[noz34me]

From Holden's thread started about his seat, it's made me very aware of getting in and out, and trying now to drag my arse across the bolster, and thereby creating a situation where I would receive an ill-fitting new seat cover.

The bolsters are pretty substantial on these seats. I've got less than 1K on my car, but how about some of you higher mileage folks? Seeing any normal wear and tear on the driver's seat?

 

[GM Kid]

Just cracked 10k in my '05, and the seats are still in good shape. The driver's seat, however, appears to be a bit smoother than the other three--no doubt from my sliding in and out. I was concerned about the outboard bolster on the driver's seat, too, but it appears to be holding up well. I was just comparing it to its opposite number on the passenger side the other day. The bolster on my side has a few wrinkles from being compressed as I get in and out, but that's it.

 

[PEARL JAM]

I think Groucho made a comment a while back about his seat wearing.

 

[noz34me]

I think Groucho made a comment a while back about his seat wearing.

Possible. I did a search on seat wear, but didn't see any topics. The threads on this forum tend to kind of go "off topic" and I didn't read through topics that didn't pertain to my question.

He probably commented in one of those.

Groucho- - -if you're there- - -what do you see?

 

[Starrbuck]

I'm at about 3,000 miles and I have one irritating wrinkle on my drivers seat, but otherwise no wear yet.

 

[lotaguts]

I am at 600 miles only had her for three weeks and I decided to go with a towel hopefully this will help anyone go this route ? This is my first vehicle with leather and I am so nervous to screw it up sometime it makes me wish they were cloth.

 

[s2gordon]

i've got 3,700 on mine and i have a few wrinkles on my bolster.. no cracking.
I just make sure that i regularly condition the seat.

 

[PEARL JAM]

20,ooo on mine. When I exit the car I place my hand on then side kick panel and "pivot" out the car.(Learned this on my Firebird) No wrinkles yet!:cool

 

[noz34me]

i've got 3,700 on mine and i have a few wrinkles on my bolster.. no cracking.
I just make sure that i regularly condition the seat.

Yeah, I was just thinking that besides the "in & out" wear, the drying effect of the sun and heat are probably just as detrimental to the leather.

That said, the '04's may have noticed something.

I keep mine in the garage, and try to park in the shade when I do drive to work, so maybe that will minimize those effects.

 

[Holden]

Looks to me like there is not enough padding in bolsters. I would add some foam to driver’s seat outer bolster to help prevent the wrinkles in leather. I don’t think it will be hard to open the one side and add a little foam for the long run. IMO

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

My '04 has about 15 k on it and the driver seat looks as good as the passenger seat which also looks perfect. Had 14k on it when I got it so aparently whoever owned it before me took good care of it. I pivot my legs out then stand to exit.

 

[b_a_betterperson]

14K city driving. Lots of short trips -- so I'm in and out a lot. Left seat bottom bolster padding is breaking down somewhat. Otherwise, rest of seat and leather's perfect.

 

[Starrbuck]

I'm going to start pivoting the legs to get out. That's a great idea!

 

[PEARL JAM]

I watch the ones that go through my shop, and the biggest problem I see is that unused section between the rear seats, at it's top the corners shrink up from rear window heat.(the part where your head would go if you tried to sit in the middle):cool

 

[MeanGoat]

20,ooo on mine. When I exit the car I place my hand on then side kick panel and "pivot" out the car.(Learned this on my Firebird) No wrinkles yet!:cool

And I thought I patented that move.

At 13 K miles with typical leather smoothing wear / dirt. Conditioner fixes it right up. Red leather in my goat

 

[FastFreddy]

My wife's G35X has a great feature. When you turn off the ignition, the seat goes all the way back, which makes exiting and gettting back in very easy. I have started doing the same thing on the GTO. I put the seat all the way back after I turn off the ignition. This does 2 things...First, it makes entering and exiting the car a heck of a lot easier (and puts next to no wear on the bolster) and 2, it saves me from banging my head when entering and exiting.

 

[MeanGoat]

It does a third thing as well. Prematurely wears out a motor that was not intended for that extensive usage.

But that's up to you. I just wouldn't do it in my own. If I were engineering the motor specs for a seat based on anticipated usage through the life of the car and I knew it would automatically move fore and aft upon each shutdown of the car I think I would pick one that's a bit beefier than one for an 'on-demand' application.

Just my .02. I'm going broke tonight.

 

[BARONGTO]

Seat Bolster Wear

Guys,

Use A Leather Conditioner With Some Kind Of Silicone In It. This Will "lubricate" The Leather, Keep It From Drying Out, And Reduce Friction As You Enter And Exit. A Regular, 3-4 Months, Application, Should Be Enough For Extra Protection As Well As The Other Suggestions About How To Physically Enter And Exit.

Jay

 

[Groucho]

68,000 miles on mine...no cracking or tears yet, but the padding under the butt of the seat is sagging now....support is noticably less than in lesser-driven Monaros. Will most likely have to have it restuffed.

Scratched the leather with a broken pants button, but not really noticable.

One wear & tear item related to ingress & egress I've not seen posted yet...the weatherstripping at the door sill on the drivers side has split and is damaged from swinging my foot over it.