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Perforated seats durability?
- Thread starter Marcus Adolfsson
- Start date
Paying attention to the cars we service at my store, even high quality perforated leather seats suffer durability issues.
We see drivers seat covers split open and just plain worn down by 80 to 100,00 miles on the perforated seats and cars in great shape at 150k on normal leather seats.
I'm a fan of ventilated seats ( no pun intended) and I'll choose them if they are an option knowing this.
Trade offs
We see drivers seat covers split open and just plain worn down by 80 to 100,00 miles on the perforated seats and cars in great shape at 150k on normal leather seats.
I'm a fan of ventilated seats ( no pun intended) and I'll choose them if they are an option knowing this.
Trade offs
It's quite common with all leather seats--that's why the synthetic Ultra White seats are listed as being more durable on Tesla's own order pages. Likewise, our personal experience with BMW Leatherette and MBZ MB Tex has been similar: wears like iron and looks new many years later. In strong contrast, a BMW or MBZ with leather seats typically looks worn and tired within a year.
And we need not even bring up the moral and ethical implications of causing unimaginable suffering for a seating material, but for those that still believe the myths and lies their parents told them, do please watch this short TEDx presentation by Melanie Joy, PhD:
TEDxMünchen - Beyond Carnism and toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices | Melanie Joy at TEDxMünchen "At Second Glance"
Not disagreeing with you @TSLA Pilot on overall durability of synthetic materials - I would love to see more synthetic options on cars that are not relegated to special status (low-end textile with feature limitations or special colors like white).
That said, the above pictures do suggest Tesla's white perforated leatherette does suffer from the same creases and has been reported in the past to be more vulnerable to ripping and at least early ones had too poor support underneath than Tesla's leather. As well as having related coloring issues from the seatbelts etc. on the white seatbelt connection point plastic/textile...
So, it is not as simple as synthetic is better, always...
In my opinion the leather on Tesla's has always been fairly "loose". It is not as tight to begin with as on the German premiums. I wonder if the material underneath is sub-par on Teslas or if it is the actual top material quality.
p.s. Perhaps these creases are why Tesla let go of the ventilated seating. Too bad they just didn't beef up the materials or improved more supportive stitching patterns instead...
That said, the above pictures do suggest Tesla's white perforated leatherette does suffer from the same creases and has been reported in the past to be more vulnerable to ripping and at least early ones had too poor support underneath than Tesla's leather. As well as having related coloring issues from the seatbelts etc. on the white seatbelt connection point plastic/textile...
So, it is not as simple as synthetic is better, always...
In my opinion the leather on Tesla's has always been fairly "loose". It is not as tight to begin with as on the German premiums. I wonder if the material underneath is sub-par on Teslas or if it is the actual top material quality.
p.s. Perhaps these creases are why Tesla let go of the ventilated seating. Too bad they just didn't beef up the materials or improved more supportive stitching patterns instead...
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One thing Tesla could do is have quality stitching like this, with great material support underneath the leather/leatherette. It makes a world of difference. I had this setup in my previous Audi, though different colors - it was still pretty much perfect after several years. And these were ventilated massage seats with tons of adjustments, so they were stretching by design and yet keeping their form...
I especially liked that solid leather liner in the middle. It was a nice touch. But I can also see it having a supportive role in keeping things firm.
http://www.caricos.com/cars/a/audi/2011_audi_a8_l/images/34.html
I especially liked that solid leather liner in the middle. It was a nice touch. But I can also see it having a supportive role in keeping things firm.
http://www.caricos.com/cars/a/audi/2011_audi_a8_l/images/34.html
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Has anyone tried patching the tears? I tried double sided carpet tape just to keep the tear from expanding but I made it worse as the tape stuck to and pulled the material before I could get the tiny piece of tape under the small flap.
alseTrick
Active Member
That stitching/design looks both sturdy and premium.
I presume the smaller pieces of leather make the seat more durable (eg, the large crease down the middle reduces surface area and the "stretching effect"). And all the diamond cross stitching reinforces the material further.
Tesla should definitely incorporate those elements.
BigMskiman
Active Member
I got outta my car with needle nose pliers in my back pocket and tore a hole in my seat. Local auto upholstery shop would not touch it, having worked on another Tesla with leather seats. He would remove the whole cover and sew on a machine, whereas I was thinking a clever sewing job by hand just to prevent spreading. I asked about tape, he warned the adhesive spot will look worse than the hole. So I'll try another shop opinion.
Resurrecting this thread in hope of a suggestion. Long time lurker, first time poster.
2016 Model X P90D, VIN 009xx, took delivery 3/31/16, Mileage 26K, Ultra-white perforated seats
Love the car and love the UW perforated seats until my driver seat suffered its first tear when I sat in the car with two passports sticking out of my back pocket.
I remember Elon's Twitter post earlier in this thread acknowledging that the UW perforated seats were friable, needed additional backing and that early X owners would get this performed.
I call Tesla today to inquire and was told "it was no longer their policy to perform this service". Then, he says, to repair the tear, that they would have to replace the entire seat at a cost of $3,400!
He did give me the name of an auto upholstery shop, but has anyone else run into this?
TIA
2016 Model X P90D, VIN 009xx, took delivery 3/31/16, Mileage 26K, Ultra-white perforated seats
Love the car and love the UW perforated seats until my driver seat suffered its first tear when I sat in the car with two passports sticking out of my back pocket.
I remember Elon's Twitter post earlier in this thread acknowledging that the UW perforated seats were friable, needed additional backing and that early X owners would get this performed.
I call Tesla today to inquire and was told "it was no longer their policy to perform this service". Then, he says, to repair the tear, that they would have to replace the entire seat at a cost of $3,400!
He did give me the name of an auto upholstery shop, but has anyone else run into this?
TIA
Yep, this is terrible. I am glad my 2016 MX with UW perforated seats is gone and that my 2018 p100d has BLACK non perforated seats.
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Sadly, I have no good suggestions. I really feel for you, though, and do agree that it’s disappointing that Tesla never followed up on the “backing” comment by Elon. I hope you find a reasonable (psychologically and financially) reolution to your issue.
Yikes @ that hole
Same situation here. Though they replaced our seats, the new white ones were shorter and less comfy. The black is more comfortable and worry free.
Appreciate everyone's sympathy.
Has anyone had a tear of this size repaired?
AnOutsider, did they replace your seats because of a tear or to install better backing? Did they do so under warranty?
I am not one to advance an issue as a customer, but EM tweeted to everyone that it is a known issue and that it would be replaced. Seems hard to say that it is not our policy when the CEO tweets "we will fix it".
Has anyone had a tear of this size repaired?
AnOutsider, did they replace your seats because of a tear or to install better backing? Did they do so under warranty?
I am not one to advance an issue as a customer, but EM tweeted to everyone that it is a known issue and that it would be replaced. Seems hard to say that it is not our policy when the CEO tweets "we will fix it".
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