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Leather quality
Hi Guys
I think I saw a thread somewhere on the forum about the quality of the leather in the XC90 but I could be wrong. I have only had my XC90 momentum for about 3 weeks now and I have noticed that the pigments on the driver seat and the passenger seat is starting to wear away. I don't know what other people's thoughts are but I think the quality is poor! The car is a lease vehicle and I am concerned that after 3 years the state of the seats will be horrendous. Does anyone have any thoughts / products on how to prevent them from wearing away? Could it be a poor quality leather from volvo and that I should be in touch with them about it? Appricate some feedback. Cheers |
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which color is your interior? I assume your Momentum have stock leather seats, also not nappa leather which might me more fragile.
there is a leather care kit available to Volvo, and even a special one made for light colors like amber or blond. |
Most modern leather car seats actually have a thin vinyl coating on the top as this makes it far more hard wearing. The downside is that the leather feels much stiffer and slicker.
I am not sure my nappa seats have that coating as it is very soft and I'm having to clean the side bolster once a month to remove the jean blue it gets coloured with. This is far more than I have had to clean previous cars with ivory and very light grey leather. I've not see the standard leather, is it really soft or is it stiff? |
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No need to buy the expensive volvo cleaning kit, I use Astonish leather cleaning cream, It only costs £1 for the home bargain shop, or Yorkshire trading store and other outlets, if you have either near you, it does an excellent job of cleaning and feeding the leather, I have Blond napper leather which require cleaning often and always use this product, make sure you use a white cloth to apply it and buff it off so you dont transfer dye from the cloth to light coloured seats.. |
Someone mentioned that the Volvo leather kit was the same as the one sold by Ikea at a fraction of the cost.
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This presumably: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/t...-art-10032294/
Haven't used it so can't comment on it's suitability. |
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Cheers guys for the responses. The leather is the standard perfaracted type for the momentum and is beige colour. On closer inspecting the areas it looks like like scratches which makes me think that the quality is not there.
I have been looking on the detailing world forum and see that the company and product in the link has got really good reviews. http://lttleathercare.com/product/au...ther-care-kit/ I have placed an order and waiting for it to arrive to put some sort of coating on them whilst it is still fresh. Hopefully this should help!! |
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We went for the charcoal, and after only 4 months I'm actually very impressed. The leather looks great still and seems a lot more durable than I feared it might be. I even dropped the first row onto a plastic bowl the kids had left on the seat and didn't realise for a week, when I lifted the seat I was pretty gutty by a very obvious ring imprint in the leather... But to my surprise after a few days it seemed to be loosing the imprint and now it has completely gone. I am using the official Volvo leather care kit. While I appreciate there are many cheaper (and possibly better) creams and cleaners out there, knowing the issues I'd seen, I didn't want Volvo to blame another product I'd used should I have to complain about the leather at all. I haven't used the cleaner yet, but have conditioned with the cream about 3 - 4 weeks after delivery. :wq |
I don't find very interesting saving some money buying a non-specific product for leather care. The leather care kit offered by Volvo Switzerland is made by Swisswax which is a well know brand which I trust in.
What puzzle me it is Volvo saying ( last winter issue of their magazine with the leather care kit advertising page) new leather seats don't need to be conditioned for the first 2 years. In my previous cars with leather interiors I always begin the treatment after a few months, without waiting the first signs of wearing. |
Your clothing may have metal buttons or zips that are scratching the protective layer on the leather facings. There's also the risk of dye transfer onto lighter-coloured leather.
The best leather cleaners and conditioners that I've used are from LTT and Dr Leather. |
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You cant prevent it happening as you slide over it when you get in and turn around . |
I use Heaven for Leather as recommended by Auto Express .. does a great job on mine cleaning it and making it feel supple ..
