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Leather pealing off (headrest) ? Is this common at this age?

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AustinP

Active Member
Apr 6, 2015
1,664
1,460
Belgium
Doing some groceries today and noticed headrest is dirty (my bad for sure :rolleyes:) so I take a tissue and rubs it off.
Works except too much gets off o_O
See pictures.
My car is almost 5 years old with 200k+ on the odometer. Delivered in June 2015.
It has the next gen leather seats.

It’s the first car I keep above 150k and 4 years, so from my experience, in uncharted territory

Not looking for drama or scandal. Just wondering if it is normal wear of leather in cars that age. Thanks for your comments.

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Apologies for the wrong title spelling, it’s indeed about peeling.
After my initial post, I didn’t get much time to think about it or do some googling: with the nice weather, we worked mostly outside on some home improvement.
We’re still not done (are you ever done in a house ;)) but now that we stopped and allowed ourselves to enjoy the Sunday, I couldn’t help to think leather peeling is odd. I had expected (and already enjoy :eek:) leather creaking at some places often pressed like the sides. But the peeling on the headrest in areas (above and below) where I don’t even push with my head o_O
Anyway, googling did not make me more happy. I found several videos about repairing, nice, but also some explanations that when you have peeling leather, it only happens when it’s not really leather. :confused:
It just happens I have an appointment this Tuesday at Tesla to switch the tires to the summer kit.
With the covid, they are allowed to provide this service but not much more.
By the way, my armrest, which is not leather is also damaged, but this being leatherette, I was not surprised and they had ordered a new one.
Anyway, if you have similar experience, I’d appreciate reading about it.
 
From the pics it looks like that section has been re-dyed (repainted more accurately). If this is the only section peeling than it is almost assuredly what's going on, otherwise you'd see far more peeling issues on the areas that get much more abrasion, especially the lower driver's side seat bolster.
It's very common for dealerships to re-paint seat panels due to minor damage or discoloration before selling it new to the customer. Since you got this many miles/years out of it I'd just find a reputable leather guy and have them painted again.
 
From the pics it looks like that section has been re-dyed (repainted more accurately). If this is the only section peeling than it is almost assuredly what's going on, otherwise you'd see far more peeling issues on the areas that get much more abrasion, especially the lower driver's side seat bolster.
It's very common for dealerships to re-paint seat panels due to minor damage or discoloration before selling it new to the customer. Since you got this many miles/years out of it I'd just find a reputable leather guy and have them painted again.
Thanks for your insight.
I'm the first owner of the car and bought it new in 2015. I’d find it hard to accept that it was “patched”.

I was at Tesla SeC today for the summer tires and the worn out armrest.
My armrest is fake leather and I was not really surprised that it started breaking. No question here: this is genuine wear so on me.
But the headrest does not feel like it should be one me.

The Tesla guys looked at it and I was in the end not surprised to hear very frustrating comments

1) Tesla young tech: “this is because the car is old and you used some product that damaged it.”
My answer: no, and real leather does not peel off.

2) Tesla front desk : “this is actually premium material but not leather”
My answer: no, this is real leather. 5 years ago cars came with real leather. Real leather should not peel off.

3) Tesla front desk goes back to talk with the older guys (which I know and very disappointingly did not show up. But maybe because of Covid). Comes back: “yes indeed, it’s real leather. Are you sure you did not use some product ?
My answer: “no, just a paper tissue.”

I stopped there, as there is no point except for me to get more frustrated.

I had decided to keep the car for the long run, as i really like it but I hope I’ll not bump in more unexpected unusual wear like this.

Found several business that do such repair, hope I chose the right one.
 
Thanks for your insight.
I'm the first owner of the car and bought it new in 2015. I’d find it hard to accept that it was “patched”.

I was at Tesla SeC today for the summer tires and the worn out armrest.
My armrest is fake leather and I was not really surprised that it started breaking. No question here: this is genuine wear so on me.
But the headrest does not feel like it should be one me.

The Tesla guys looked at it and I was in the end not surprised to hear very frustrating comments

1) Tesla young tech: “this is because the car is old and you used some product that damaged it.”
My answer: no, and real leather does not peel off.

2) Tesla front desk : “this is actually premium material but not leather”
My answer: no, this is real leather. 5 years ago cars came with real leather. Real leather should not peel off.

3) Tesla front desk goes back to talk with the older guys (which I know and very disappointingly did not show up. But maybe because of Covid). Comes back: “yes indeed, it’s real leather. Are you sure you did not use some product ?
My answer: “no, just a paper tissue.”

I stopped there, as there is no point except for me to get more frustrated.

I had decided to keep the car for the long run, as i really like it but I hope I’ll not bump in more unexpected unusual wear like this.

Found several business that do such repair, hope I chose the right one.

New leather is painted all the time before the car is ever sold to the client.
People don't want to believe that their "showroom new" car might have been repaired in some way, but it's a fact.
Just think about it... new cars get shipped all over the world, what happens when one of them gets damaged prior to it being sold? Do you think when a new car gets a scratch they just ship the entire car back to the manufacturer? Or in your case, something likely damaged the headrest in transit, what do you think they do? Ship the entire car back? Hell no! They fix it and sell it as new. They do not have to disclose any of this to you either.
The paint on your leather is pealing because it is non-factory and has been repaired at some point prior to you owning it.
 
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New leather is painted all the time before the car is ever sold to the client.
People don't want to believe that their "showroom new" car might have been repaired in some way, but it's a fact.
Just think about it... new cars get shipped all over the world, what happens when one of them gets damaged prior to it being sold? Do you think when a new car gets a scratch they just ship the entire car back to the manufacturer? Or in your case, something likely damaged the headrest in transit, what do you think they do? Ship the entire car back? Hell no! They fix it and sell it as new. They do not have to disclose any of this to you either.
The paint on your leather is pealing because it is non-factory and has been repaired at some point prior to you owning it.
Unless you are buying a bespoke car, all leather in cars is "painted", not just if it's been repaired.