Sportline Seats - Premature Wear

[CoolC]

Cleaning the car at the weekend I noticed that the bolster on the drivers seat is already showing signs of wear.

 

The car is 9 months old and on about 17,500 miles.

 

Anyone else had similar? It's in for service at the end of the month, so will point it out there for the dealers opinion too.

[newbie69]

4 minutes ago, CoolC said:

Cleaning the car at the weekend I noticed that the bolster on the drivers seat is already showing signs of wear.

 

The car is 9 months old and on about 17,500 miles.

 

Anyone else had similar? It's in for service at the end of the month, so will point it out there for the dealers opinion too.

Is that an alcantara surface? Maybe trying to "freshen" it up with some suitable interior/alcantara cleaner can help things? It's a nice material but a bit prone to wear in general.

[Bap33]

@CoolC Do you have some pics of the seat? 

[CoolC]

1 hour ago, newbie69 said:

Is that an alcantara surface? Maybe trying to "freshen" it up with some suitable interior/alcantara cleaner can help things? It's a nice material but a bit prone to wear in general.

It's the "leather" piece on the side. 

 

I'll get a picture in the morning. 

[penguin17]

Could it be from your belt or similar?  I had a textured leather belt (now on the Vegan 'most-wanted' list) and it used to rub the bolsters on my Leon.  I stopped wearing it for that reason alone and the wear didn't get any worse. 

[CoolC]

I very rarely wear a belt, and only one jacket I wear on only the coldest days has rivets on the pockets and waist band. 

[Danny 57]

I have memory seats and have one position for getting in and out of the car and another position for driving as I noticed very early that marks were beginning to appear. Not had any since in nearly 7 years. If it is manual adjustment may I suggest simply moving your seat to get out and back in.

[newbie69]

Don't want to sound negative but this definitely looks like it's caused by rushing into/out of the car, or parking in very tight places regularly that don't allow you to fully open the door so you rub against the bolster. It's not exactly a universal type of wear that could maybe mean a repair under warranty as it's in a very particular and obvious spot, but you could always try the dealer.

I wouldn't think it's belts but rather those small jean buttons at the pockets's corners. I curse every time I have to squeeze into my bucket seats and I hear the scratching sound, then scared to look whether I've damaged the seat or not. You can only take more care while exiting/entering I reckon.

Another good reason to enable this via VCDS:
 

 

Edited 5 February, 2019 by newbie69

[Nick_H]

I think that bits real leather. Have you applied any cleaning / leather treatment while you have had the car ?

[Adrian55555]

With regards to moving the seat back and forth you can code 'Easy Entry' which moves seat back when ignition is off and as soon as door is open.  The seat returns to saved position once door is closed and ignition is turned on.  

 

As for warranty it wont be covered. And the manufacturer has ALWAYS asked for the faulty parts back to inspect.  

Edited 5 February, 2019 by Adrian55555

[silver1011]

None of Skoda's leather has ever seen a cow.

 

Unfortunately these types of complaints are becoming common across most Skoda models recently.

 

A shame, especially if it's cost cutting.

[Whenwillilearn]

Agree with the above. 

 

Though mine hasn't gone the same way yet my previous octavia mk 3 did after less than 10k miles. Dealer not interested they just painted the bits worn black.  That wore off quickly also. 

 

To late now but if you buy another car with micron thickness pseudo leather frequently clean and apply and leather balm to keep it supple. 

 

Superb only in name. 

[Nick_H]

Mines fine after 40 months so go figure !

[penguin17]

12 hours ago, silver1011 said:

None of Skoda's leather has ever seen a cow.

 

 

I thought the bits you actually made contact with were and everything else such as the sides and back of the chairs are pleather? 

 

EDIT: and I'm on about the 'leather upholstery' not Sportline seats. 

Edited 8 February, 2019 by penguin17

[silver1011]

I guess it's how you read Skoda's specs...

 

[penguin17]

35 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

I guess it's how you read Skoda's specs...

 

Indeed.  Perhaps "Synthetic upholstery - may contain traces of leather" may have been better. 

[freelunch]

Reminds me of Naugahyde, an American brand of plastic "leather". They even created a Nauga, the animal that the "leather" came from. It appeared in cars and cafe bench seating. Then, Duct Tape (or duck tape) was invented to patch the Naugahyde where someone had run their stiletto down the seat. I'm sure this never happens anymore.

[CoolC]

So, it was in for service today, and unsurprisingly, it is not classed as a warranty. 

 

The question I actually asked them was their thoughts on how VW would class it at the end of lease. If it's this worn 10 months in, how worn will it be after three years? and will I be penalised for it?

 

Their suggestion was to put some sort of cover over it  because, yeah, I went for the Sportline to cover the seats up........

 

At least it's on record that I asked it to be looked at on it's first service.

 

[Whenwillilearn]

No penalty from VW. Exactly same occurred to my octavia and the dealer commented on it was only cosmetic thus VW finance would not be interested. 

For once the dealer was correct.