Premium Leather Seats

[markchurch]

I am on my second Genesis. The first one had regular leather..no problems. The new one has the saddle premium leather. It is very soft and comfortable. However, only a month after I bought the car I started to notice that the seat back was bubbling whenever I would be damp from perspiration (Florida.) It appears that the dampness has caused the leather to delaminate from its backing, or possibly the cooling/heating layer. It is now quite noticeable even when it is dry. Hyundai says it is normal as it is leather. Now I have leather fibers coming though the driver’s seat bottom perforations. I have been back twice for this and they are still "working on it." They say it is normal with leather and I disagree. I have a 2007 Audi A3 with leather and they driver's seat in the Audi looks better at 56K miles than the Hyundai does with less than 13000 miles. Today they told me that they saw no reason to replace it as the new one would most likely do the same thing. Hmmm, am I supposed to be satisfied with this? NOT! Anyone else noticing this?

 

[Paulroger]

Re: Prermium Leather Seats

No it is not normal. I have a 2010 tech in Florida and have no such problems. Go to another dealer (I have in the past gone to 3 to get proper service for other things).

 

[robthoke]

Re: Prermium Leather Seats

No it is not normal. I have a 2010 tech in Florida and have no such problems. Go to another dealer (I have in the past gone to 3 to get proper service for other things).

I agree with this. I'm 18 miles from the Florida state line and don't have this problem with mine. It is not normal and I've been buying cars with leather seats since 1997. As a side note - my Dad bought a new 1958 Mercedes 220S with leather seats. Kept the car for 10 years and the leather looked as good when we sold it as it did when we bought it. You should not be experiencing this.

 

[2011bh380]

I am on my second Genesis. The first one had regular leather..no problems. The new one has the saddle premium leather. It is very soft and comfortable. However, only a month after I bought the car I started to notice that the seat back was bubbling whenever I would be damp from perspiration (Florida.) It appears that the dampness has caused the leather to delaminate from its backing, or possibly the cooling/heating layer. It is now quite noticeable even when it is dry. Hyundai says it is normal as it is leather. Now I have leather fibers coming though the driver’s seat bottom perforations. I have been back twice for this and they are still "working on it." They say it is normal with leather and I disagree. I have a 2007 Audi A3 with leather and they driver's seat in the Audi looks better at 56K miles than the Hyundai does with less than 13000 miles. Today they told me that they saw no reason to replace it as the new one would most likely do the same thing. Hmmm, am I supposed to be satisfied with this? NOT! Anyone else noticing this?

By any chance, did you or the dealer use any cleaning products on the leather? There are certain leather cleaning products that don't mix well with certain types of leather. A few years ago, on my other vehicle that has premium leather, I tested a small section with the cleaner and it created a similar situation to yours. Thankfully I didn't use it all over the seat and the test area was an "out of sight" area. I forgot the brand that I used.

My wife had the genesis for a couple of months now but we don't have any issues with the premium leather either.

It is definitely strange for this to occur on your vehicle.

 

[ctrcbob]

I remember about a year ago, someone on this site posted the same thing about his seat. In addition, he posted photos of the strands coming up out of the holes in the seat. Looked very bad. Looked sick.

If I remember correctly, his dealer and/or Hyundai got a local upholsterer to re upholster his seat.

 

[vitacura]

I am also in Florida and my Genesis is Black on Black with the premium leather. After 8 or so months of ownership no problems like the one you mentioned.

 

[STREETS]

ask for new leather

 

[robthoke]

ask for new leather

What Streets said.