat (driver side) just after one year!! *lol* (better to laugh than to cry at it I suppose...)

I expected leather to be more resistant in this case. (...since cows seem to manage quite well...)