• How hard wearing are leather car seats?

    From Adrian Caspersz@21:1/5 to All on Thu Feb 11 18:52:45 2021
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old Ford
    Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos scuff
    marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    --
    Adrian C

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  • From Fredxx@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Thu Feb 11 19:23:41 2021
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old Ford
     Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos scuff
    marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    That very much depends on what the driver is wearing. It's unusual for passenger seats to look worn.

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  • From Adrian Caspersz@21:1/5 to Fredxx on Thu Feb 11 19:59:13 2021
    On 11/02/2021 19:23, Fredxx wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old
    Ford   Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos
    scuff marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    That very much depends on what the driver is wearing. It's unusual for passenger seats to look worn.


    Yup, that was what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Wondering on
    the other hand if the mileage is genuine. eBay purchase. One previous
    owner, a doctor.

    But in my case, I've had "normal" cloth seats in a roughly used Octavia
    that hadn't been torn as such, but then again I don't wear a hacking jacket.

    In comparison, are leather seats a worry that need undue attention?

    Friend is elderly, wears a hacking jacket, wants this car to outlast him.

    (In other news, I'm considering a car with leather seats myself)

    --
    Adrian C

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  • From Fredxx@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Thu Feb 11 21:35:49 2021
    On 11/02/2021 19:59, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 19:23, Fredxx wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old
    Ford   Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos
    scuff marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    That very much depends on what the driver is wearing. It's unusual for
    passenger seats to look worn.


    Yup, that was what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Wondering on
    the other hand if the mileage is genuine. eBay purchase. One previous
    owner, a doctor.

    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    But in my case, I've had "normal" cloth seats in a roughly used Octavia
    that hadn't been torn as such, but then again I don't wear a hacking
    jacket.

    In comparison, are leather seats a worry that need undue attention?

    I would say leather seats are hard wearing. Someone else may be along to
    dispel my belief.

    Friend is elderly, wears a hacking jacket, wants this car to outlast him.

    (In other news, I'm considering a car with leather seats myself)


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  • From alan_m@21:1/5 to Fredxx on Thu Feb 11 22:23:33 2021
    On 11/02/2021 21:35, Fredxx wrote:


    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    Except in times of lockdown :)

    I normally do 8K+ miles a year but I've just had a MOT on the car and
    note just over 2K miles in the past year, and 1.2K of that was visiting
    friends in a 3 weeks period between lockdown.

    No-one would necessarily question low mileage as a result the clocking
    of the mileage covered in the past 12 months or the future 3 to 6 months.

    In comparison, are leather seats a worry that need undue attention?

    Possibly they just need some regular attention as you would do with a
    saddle or even leather shoes. Leather probably just needs "feeding"
    especially after a period of hot oven conditions which can occur in a
    car parked in the sun.



    --
    mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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  • From Theo@21:1/5 to Fredxx on Thu Feb 11 22:48:11 2021
    Fredxx <fredxx@nospam.co.uk> wrote:
    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    If it's under 3 years old there won't be any MOT history. If just over
    there will be only a single reading. That's not much to go on. If there
    are more frequent MOTs it suggests the vehicle has been a taxi and to steer clear (not sure if any local authorities ask for taxi testing under 3 years old).

    Service history may help though - I don't know if Ford have an online portal where you can pull up dealer service records if you know the VIN.

    Theo

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  • From Fredxx@21:1/5 to Theo on Thu Feb 11 23:07:13 2021
    On 11/02/2021 22:48, Theo wrote:
    Fredxx <fredxx@nospam.co.uk> wrote:
    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    If it's under 3 years old there won't be any MOT history.

    Good point, I've tended to buy cars at their 3rd birthday and forgot.

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  • From Adrian Caspersz@21:1/5 to Theo on Fri Feb 12 11:58:35 2021
    On 11/02/2021 22:48, Theo wrote:
    Fredxx <fredxx@nospam.co.uk> wrote:
    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    If it's under 3 years old there won't be any MOT history.

    Service history may help though - I don't know if Ford have an online portal where you can pull up dealer service records if you know the VIN.

    Yup, no history there, however the paperwork and service records do show
    a gradually increasing mileage. But they are more than 6 months ago, and
    we could perhaps make the assumption that the car has seen a lot more
    recent use.

    I'll see if I can post up a photo of the seats. They showed me it over a
    remote desktop session.

