Crappy leather...must be defective
 

My truck is an 05 with roughly 42kmiles and my ebony interior is so God aweful im ashamed to let anyone look in my truck. Now im not an leather expert but I have owned numerous cars with leather interior and have never seen anything of this piss poor quality(esp for a 64k truck). Ive searched threads and ive seen both resolved and unresolved cases of bad leather but has anyone tried "the system" when outside factory warranty? I have GMPP but im thinking this may have to go directly to hummer for resolution. Here are some pictures:


This is the drivers side. Notice the cracking on the armest. Perhaps if i was 400lbs and slept in my truck with my elbow dug into the rest this may be predictable but im not and i dont:





Heres the backseat. Nine times out of 10 im riding solo and nobody is in the back to occupy this seat. I adopted 5yr old twins six months ago but prior to that i didnt even have kids. Its hard to see but its actually peeling:



Best for last, my passenger seat. My truck gets me to work and back and perhaps ill go have dinner with the wifey on the weekends or what not but i dont see a reason for this:






Dont get me wrong i love my truck and couldnt see driving anything else but i am having a hard time rationalizing how a vehicle catering to our demographic can have such poor quality interior. If anyone has any pointers on how i can get this resolved without coming out of pocket i would appreciate it...if not ,looks like im going to have to go custom(i happen to like the new two tone).

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

It seems to be a common problem. All of my seating surfaces have been cracking since about 15K miles. Dealer said they would replace them one time, but I am opting to wait until I get closer to the end of my warranty. Currenty at 35K miles and have a 50K 2006 warranty

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Boss, '05 wheat leather here, and dealing with the same issue (even though I've had them professionally cleaned and conditioned on a regular basis since day one). I got my service rep to agree to help me through the process of making a warranty claim, but because they're just going to use the same crappy leather, I opted out. Figured I'd go for as long as I could, and then just go with custom leather (if I don't sell it first).

Pete

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Are those seats the standard leather or the soft luxury seat stuff?

Seats look awful, soor for your luck. My 03 Z06 vette leather seats still look new, I wonder if you ran into a bad batch of cowhide?

Hope you get it resolved.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Welcome to the wonderful world of GM leather...

My '99 Tahoe did the same thing on the arm rest and driver's seat. It didn't happen on the back seats, though, so I am a little surprised. I also kept them well treated.

I'd say that a good uphostery job should fix that right up, or upgrade to aftermarket seats and redo the rear to match...

I guess I will have this to look forward to on my '06....:crying:

Good Luck. The Truck is still worth the hassles if you ask me...

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

By law any skin of an animal can be called leather,so waterbuffalo is most likely what you have. what you want is first cut top grain cow hide . check a Katzskins dealer the whole truck front and back should cost $1500.00 to $2000.00 installed . GM is notorious for thier leather.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Pete,
I saw your thread but your still in warranty right?

Flyin, im not sure what you mean between standard and luxury leather. I have the lux package but im sure its all the same.

Capt and Ira, you guys are right, a nice aftermarket get up would be a fix. I guess the point is that a truck in this price range should not require me re-upholster to the whole truck.


In the mean time i contacted the dealer in which i purchased the truck and they pointed me to Hummer customer care. I contacted Hummer and they are setting up an appointment at a local chevy dealer(closest Hummer is 2.5hrs one way) to inspect and hopefully resolve. The hummer customer care rep said it should be fixed if it is defective even if it is outside of warranty...in retrospect i probably shouldve got that in writing.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

you will get no argument from me on that,they should give you a better quality leather in a high line vehicle. in fact they (GM ) should be ashamed . perhaps that is why Toyota is breathing down thier neck for top automobile manufacturer. just for laughs go take a test drive in a Lexus LS 460 and than a Cadillac STS and you will get a life size picture of the future unless the General wakes the F*ck up in a hurry. the high end luxury market is very profitable and GM ought to treat thier customers right and give them Quality products that are world class .:twak:

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I was under the original warranty when I raised the issue, now under the extended warranty, so yes. My leather started crapping out at about 20k miles. :mad:

Be sure there are no signs of your pup in the truck when they inspect it. They'll most assuredly blame him for it.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Good point, but hes just a harmless little fella ;)

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

that looks real bad shouldnt be happening at 15k or 50k. that doesnt look like real leather the way its peeling off.

hope the dealer is good about it and replaces it. good luck.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I know he is...:giggling:

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

nice Woofer.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

hahaha....

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Update...
The local Chevy dealership was a waste of time as the repair would come directly from Hummer and they have no way of being paid for the job(twas the bs they gave me). So i had to drive down to Joe Bullard in Mobile for an inspection to report to the regional Hummer rep in the event they felt the leather was defective. This weekend i happened to be passing by(on a road trip) so i stopped in and they agreed the leather was terrible and perhaps Hummer should step in. From here they are to contact their Hummer regional rep to see how much hummer would cover. From the call i recieved from the service manager they may split the cost.

While continuing my journey , my water pump goes out and my vehicle winds up in the service department from which i purchased my truck(new). I have the service department look at the interior while im there. Initially the service manager declares my lack of (factory) warranty a discharge of any claim...until i get ahold of the gm, which i happen to have a personal relationship. The gm looked at my truck, agreed with me and is also contacting his regional rep.

