I'm kinda puzzeled
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icraigmy

Original Poster:

1,653 posts

252 months

Thursday 6th August 2009
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I noticed today that the leather on the drivers seat in my Tamora has worn on one side so much that a hole has appeared now. Slightly puzzeled as to why the leather has worn so quickly because the car is 6 years old and is only used at weekends, and has only done 35000 miles.

The leather seats in my MR2 are immaculate and that is my everyday car used for work, and it is 13 years old and has done 120000 miles.

My intention is to get the interior leather redone soon anyway, and maybe replace the seats with Tuscan ones, but still puzzeled as to why the leather has worn through so quickly. Would of thought that the leather would have lasted alot longer.

salsoul

184 posts

251 months

Thursday 6th August 2009
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It's probably not real leather, real leather was an optional extra and you don't see many cars with it.

Most cars have the imitation leather which is like vinyl and wears much quicker.

shep1001

4,620 posts

218 months

Thursday 6th August 2009
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icraigmy said:
I noticed today that the leather on the drivers seat in my Tamora has worn on one side so much that a hole has appeared now. Slightly puzzeled as to why the leather has worn so quickly because the car is 6 years old and is only used at weekends, and has only done 35000 miles.

The leather seats in my MR2 are immaculate and that is my everyday car used for work, and it is 13 years old and has done 120000 miles.

My intention is to get the interior leather redone soon anyway, and maybe replace the seats with Tuscan ones, but still puzzeled as to why the leather has worn through so quickly. Would of thought that the leather would have lasted alot longer.
Seat on my tam had worn too. Its vinyl not leather. Had the worn bolsters replaced, it looks the same but real leather feels different and is a lot softer

gilbo

460 posts

229 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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They are also very difficult cars to get in and out of easily. Subsequently the bolsters get scuffed by jean poppers, zips and the like. Generally the interiors wear very well but like the rest of the car, they are hand crafted so can come a little rough around the edges. It's not difficult or expensive to put right.

thainy77

3,347 posts

227 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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I had a small tear in the bolster on my drivers seat and ir has gone rapidly down hill since. I'm going to save some pennies for a leather upholster.

Zippee

14,125 posts

263 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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salsoul said:
It's probably not real leather, real leather was an optional extra and you don't see many cars with it.

Most cars have the imitation leather which is like vinyl and wears much quicker.
What he said!! I looked at a couple of 350s before settling on mine and they all had the bison interior (TVR word for vinyl) and in each case the side bolster was split and cracked.
My current car has full leather which IIRC was a 2k option when new. It is a little confusing when as a new TVR owner you read a dealer ad stating a car has full bison interior as IMHO your first thought is its a type of leather rather than a type of plastic.

shorts!

705 posts

283 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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Zippee said:
salsoul said:
It's probably not real leather, real leather was an optional extra and you don't see many cars with it.

Most cars have the imitation leather which is like vinyl and wears much quicker.
What he said!! I looked at a couple of 350s before settling on mine and they all had the bison interior (TVR word for vinyl) and in each case the side bolster was split and cracked.
My current car has full leather which IIRC was a 2k option when new. It is a little confusing when as a new TVR owner you read a dealer ad stating a car has full bison interior as IMHO your first thought is its a type of leather rather than a type of plastic.
To confuse matters further still there was the option of full or half hide as well as non leather options. IIRC half hide was leather on the bits you actually sat on/ made contact with, the rest being a pretty good imitation of leather. However there were more colour options available in leather that didn't have a close enough match in the vinyl so some of the less common colours may be proper full leather whilst some such as black, navy, etc could be half and half. This may also explain some of the more unusual colour combinations some interiors have.

K12AN

154 posts

209 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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In my Tam, the driver side bolster is also torn adn needs replacing...the rest of the seat and door panel also look a bit worse for wear...they look like they are peeling/flaking...does anyone else have this? The door panels are the same too.

The problem is, retrimming the car will cost about £2k!
It is shocking how poor the quality of the vinyl use is...I can appreciate that it is a cheaper option, but TVR could have used some better quality vinyl at least!


I am a bit stuck now...Is there anyway of reconditioning vinyl instead of having to retrim it? The peeling looks quite bad.

Its a real shame, as the TVR interiors look as stunning as the exteriors when they are new!

Targarama

14,784 posts

312 months

Friday 7th August 2009
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Bison may be cheap and leather expensive, but go and look at other 'extreme' bolstered seats such as the Recaros in an Audi RS4. 5,000 miles and they look bad. 20,000 miles and they need retrimming.

Besides, this is the excuse you've been looking for to get a nice retrim. Someone on here with a Tamora had a lovely retrim around a years ago - I think the car was yellow with a yellow and black interior (tastefully done).

snmvaio

129 posts

218 months

Sunday 9th August 2009
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Hi Ian there is a great re trimmers in calne that i have used for some of my classic cars, they do a great job and are very reasonable, drop me an email if you want the contact details

Aowhs102

1,191 posts

230 months

Tuesday 11th August 2009
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Mines exactly the same, drivers side bolster rubbed through and the transmission tunnel is looking a little threadbare.

I should get it retrimmed but then it dosnt bother me all that much, I prefer to spend my money on the mechanicals!