d_money82

I have developed a large crack in the vinyl section of the bottom seat cushion. This is not the first crack that has appeared. The dealer repaired one that developed about 5 days after I purchased my car CPO (for free). I asked about having this one replaced and I was told it would be $200! The dealer gives me the "wear & tear", "not covered under warranty" bit. Has anyone had a better experience with their dealer? Has anyone tried using a do-it yourself repair kit? I'm considering contacting Audi of America, because I know this is a common problem, as I have seen may threads here on it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

greywolf1699

I actually bought mine with a repaired crach in the seat that I didnt notice when I bought the car. The crack is already breaking through.... I went to them and all the did was give me a number to a local leather repair dude.... They will not fix it with out money gaurenteed.

greywolf1699

One more thing. Using super glue in the crack with tape over it works great. Peel the tape of when the glue dries and its flush, clear, and the crack wont spread. Works amazing.

d_money82

I appreciate the responses. I'm not too happy with the repair they did for free either. You can tell it was repaired because they smoothed out the textures of the vinyl. I have to say, I'm very hesitant to put super glue on my seat. Has anyone tried any products from here:

http://www.leatherworldtech.com/cate...FR7yDAodgWRa3g

Tusin

Ok, is the crack on the vinyl bolster or on the leather seating surface?

I had two cracks repaired on the bolsters and they came out "ok". Like you they had a hard time getting the texture correct, so it is a little smoother than the surrounding areas. But you really have to look for it.

Does your repair have no texture? If not, it should be redone.

I would suggest using 303 Aerospace on the bolsters.

d_money82

The crack is on the vinyl side bolster. The crack that was repaired is on the side bolster, which is completely smooth, with no texture. The new crack, is on the bottom side bolster, and as I have not had it repaired, is getting larger.

I researched 303 Aerospace and this looks like a cleaner and not something to repair the vinyl. I do clean the vinyl, except I use leather products on it.

Based on the lack of responses, I'm assuming nobody has repaired the vinyl on the bolster's themselves, except for greywolf who used superglue.

spex

My vinyl is also cracked on the bottom bolster. Dealer gave me a quote of $130 to have it repaired. They have a third-party specialist who comes to the dealership once a week. I spoke directly with him and he told me the vinyl used by Audi is totally sub-par and that he does TONS of these repairs each week. He also told me my crack wouldn't spread so I waited and now it's about an inch long instead of half-an-inch.

Tusin

The crack will spread. Just the nature of the beast, this is a very common problem. And $130 is a crazy high price for one repair. I paid $100 to have one large crack and 2 smaller just starting cracks repaired.

The repair you do have now is sub-par workmanship. It should have turned out better then that. Where I live we only have one shop that does this type of work, so even though I think they could have done better all in all I am pretty happy, and NO one can see it but me.

I would just go pay to get it repaired, don't expect perfection but you should walk away impressed.

Also I suggested 303 for after the fact. I do not suggest using whatever leather treatment you are using on the vinyl. If you are using a leather "conditioner" it is probably doing next to nothing on the vinyl, as vinyl will not allow it to "soak" in. 303 is not a cleaner, just a protector. Clean the vinyl with a mix of woolite and distilled water, then apply 303. A LARGE portion of "autopians" suggest this, so it can't be bad

d_money82

UPDATE:

I wrote Audi of America an email and they responded to me by phone. I told them situation. The one girl I spoke to sounded concerned that I was quoted $200 without someone looking at the tear in the seat. She said she would call the dealer on my behalf to find out more information and that I may not hear back for 2 days. Later that day I get a call back from the guy who originally left me the message, and in so many words, told me to go F* myself and that its my problem.

I received a survey form via email from my dealer and just filled it out, with negative comments in regards to the seat. I said I wanted to be contacted by Audi of America. In the meantime, I'm going to get a quote from a different Audi Dealer.

1) Audi shouldn't have used vinyl
2) They should be responsible for the costs to fix it when it fails

audi8Pdude

Good luck with that. My seat was repaired when I bought it and the damn fix basically peeled off revealing a large crack on the bottom side. Still trying to see if I can score a good seat or possibly even recovering it locally. That repair stuff is just a band-aid. I need a more permanent fix. Hope it works out well for you.