I think the level of interest displayed by the dealership contacting the Hummer rep will directly impact Hummer's resolution. From the feedback i recieved from both dealerships, i think the dealership from which i purchased the truck is more motivated to resolve teh problem...should know more by the end of the week.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

So Joe Bullard is trying to make things right? I'm surprised! Why did you not take it in to Proctor? I have the same issue in my 06, but not quite as bad as yours. Keep us posted on what you find out. J

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Mine needs replacing on on seating surfaces front & rear. Mine started at 20K. I have about 40K now, but have 50K 2006 warranty so I am waiting close to 50K before having them replaced, per dealer suggestion.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Proctor was willing to have the seats redyed or topcoated? but i want them replaced. Apparently they have someone who comes to the dealership at scheduled intervals to take care of seats. Their service is top notch but i didnt feel there remedy was satisfactory...but in all fairness it was offered almost immediately without the expected runaround.

Joe Bullard has never given me any trouble. I have always dealt with Kevin and he has taken care of the situation.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I know GM is not know for quality leather but that is just awful, our 06 has close to 30K on it and the seats look like they are brand new (even the edge of the drivers seat which typically shows the most wear) My 02 Vette seats also look to be brand new. I would say that you got some defective material there. If they dont take care of you that is just a shame.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

service tech told me GM installs sh t leather he said its good I got the vinyl and cloth interior he said leather just don,t last
cheers

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I had 18K on my 06 when I traded it on the 08 and I had some wrinkling on the seat but nothing peeling or as bad as what you have. I've gotten the same wrinkling on every avalanche that I've had (2 of them). I am hoping the leather in the 08 isnt suseptable to this. I've heard the same thing, they will replace the seats one time.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I think I'm going to take them up on the offer once I get close to the end of my warranty. Thanks....Jamie

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Good luck boss, I saw it in person and its really bad folks. My 95 tahoe has 215,000 miles and its original leather has held up better.

:eek: .

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Quick question... My 05 has just over 10k mile on it now... Seats still look fine, but this thread has me worried that the leather is going to crap out in 2 years... I bought my H2 used and purchased an aftermarket extended warranty (through a non-Hummer dealership). Would something like this typically be covered in that type warranty?

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Did you buy warranty without knowing what it covers?????

Most likely will not be covered.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I do not know of any extended warranty that would cover seats as it is considered `wear and tear`. I have gmpp which I'm thinking is the most inclusive but it won't touch this. Good news is most don't look like mine and it is covered under your factory warranty. The other good news is if your seats crap out it gives you an excuse to do a sweet custom job.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

The dealer is replacing mine at 24K miles. Drivers Only.

No problems from Dealer, complained and they ordered me a new cover.

Update
 

To my dissapoinment, Hummer is not willing to do anything to resolve my problem. Essentially with the truck being out of warranty they do not have to do anything and are not going to do anything. Hummer customer care did give me the opertunity to have the work done at a "warranty" price of $2,200 as apposed to the $2,700 post warranty price. They stated the dealership had never seen a problem of this kind so it must be the product being used on the seats. Very dissapointing.

So i guess eventually im going to do a custom interior...ill probably do something that mimics the new sedona colors. It would be much more fun spending th e$1,500 on a new winch however.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I'm gonna bump this thread up another time.
I noticed the other day that my back seat is peeling. (06 SUT W/ 12k miles)
The number of times that someone has sat in the back seat is 5 or 6.
Also have some cracks in the drivers seat. (looks like my Avalanche seat did after 100k miles):violin:
I am going to call my dealer and see what the service manager says.
I'm pretty sure they will take care of me but what a PITA.:twak:

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

What kind of product are you guys using on your seats???

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I only use Maguiers products. Same as I used on my old truck.:confused:

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I've had my 06 now for 16 months with 16K on the speedo with NO signs of wear. The only thing I use is Lexol. Does your truck sit in the sun? Did I just get lucky with a cow that ate good?

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

I have an 05 with 104k on it (I travel alot)and my seats are holding up great! But I was 3k over my warranty and the stealership would not do anything about my mirrors.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Mine are prematurely cracking as well. I use Meguiars as well!

Dealer replaced two of the 4 seating surfaces but not sure why they wouldn't replace the passenger side? It's cracking just the same - just not as many as the driver's side.

I am curious as to which kind Bosshoss used?

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Seats have been discussed before and it seems that if the truck is under warranty, the dealers are fixing them. Just be prepared to be without your truck for a while because I think I remember hearing the originals get recovered, not replaced. I could be wrong on that, so don't hold me to it 100%.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Mine looked great at 16k too, at 30k different story at 42 COMPLETELY different story. My detailer uses only Lexol products as well. I dont care what you say there is no excuse for the way my seats look other than terrible quality leather. Enjoy your truck, but good luck with your leather.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Nope. No sun. Windows are tinted and it sits in the garage most of the time. This is my fun vehicle and not a daily driver.:clapping:

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

Thats cool. What I usually do is call ahead to the dealer and let him know when I will be in town (Houston) and what needs to be done. He orders the parts and when I arrive they usually give me an H3 to run around in while mine is being fixed.
Last time they had my truck for 5 days and I put 2000 miles on their H3.:giggling:
I'll give the dealer a call this week.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

well I have the Vinyl wheat and its held up great. the only issues I have had are the fact a porter or prep person slid on the seat when new with a tool in his pocket and scratched the seat base on the drivers side. then my kid chewed a spot out of the back seat by the head rest.
my wife had leather in her LXI mini van and it had to be redone at 20,000 miles. even after the redo you could see some of the spots that had been repaired.

Re: Crappy leather...must be defective
 

WHAT????? I have 2 kids and know they can be destructive, but that is crazy. Did you get him/her a muzzle? My boys would be working in a sweat shop til they paid it off. I would definately take them to a nutritionist. I hope your'e talking about a labrador.