My Seat material is cracking!

[webshot]

Just noticed today that the sides on my leather seats are not leather and that they are cracking! I can see a seam/crease along the side where the seat always folds/moves and that is cracking!

Man this sucks! I only have 45,000 miles on this car.

Any suggestions?


2003 limited

 

[iFORCE]

It is leather. The one thing with leather seats is that if you park in the sun alot, the moisture from the leather will tend to dry out.

Solution: Take something like Meguairs Gold Class Leather cleaner/conditioner, apply it to the leather seats, apply an even coat and let it sit till the leather soaks it in.

Another way that someone else has tried was to apply it all over the seats.... and saran wrap the seats and left it over night... in the morning he had lucious soft seats again.

just remember.. the reason why it dries on a seat and not in real life is because the cow itself provides moisture to the skin.

 

[webshot]

Thanks for the reply but the sides of the leather seats in a limited 4runner are not leather. Just the surface you butt sits on is.

I know this for a fact now, because the vinyl on the side is what is cracked and I can see all the way through the crack to the foam!


Oh well I looked up a new cover from Toyota and it's like $700. I guess I will try to an upholstery shop to fix it.

 

[iFORCE]

ok.... the whole seat is going to have foam underneath... but I don't see how the materials on the side of the seat is going to crack. what part are we exactly talking about?

 

[webshot]

ok.... the whole seat is going to have foam underneath... but I don't see how the materials on the side of the seat is going to crack. what part are we exactly talking about?

 

[rando]

Eek! That sucks dude.

As far as I know, the sides and backs are not leather -- fairly typical for leather seats in most cars/trucks. Regardless, leather and vinyl are prone to drying and cracking. Regular cleaning and conditioning can extend the material life.

If it's already 'cracked', then there's not much you can do besides having it repaired. Based on your mileage, I doubt you'll have much success pursuing a warranty repair through your dealer. You have a few choices to proceed.

0) Live with it.
1) Vinyl repair kit. Inexpensive but the results may or may not be particularly pleasing.
2) Have an upholstery shop sew in a replacemet vinyl panel. With a good upholsteror, this will look stock again. This might cost you upto a couple hundred dollars. If one panel is already cracking, it may make more sense economically to replace the whole cushion cover.
3) Have an upholstery shop replace the lower seat cushion cover. These can be ordered directly from Toyota (expensive) or after market (dunno if they'll sell you just the seat cushion alone).
4) Have an upholstery shop replace the entire seat cover.
5) Order the cushion cover or entire seat cover and do the replacement yourself (not easy).

 

[Fourty-four]

It is leather. The one thing with leather seats is that if you park in the sun alot, the moisture from the leather will tend to dry out.

Solution: Take something like Meguairs Gold Class Leather cleaner/conditioner, apply it to the leather seats, apply an even coat and let it sit till the leather soaks it in.

Another way that someone else has tried was to apply it all over the seats.... and saran wrap the seats and left it over night... in the morning he had lucious soft seats again.

just remember.. the reason why it dries on a seat and not in real life is because the cow itself provides moisture to the skin.

That's funny stuff. Unfortunately, almost all vehicles with factory leather seats are only leather on the seating surfaces. In other words, the top surface of the seating cushion and the fronts of the seat back are the only leather parts of the seat.

Sucks, doesn't it?

 

[webshot]

It is leather. The one thing with leather seats is that if you park in the sun alot, the moisture from the leather will tend to dry out.

Solution: Take something like Meguairs Gold Class Leather cleaner/conditioner, apply it to the leather seats, apply an even coat and let it sit till the leather soaks it in.

Another way that someone else has tried was to apply it all over the seats.... and saran wrap the seats and left it over night... in the morning he had lucious soft seats again.

just remember.. the reason why it dries on a seat and not in real life is because the cow itself provides moisture to the skin.

I condition and protect everything in the car monthly. I park in a garage both at home and at work. The UV thing is not in question.

Weak material and the fact that I'm 6' 2" 220 pounds is what I figure caused it.


I'm really getting disappointed in Toyota quality.

 

[webshot]

That's funny stuff. Unfortunately, almost all vehicles with factory leather seats are only leather on the seating surfaces. In other words, the top surface of the seating cushion and the fronts of the seat back are the only leather parts of the seat.

Sucks, doesn't it?

Why yes it does!