I've had my Model 3 for one month (love it!) and have less than 1000 miles on it. Today I noticed that there are black marks on the lumbar area of the white seats. It looks like seat heater wires. They appear to be burn marks. I've tried cleaning it with a damp cloth and a baby wipe, but to no avail. Has anyone else seen this problem?
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Burn marks on white seats from seat heater?
- Thread starter Susala
- Start date
Here are the marks that look like they are from the seat heater. I just took this in my dark garage using just the interior lights. It's more obvious in daylight. The lumbar area on the driver's seat. Note that I always have my seat heater turned on when I'm driving.
How hot do you have them on and for how long to cause that? You must have thick skin to not feel the burn.
A
I have them on all the way whenever I drive. This seems to be a problem with the seat heater, not the driver. (-;
mrbulk
Member
BluestarE3
Active Member
Maybe it's dye transfer from clothing fabric to the seat due to prolonged exposure to excessive heat? Have you noticed any discoloration or damage to your clothing?
Tesla recommends wiping down the seats with alcohol if they show staining; I’m curious if you’ve tried testing a small area to see whether or not the patterns are stains and can be removed. It’s not clear whether this may be an interaction with a colored dye from clothing and the heat of the car or whether there may be something else going on. Either way you should report it Tesla and take their recommendation before doing anything else.
BluestarE3
Active Member
Not trying to assign/shift blame for the seat discoloration nor assuming you have any of the following conditions, but just want to bring this to your attention out of concern:
Owner's Manual said:
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
I have some similar marks on the passenger seat but assumed it was due to my wife ignoring my warnings about wearing super dark brand new jeans in the car.
Will have to try some baby wipes + isopropyl alcohol this weekend.
Will have to try some baby wipes + isopropyl alcohol this weekend.
I've been somewhat challenged keeping the white materials of the seats clean. Quite a number of users have reported the transfer of color from jeans and other clothing to the seats themselves. This is the first time I'm seeing it with heating element patterns. I am careful with what I wear while driving (usually slacks or sweats) although I've noticed that after picking up and dropping off the kids and their friends I tend to get black marks on the seats. I'm now wiping down the seats once or twice a month an ethoxylated alcohol-based wipe "Meguiar's" which I picked up from AutoZone. I don't know what the long-term viability is of these seats, but from the YouTube videos (From Tesla Bjorn and others) they look like they wear down more quickly than their animal-leather counterparts. They ended up replacing Bjorn's for free as part of his warranty, although he waited quite some time.
Is it like super cold in Medina? -- wherever that is?
Honestly I think the seat heaters are a perk for extra cold days, for a minimum amount of time.
Although I agree a seat should not turn colors (but white is likely a different story) I don't think normal use for a seat heater is ALL the time, EVERY drive.
I have never even put mine on 3 bars because it's far too hot. I will put in on 1 bar for maybe 5 min then turn it off.
Do you do it for pain relief or why ALL the time??
Honestly I think the seat heaters are a perk for extra cold days, for a minimum amount of time.
Although I agree a seat should not turn colors (but white is likely a different story) I don't think normal use for a seat heater is ALL the time, EVERY drive.
I have never even put mine on 3 bars because it's far too hot. I will put in on 1 bar for maybe 5 min then turn it off.
Do you do it for pain relief or why ALL the time??
I tend to leverage the seat-heaters rather than the heater in the car itself to achieve higher mileage during the winter months. The difference in energy consumption can be very large, up to 6kw for the resistance-heater vs 100w for the car seats. When I do, I alternate between it's medium and highest settings. In my prior cars, I used to leave it on "set it and forget it" all winter long because I found it pleasant and relaxing.
If I had an opportunity to order all over again it probably would not be with white seats; they're gorgeous but just a bit impractical. Having to change what you wear because of the car is straight BS, and I hope Tesla figures out some magic nano-coating to solve this.
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