White Seat Discoloration surprise after 3 weeks…advice? warranty claim?

[nlitend1]

Hello, I just took delivery of my first Tesla 2023 M3 RWD with white seats. I spent a lot of time reviewing this extremely helpful forum and getting some tips. Super excited to be part of this community. Thank you all for sharing and I would appreciate any advice…

I ordered my GYEON Quartz Leathershield and applied it as soon as got it home…following application instructions carefully. Application was straightforward and the seats looked great.

I have driven the car to and from work and no one else has ridden in the car. Yesterday, I went to put my Lusso car seat protectors in the back and (much to my surprise) there was an odd discoloration/line across the rear seat!!! There are also areas where the stitching is now tan/brown and some small brown spots in the areas of the cloth that surrounds the seat belt latch (female end in the seat bottom).

What could this be and what are my options to take care of it? Obviously I invested in taking care of the seats and this was quite a disappointing surprise. The seats were new/clean prior to applying GYEON. I did not use any extra cleaners prior to application. I know it has been raining a lot lately here in Southern California….but I am certain the seat never got wet. Is it possibly a manufacturing defect (if so, would starting a conversation with tesla SC be worthwhile?) or more likely a reaction to the GYEON? I tried wiping it off with baby wipes and it’s definitively not superficial/wipeable.


I took the following pictures late last night after removing the car seat protectors (hence the reason the seats have an abnormal texture in some places - the seat cover has white grip/texture on underside). The pictures don’t show much of the tan discoloration (red arrows), but it’s there on the outer seam vs inner.

Thanks again!

-Brad

 

[heavyD]

I used Gyeon Leather Shield on my white seats and I have not got any discoloration like that. It looks like some liquid dripped on it the way the discoloration is cloudy on only half the seats.

 

[APT21]

My white seats seem a bit dingy. Today I stumbled on using dawn dishsoap in a spray bottle. Cleaned up very well and finished it off with a conditioner.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Clean with warm water and nondetergent soap (baby shampoo for example is quite safe) as per manual.
Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

The seats are PU and shouldn't stain that easily. I'm not sure however if the coating you applied would interfere with cleaning or lock things. I've seen plenty of cases of people reporting marks on their seats and they are gone after some cleaning.

 

[nlitend1]

Looking again at the above pictures taken in the garage…they don’t do it justice. I attached some more below taken outside on a cloudy day (sure is hard to photograph white without shadows). It almost appears like the left side of the seat cushion closest to the bolster/door is whiter than the rest of the seats. The only thing I can think of is maybe the factory or dealer cleaned that area with something before delivery and now it’s lighter for some reason… it doesn’t makes sense that only that area of one seat in the entire car would look different.

I am 100% certain it did not get wet nor was it treated any differently than the rest of the car since I took delivery.

The yellowing of the stitching sucks and is completely odd compared to any other reviews I’ve seen of GYEON..so I have to believe that’s not normal either. It is on multiple areas of the bottom seat cushion only, but I suppose it’s not too obvious unless you look for it.

 

[nlitend1]

P.S. I added some of the pictures of areas where the stitching is not discolored and a photo of the rear passenger seat to show comparisons in the same lighting.

I suppose I can try to clean the “whiter” area in hopes that it gets darker…but it seems counterintuitive. I did wipe the entire area with baby wipes without any change. The car is 3 weeks old without anyone riding back there. It would be odd to have a large area like that.

I appreciate the advice/feedback. Please keep it coming. Also, Anyone have any experience with making a warranty claim for seats?

 

[heavyD]

Are you positive they were not like that at delivery. Kind of looks like the seats may have been contaminated in storage before they were installed by dirty/rusty water.

 

[nlitend1]

Are you positive they were not like that at delivery. Kind of looks like the seats may have been contaminated in storage before they were installed by dirty/rusty water.

Yes, I’m positive. I was very meticulous about accepting delivery of the car and would have certainly refused delivery if it was visible. I also did the seat coating myself and that would been so obvious when I was carefully wiping it over the seat cushion…and I would have not sealed that “in” to to seat if it was there.

The stitching discoloration does look superficial (only on the high points) where the microfiber of the application may have touched it…so to me that wouldn’t add up with the seat being saturated with rusty water. The overall coloration of the majority of the seat is consistent through the whole car (other than the area of that one seat cushion).

 

[APT21]

Do you have a lot of moisture in your place? Almost looks like mold spores on some of the fabric area where the seat belts buckle

 

[nlitend1]

Do you have a lot of moisture in your place? Almost looks like mold spores on some of the fabric area where the seat belts buckle

Nope, the yellowish stuff is the same residue/discoloration that is on the seat stitching. It’s been raining one day a week…which is more than normal for Southern California.. but pretty much on par for a majority of the USA.

 

[Randy-12]

I doubt that you can go back on Tesla for warranty as you have applied a product.
They, like any other manufacture, will say that it was the product used on the seats.
It would most likely be very expensive and possibly impossible to place the blame on any one company with 100% positivity.

Good luck with this.

 

[joebruin77]

For stubborn stains on your seats that are difficult to get out, buy some Optimum Powerclean. This an automotive all purpose cleaner with a higher Ph. I used it to successfully get both permanent marker and dye transfer out of my white seat. Just make sure to follow the recommended dilution ratio for cleaning interiors.

 

[zoomer0056]

The stitching is a dead giveaway that something ain't right. Something is soaked into the stitch, and the rough part by the seat belt keeper. Seems to me only some sort of dissolve and extraction process could clean it up. That sounds worse than it is. I've heard of (don't know details) of enzymatic cleaners. That's like your spit that can break down organic stuff. Any way, if your car has less than 100 miles on it you can definitely get it taken care of at a Service Center. If not, ask anyway, can't hurt to ask ... well ... the answer might hurt.

 

[agmonaco]

I had a weird black stain on my MYLR 10 fays after I owned it. Could not get it out. Took it to service center. They tried also.. They gave me a new seat cover. Nice. I have no idea what happened. We were always clean.