Crappy leather...must be defective

[Boss Hoss]

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).

[tomp]

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

[TXSUT]

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

[flyin6]

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.

[Captain of the Titanic]

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....

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

[IRA51]

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.

[Boss Hoss]

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.

[IRA51]

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 .

[TXSUT]

Originally Posted by Boss Hoss

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

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.

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.

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

[Boss Hoss]

Originally Posted by TXSUT

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.

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

Good point, but hes just a harmless little fella

[marin8703]

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.

[TXSUT]

Originally Posted by Boss Hoss

Good point, but hes just a harmless little fella

I know he is...

[IRA51]

nice Woofer.

[Agriv8r]

Originally Posted by IRA51

nice Woofer.

hahaha....

[Boss Hoss]

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.

[jmsspratlin]

Originally Posted by Boss Hoss

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.

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

[tomp]

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.

[Boss Hoss]

Originally Posted by jmsspratlin

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

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.

[MVR 155]

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.

[iccon]

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