    --
    Adrian C

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  • From Dave Plowman (News)@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Fri Feb 12 15:31:31 2021
    In article <i8lcntFsssqU1@mid.individual.net>,
    Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old Ford
    Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos scuff
    marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    Many variables. Quality of the leather. How it is looked after. Wear
    clothes with sharp edges (something in a back pocket, etc?) and it can be damaged same as anything else. I recently had the leather squabs on the
    front seats of my SD1 recovered. Had been looking scruffy for a few years,
    Seat back and rear seats still fine. It's 1985.

    --
    *Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary *

    Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
    To e-mail, change noise into sound.

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  • From newshound@21:1/5 to Fredxx on Fri Feb 12 21:12:27 2021
    On 11/02/2021 21:35, Fredxx wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 19:59, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 19:23, Fredxx wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old
    Ford   Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos >>>> scuff marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    That very much depends on what the driver is wearing. It's unusual
    for passenger seats to look worn.


    Yup, that was what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Wondering on
    the other hand if the mileage is genuine. eBay purchase. One previous
    owner, a doctor.

    Check MOT history as mileage should be noted. It's now far more
    difficult to fudge odometer readings./

    But in my case, I've had "normal" cloth seats in a roughly used
    Octavia that hadn't been torn as such, but then again I don't wear a
    hacking jacket.

    In comparison, are leather seats a worry that need undue attention?

    I would say leather seats are hard wearing. Someone else may be along to dispel my belief.

    +1. Although whether modern cars will have the thickness and quality of
    the hide in Rovers, Jags, and Rollers in the old days I am not sure.

    I had full leather seats in a Fourtrak that were still fine when I sold
    it at about 10 years. My 61 plate Jazz has so-called leather seats
    (actually it is only the seat panel and back panel, the surrounds etc
    are synthetic) and that still looks fine at 60k miles.

    Leather of course ages much more gracefully than the fabric seats of a
    few decades ago, which went "stringy" in 10 years or so.


    Friend is elderly, wears a hacking jacket, wants this car to outlast him.

    (In other news, I'm considering a car with leather seats myself)



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  • From RJH@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Sat Feb 13 00:30:32 2021
    On 11 Feb 2021 at 19:59:13 GMT, "Adrian Caspersz" <email@here.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/02/2021 19:23, Fredxx wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old
    Ford   Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos
    scuff marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?

    That very much depends on what the driver is wearing. It's unusual for
    passenger seats to look worn.


    Yup, that was what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Wondering on
    the other hand if the mileage is genuine. eBay purchase. One previous
    owner, a doctor.

    Depends - my Audi's 14 year old leather seats look fine I suppose, scuffs on the driver's bolster. But then they're the thick 'orrible elephant hide type, rather than supple leather. I have treated them a couple of times but I think they were like this from new.

    --
    Cheers, Rob

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  • From Peter Hill@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Sat Feb 13 08:45:51 2021
    On 11/02/2021 18:52, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    May be a silly question, but a friend has been offered a 3-year old Ford
     Focus that has done 42,000 miles, and I can see on his photos scuff
    marks on the drivers and passenger seat.

    He is wondering when would they migrate to tears and look unsightly?
    5 years, 10 years?


    You need to look at the exact same make and model. If they have wear
    points and poor leather then they all have the same wear points and poor leather. If they last and develop patina then they all last well.

    Leather can be restored by re-colouring. Some splits can be patched.

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  • From Dave Plowman (News)@21:1/5 to Peter Hill on Sat Feb 13 13:02:33 2021
    In article <s083jq$71d$1@gioia.aioe.org>,
    Peter Hill <skyshac@yahoo.com> wrote:
    Leather can be restored by re-colouring. Some splits can be patched.

    They can, but when the leather has got to that age, more are likely to
    develop quite soon after. Got fed up fixing mine after about half a dozen.

    --
    *How many roads must a man travel down before he admits he is lost?

    Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
    To e-mail, change noise into sound.

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  • From Adrian Caspersz@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Fri Feb 19 13:17:06 2021
    On 12/02/2021 11:58, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 22:48, Theo wrote:

    I'll see if I can post up a photo of the seats. They showed me it over a remote desktop session.


    The scuffs turned out to be glare in a badly composed camera shot. They
    are happy with the seats.

    --
    Adrian C

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  • From Dave Plowman (News)@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Fri Feb 19 16:46:28 2021
    In article <i99s2iFt4inU1@mid.individual.net>,
    Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> wrote:
    On 12/02/2021 11:58, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
    On 11/02/2021 22:48, Theo wrote:

    I'll see if I can post up a photo of the seats. They showed me it over a remote desktop session.


    The scuffs turned out to be glare in a badly composed camera shot. They
    are happy with the seats.

    The camera never lies. Apart from in car ads. ;-)

    --
    *Money isn't everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.

    Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
    To e-mail, change noise into sound.

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