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accesso...en-for-leather |
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The only concern I have with my XC90 nappa leather seats is where the leather on the front seats base outer edge rubs against the the top edge of the plastic sides where the seat controls are, this marks the leather badly and I think it is only a matter of time before they wear a hole in the leather. I am thinking about putting a piece of soft leather material between the leather and the plastic. |
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Pigment coated itself has a number of variants including grain corrected leathers etc. (i.e. where the layers of leather are cut so thin there is virtually no grain left and it gets stamped back in. Either way and importantly though the finishing side is the same in that the hides get tanned with colour and a clearcoat is sprayed on top - the only thing these need is regular cleaning and hydration. (not oils etc in "conditioners") Regarding semi aninline there is a small degree of more breath ability, but either way conditioners should be avoided as in a majority most of the oils etc. cannot be taken in by the leather. Regarding testing for leather with water put a small spot on the leather to see if it gets absorbed chances are it won't. In regards to the leather kit from Volvo it contains a Cleaner and sealant cream not a conditioner. Furthermore, and sorry to pick on the post quoted but LTT and Dr Leather are very good, but neither sell "conditioners" they actually sell sealants. Both of which protect and rehydrate the clearcoat leather. Biggest "threat" to coated leather comes from jean dye which can break down the coating over time if left to attack it for to long. |
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I personally quite like LTT (Mrs Bass knows her stuff there) and equally so does Darren at Dr Leather.
Regarding cleaning both of the companies mentioned supply good cleaning products - if pushed I prefer Darren's as the wipes are good for "regular" cleaning in being much quicker and simpler to use LTT's is good but a bit more time consuming to use. For more in depth cleaning then either of their products are good, I currently have the Dr Leather bottled cleaner though. Equally both of their sealants are good, LTT is probably more cost effective though, Dr Leather if you get it from the wrong sources can be almost double of other sources (Polished Bliss have it for around £30, other places it is nudging £40 and I found some even higher before delivery is taken into account). I have never tried Volvo's directly, but the premise of the kit is exactly the same as the others mentioned. Beyond that I have tried the whole "APC" route for cleaning leather, but it is far more risky and a dedicated cleaner is probably better for more regular cleaning as well. Protection wise I have tried Gtechniq L1, but went back to LTT and Dr Leather... Ultimately regarding modern leather the treatment "cycle" has not changed, you are better doing gentle, little and often rather than being overly aggressive in one hit, similar to the rest of detailing. The only "major" difference is the products used overall. |
I have flagged to the dealer that the nappa leather on the side bolsters on the base of my sports contour seats is creasing a lot on the side near the door after 2500 miles. I am trying to avoid as much as poss sitting on it when getting in and out of car but it is unavoidable. I have set up a memory button just for entry and exit so that is fully back and as low as poss.
Dealer said it was not bad enough yet to replace it but has logged it. |
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P.S, please see latest posting on road noise thread. Very interesting. |
Interesting discussion with the dealer today.
There is a bulletin out apparently for my seats and quality of leather for the base of the seat. It includes fitting new leather with more stitching, but Volvo are stating this should only be done to the seat affected, i.e. the drivers seat. I mentioned that I would not be comfortable if in any way the 2 seats do not match and also if the drivers seat has gone the passenger seat will do the same depending on how much it is used at some point. He came back to me and said the instruction is only to complete the driver seat. |
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That's all you need to do I think as the photos will auto appear in your post |
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As requested, pic of drivers seat on door side with nappa leather. May not seem that bad but my car has only done 2500 miles and I look after the interior of my cars. (it was raining when I took the pic)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/a...psti9has6g.jpg |
Thanks for posting the picture. It is always hard to understand the leather wearing from a picture, but it seems anyway too much for a 2500 miles car.
Although I guess wearing is more related to getting in/out cycles than to mileage. Mine have nappa ventilated (therefore perforated) and I begin to see some wearing at 3000 Km... |
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Like anything if based on what I know now if I ordered again, this is one thing on my list I would probably not order again, the sports contour seats, I like the comfort but want something that will still look good in years to come. I had not seen them in person but sat in the R Design and thought they would be the same. I think the R design seats are different on the base sides to mine. Maybe someone could take a pic for comparison. |
I believe the R-design seats are not full leather (only the side bolster are leather) maybe the nubuk imitation is more durable.
Having had high side bolster sport seats in previous car, I avoided on purpose the contour seats option in the XC90 but the comfort seats have still high sides which are the part with earlier wearing. |
Update from today:
Seat base on drivers side replaced. Looks exactly the same. Dealer said that the only difference they could see visually was there was an extra row of stitching inside the leather. Also said that another XC90 was coming in to be done as well. Now I have nice smooth leather again and will see how it goes. |
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