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Leather cracking already?

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 11:40 pm
by Soona
I was set on purchasing an Enyaq iv80 with the suite interior as I wanted a material that would be convenient to clean just in-case, and I liked the black leather touches on the dash with this design package. At the dealership today and I test drove a 21-plate iv80 registered almost exactly a year ago, only to notice the leather on the driver's seat bolster had started to crease and crack and wasn't looking too good for a car barely a year old:

20220611_145311.jpg

When I asked the dealership, they understandably mentioned that as a demo car it is exposed to greater wear-and-tear than would be expected of a "normal" car, however I still felt uneasy given how new the car was. I went home to do some digging on Autotrader to see currently listed Enyaqs' for sale to try and determine if it is a demo car issue or more widespread, and found similarly-aged Enyaqs which had covered only 5,000-10,000 miles showing similar creases and cracks on the leather side bolsters:

Screenshot 2022-06-12 002345.jpg

I then went to do further digging and found the leather used on the side bolster is not the same as that used on the actual seat base, and appears to be a thinner/finer leather.

20220611_150531.jpg

When I looked at the other Skoda models in the dealership, I noticed the leather didn't feel the same - it had a thicker, more "hardy" feeling in the hand. I then had a "eurika" moment and remembered that I own a 2018 Skoda Karoq with a leather interior! As a 4-year-old-car with around 35,000 miles, it should give a good idea of how the leather ages. On my car, there isn't a single harsh crease or crack like in the pics I've attached. So that rules out the theory that it's just normal "wear and tear" as a car much older with more miles has been keeping up great.

So all of this got me wondering, has anyone with the suite interior noticed this on their driver's seat? It's thrown a spanner-in-the-works for what was going to be a sure purchase of the car - I love it in every other way but it feels wrong that a car this new and of this price should have this happening.

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:24 am
by Goaty
This is the only picture I can find of my BMW’s leather seats, at around 5 years old (for comparison)

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:36 am
by Soona
Goaty wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:24 am This is the only picture I can find of my BMW’s leather seats, at around 5 years old (for comparison)
For a 5-year-old car that looks exactly how I'd expect it! not to mention keeping up better than a barely 1-year-old Enyaq. I'm not oblivious to the fact leather warps and changes over time, but different qualities of leather do it to different extents, and over different periods of time. With the car being so new, this might not be something people are aware of until a few more with the suite design are on the road and picking up miles. I know Skoda makes good quality leather seats, just a shame these ones don't appear to be so!

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:46 am
by dezember
hmmmmm... doesn't look good for a year old car....

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:05 pm
by Erakettu
Probably the car has been standing outside, exposed to sun and temperature changes. This together with lack of care would quickly ruin any leather.

Come to think of it, COVID might play a part too. Some places desinfect vehicles and alcohol is no friend to leather either

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:31 am
by metalmadhammer
Erakettu wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:05 pm Probably the car has been standing outside, exposed to sun and temperature changes. This together with lack of care would quickly ruin any leather.

Come to think of it, COVID might play a part too. Some places disinfect vehicles and alcohol is no friend to leather either
Yes, good point - Dealers spraying alcohol sanitisers will cause issues. I've had my 80 Suite for a year now and they are as good as new but I did protect the leather when I first got the car.

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:36 am
by Myfirstev
metalmadhammer wrote: Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:31 am
Erakettu wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:05 pm Probably the car has been standing outside, exposed to sun and temperature changes. This together with lack of care would quickly ruin any leather.

Come to think of it, COVID might play a part too. Some places disinfect vehicles and alcohol is no friend to leather either
Yes, good point - Dealers spraying alcohol sanitisers will cause issues. I've had my 80 Suite for a year now and they are as good as new but I did protect the leather when I first got the car.
What did you use to protect them?

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:01 am
by metalmadhammer
https://www.car-chem.com/shop/leather-2in1
I got this product in a mystery box. No opinion of it but it seems to be decent.
Best leather products I know of are by Colourlock:
https://www.in2detailing.co.uk/products ... ioning-kit

Re: Leather cracking already?

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 9:10 am
by white67
I'm happy with my suite interior so far at nearly 5k miles and, as I happen to be one of those special people with a severe allergy to the dyes used in dead cow leather, I think I can safely confirm it's not real.
The "leather" used is listed as "vegan" in the literature.

This being the case the comparison to dead cow might not be the best way forward. Happy to stand corrected if other information is available.
See my other post about a new 60 for sale in Glasgow right now (15/6/22)