Leather seats wrinking with deep creases
07-15-2008, 08:59 PM
#22
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$5-10k seems a bit excessive for better leather. While I don't work in the textile industry, my uneducated assumption is that it wouldn't cost more than $2-300 more in material. If the small amount of leather on a Vette would raise the price $10k, a leather couch would be $100k. Even the seats in my wife's accord are nicer, and far sturdier.
07-15-2008, 09:02 PM
#23
Pro
I don't think better quality leather on 2 seats will cost 5-10K. I bet $500 would get a lot better quality leather.
07-15-2008, 09:06 PM
#24
Race Director
$5-10k seems a bit excessive for better leather. While I don't work in the textile industry, my uneducated assumption is that it wouldn't cost more than $2-300 more in material. If the small amount of leather on a Vette would raise the price $10k, a leather couch would be $100k. Even the seats in my wife's accord are nicer, and far sturdier.
You also can't get in and out of the Corvette the same way you would a normal car without causing more wear and tear.
People get all upset when they claim that the 4LT costs $3500 more then the 3LT (when it reality it is close to $2300). What would happen if the base model went up $3500 just due to nice leather? That would probably keep a lot of people from buying the Corvette.
07-15-2008, 09:07 PM
#25
Safety Car
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The leather seats are not of great quality.I also agree that leatherette would probably look better and last longer.
Had it in 2 Audi's and it held up real well and they were daily drivers.
07-15-2008, 09:25 PM
#28
Safety Car
I was advised by my trim shop to use a lot of leather conditioner on the seats to keep them slick. It worked pretty good on my C5, but the finish on the C6 seats is not as slick.
After a hyde is removed from the cow it is split several times and then treated to a process to preserve it called tanning. The tanning process is really the key to how the leather will feel. After the leather is tanned it is dyed and then a finish is applied such as wax. There are a lot of different tanning formulas that produce different types of finished product. The leather industry knows what each formula will produce and someone at Chevy decided the finish on the vette is what they wanted. I don't think the cost of the various processes is very different.
It does not appear the current leather on the C6 has much of a finish and that is why it grabs and wrinkles.
The best finish/quality is the exterior skin, called top hyde. This is the most expensive, but unless the tanning process is specified to make the leather supple it is no different than the split hydes.
(I used to be a leather goods salesman in my younger days.)
After a hyde is removed from the cow it is split several times and then treated to a process to preserve it called tanning. The tanning process is really the key to how the leather will feel. After the leather is tanned it is dyed and then a finish is applied such as wax. There are a lot of different tanning formulas that produce different types of finished product. The leather industry knows what each formula will produce and someone at Chevy decided the finish on the vette is what they wanted. I don't think the cost of the various processes is very different.
It does not appear the current leather on the C6 has much of a finish and that is why it grabs and wrinkles.
The best finish/quality is the exterior skin, called top hyde. This is the most expensive, but unless the tanning process is specified to make the leather supple it is no different than the split hydes.
(I used to be a leather goods salesman in my younger days.)
07-15-2008, 09:29 PM
#29
Race Director
Heck my 98 A4 had a cloth interior that was the best. But you will also pay the price for the Audi since their sports car is about $70k more then the C6 coupe. I heard they have a carbon fiber option on the R8 that costs about $10k by itself.
07-15-2008, 09:36 PM
#30
Race Director
My C6 had 9400 miles on it when I bought it. Both seats have wrinkles on the outside edges. I figured that the previous owners were "plus size".
I have a 2007 Impala for my daily driver. 8,000 miles and I noticed the driver's side seat is wrinkled on the outside edge. I weigh less than 110pounds. Guess they use the same cheap leather in the Impala.
I have a 2007 Impala for my daily driver. 8,000 miles and I noticed the driver's side seat is wrinkled on the outside edge. I weigh less than 110pounds. Guess they use the same cheap leather in the Impala.
07-15-2008, 10:15 PM
#32
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My fat *** weighs 270 and my 2 tone black-cashmere seats are already wrinkling on my '09 which is only 2 weeks old. Interestingly, my '04 had very minimal wrinkling, as noted by an earlier poster, I think the finish was "slicker" on the C5's.
07-15-2008, 10:38 PM
#34
Le Mans Master
07-15-2008, 10:48 PM
#35
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my 05 seats see no excessive wear, no wrinkles and are comfortable with 40000 Km's. You guys have a warrenty, why not use it; give GM a chance to rectify the problem..gezzzz
07-15-2008, 11:15 PM
#40
I bought my '05 as previously owned. The driver seat was very wrinkled, especially in front. The cushion was also worn out and my butt was hitting something underneath so last week I took it to a local boat/auto upholstery shop. They concurred the seat cushion needed replacement. I also opted to have the bottom leather cover replaced since the labor would be inclusive of the cushion job (cover needs to be taken off only once.)
pad: 72.79
cover: 333.00
labor: 180.00 (reduced from 220.00 because they like my car.)
tax: 31.45
____________________
Total: 617.24
I'll post pics after completion