Back seat damage !

bigsul · September 19, 2002

Argh !

My son's Recaro kiddies seat has damaged the leather on the passenger side of the back seat.

I sent an email to Recaro UK, who replied, saying "It can't be our seat so it must be the leather, claim off your warranty". :o

I forwarded their email to Lexus Edinburgh, the service manager phoned me and asked me to take the car in for them to have a look. I'm taking it in Saturday morning.

Has anybody else had problems with their leather interior ? :?:

For anybody who is interested, I'll keep you informed.

Cheers,

bs :P

Leexus · September 20, 2002

Sorry to hear that...

my only problem with my cream interior is to keep it clean....:(

sholao · September 20, 2002

No problems with mine, I used to have a childs seat (not recaro) in the back during the 1st year of ownership.

ricky_is200 · September 20, 2002

In what way has it damaged the leather? It is cut into it or stained it?

bigsul · September 20, 2002

Originally posted by ricky_is200
In what way has it damaged the leather? It is cut into it or stained it?

It has caused indentations and stretching in the leather.

Here is the email Recaro sent back to me :

Dear Mr Sullivan,

I haven't had this complaint before and had to get an answer for you - the reply is as follows.

All child seats will result in pressure being applied to the seat cover materials where the child seat and the seat cover are in contact. This is unavoidable if you use any child seat. The RECARO start has been designed to minimise potential damage by having a broad base without any small pressure points - and because of this it is also one of the best seats on the market from a 'damage limitation' aspect.

If the leather in the car has deteriorated so rapidly it will either be faulty leather or because the leather type (an annolin) is unsuitable for use with a child seat.

Normal automotive leather is stretched and processed (dyed, surface painted and lacquered for colour/UV fastness and durability) all of which makes it feel hard, it is therefore drummed (tumble dried) to make softer again. Too much drumming will cause the leather to break down more quickly which could result in the problem.

If the leather is an annolin, this is a dyed product only (no painting or lacquer), annolins appear and feel good but the durability for both wear and colour fastness is a major offset. In either circumstance you should claim under warranty for a new seat cover which can be easily fitted at the dealership or appointed trimmers. One note of caution though - make sure the dealership orders a Lexus spare-part cover and not a trimmers copy - which will never match properly.

I hope you find this information useful.

Regards,

Sue Mikulsky

RECARO UK Ltd

Very informative indeed !!

Cheers ........ bs:P

Dobbin · September 24, 2002

Got the same problem on our IS300 - how did you get on at the dealers ?

I can't imagine that this is covered by any sort of warranty, not even the excellent Lexus ones !

Surely we have to put this down to "wear and tear" - If not then happy days :bounce:

Cheers

Dobbin

bigsul · September 24, 2002

Originally posted by Dobbin
Got the same problem on our IS300 - how did you get on at the dealers ?

I can't imagine that this is covered by any sort of warranty, not even the excellent Lexus ones !

Surely we have to put this down to "wear and tear" - If not then happy days :bounce:

Cheers

Dobbin

Read part 2 mate.

Still ongoing.

I will keep you informed though.

bs :P