Hockenheim

I have some weird wear on my leather, I'm hoping it was just a scotch guard or some leather product that was applied and not the actual leather pealing.

Any ideas on what the **** this is and how I can fix\remove it? And or any good services in general to clean\repair leather?

uberwgn

That appears to be the "clear coat" peeling away. Not good. That's a warrany claim. Don't make any attempts to fix it on your own.

tenspeed

I agree. Was there any protective product applied by you or the dealer?

Hockenheim

Not by me, and not that I'm aware of.

Hockenheim

I spoke to my dealer, he said it was not a warranty claim and that the previous owner likely had the leather "dyed", and it's now pealing.

I have never heard of someone dying leather, especially on a car with under 20k miles, is he full of ****?

subterFUSE

That is not dye. That is the clear coat peeling from the leather.

How old is the car? Not how many miles, but how old?

Are the windows tinted? What climate has the car been used in?

To me it looks like heavy sun exposure combined with rubbing wear from getting in and out.

NoahWeb

Deodorant??

Superfly_A6

Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman?
LOL. deodorant .... Hhhha

Mike_L

Kinda looks like Scotchguard to me, or a similar product, especially with the powder down at the bottom.

subterFUSE

The leather in our Audis gets a protective coating applied before it is sewn into the seats, steering wheels, etc... If that coating is not properly cared for and maintained, it will peel away and leave the raw leather exposed. The leather can then deteriorate further by drying out and cracking. It's not unlike the clear coat on exterior paint. Sunlight can damage the coating (UV light deteriorates it), as can dirt or clothing (causes abrasion). The part of the seat where the worst peeling has occurred is a "high traffic" area where clothing rubs the seat edge while entering/exiting the vehicle. A common culprit is the buttons on the rear-pockets of dress slacks/trousers. I have ripped deep scratches in leather seats with my pants more than a few times before.

Take your car to a professional upholstery company and I am confident they will say this is the protective layer failing.

I am a huge proponent of getting windows tinted as a preventative measure against sun damage. The tint does not have to be dark, but does need to block UV light. Just like our own skin becomes damaged by UV light, so can the car leather. If we get sunburn our skin peels away just like that seat, except the seat can't repair itself.

Regular cleaning and conditioning of the leather is also important, but you can overdo it. It's a lot better to keep the leather clean by not getting it dirty in the first place. The less you rub the leather, the less chance of causing abrasion that can eat away at the protective coating.


Edit: As I look at the pics some more I noticed some straight, vertical scratch marks. That's definitely a sign that something is scraping the leather in this location.