Brand New 2012 Ford Escape Leather Drivers Seat

[pk1959]

We just picked up our brand new 2012 Ford Escape and the first thing I noticed was that the leather panel on top of the drivers seat closest to the door was wrinkled and creased. It's the piece that's about 3-4 inches wide directly to the left of where you actually sit. I pointed it out to the salesman and dealership owner who were both quick to tell me that ALL the seats are going to look like that after a couple of weeks. I told them I certainly hope not! It just sticks out like a sore thumb since the rest of that seat and all the other seats are perfectly smooth and wrinkle free. They said that they would dealer trade another Escape with the same interior and swap out the seat for me and that would take about 4 days. Well it's been 2 weeks and I just called them and they said they got in the other Escape and the seat in that one looks the same. Now they are saying they have no idea when they will be able to find another seat to see if it looks any better but they will keep tryinig. I'm not sure what to do next?? I'm just afraid that if the seat starts out looking crappy while it's brand new, what's it going to look like once it gets some wear? Any advice??

 

[mrsklamc]

Honestly if they are telling you they will all be like that I would tell them I'll be finding a different car. Unless it's not a deal breaker for you.

 

[tms295psu]

Every leather interior we had... the driver seat always looked "worn" in the area your describing! Just take a lot of use... lol... if your using the car, the driver is always in there! Some colors hide it better than others. Tan/Beige seem to be the worst, black hides it pretty good.

I think (just my opinion) it wears more so, since you almost "slide" in the seat under the steering wheel.

 

[pk1959]

Every leather interior we had... the driver seat always looked "worn" in the area your describing! Just take a lot of use... lol... if your using the car, the driver is always in there! Some colors hide it better than others. Tan/Beige seem to be the worst, black hides it pretty good.

I think (just my opinion) it wears more so, since you almost "slide" in the seat under the steering wheel.

I agree that 'eventually' it might end up looking like that, but to start out looking that way from brand new is what I'm not happy about. I'm mostly just worried that it will end up looking REALLY bad after a while and then we will be stuck. Kind of feels like we are stuck already to be honest. They are making me feel like I am just being a 'picky woman' but honestly it's the VERY FIRST THING I noticed when I opened the door for the first time. I think it just looks like a sloppy job was done on that section of the seat. They said that they 'know' it's not bad enough to where Ford would be willing to pay to fix it to make it look better. Thanks for your replies so far.

 

[goofyredraider]

My husband is manager at a Ford dealership in TX. I haven't asked him anything about this yet - but I will.

A few questions -
Did you notice it BEFORE you contracted, or AFTER?
Have you completed any surveys yet? They may be more apt to help if you have not.

That said, I have a 2011 Ford Flex with leather...I've had it almost a year. It has no creases or "worn" looks. To me, it sounds like they didn't stretch the leather on that side... ? If you can take a pic I'll have my husband look at it tonight and see if he can give you some feedback on how to proceed.

 

[Sadie22]

I've had mine for about six months. The leather on the door side of each front seat is slightly creased, although I would not call it worn looking. Was this a demonstrator on the lot for a few months? With people climbing in and out of the vehicle, it may have crinkled the leather. It's a seat. After a short time you'll stop looking at it.

The leather seats in our 10-year-old Chevy are not smooth leather so wear marks are less noticeable there.

 

[stitchlovestink]

My husband is manager at a Ford dealership in TX. I haven't asked him anything about this yet - but I will.

A few questions -
Did you notice it BEFORE you contracted, or AFTER?
Have you completed any surveys yet? They may be more apt to help if you have not.

That said, I have a 2011 Ford Flex with leather...I've had it almost a year. It has no creases or "worn" looks. To me, it sounds like they didn't stretch the leather on that side... ? If you can take a pic I'll have my husband look at it tonight and see if he can give you some feedback on how to proceed.

I have a 2009 Flex with leather seats and they ALL still look new with the exception of something scratched the leather on the passenger seat but that is a totally different issue... I think it was a belt. and it is a minor scratching. I am aware of it because I clean my seats with leather wipes.
If it bothers you now, it will only bother you MORE in the future IMHO. Or at least that is how I would feel. If it bothered me when I first bought it, it would bother me more as time went on. I don't agree with letting it go....but that's just me. New vehicles are expensive investments!!!

 

[Ephany]

I have a 2010 Escape that had less than 20 miles on it when I bought it and my seats still look like new. There's no bunching, wrinkles or anything like that and I drive A LOT. Honestly, it might be petty to some, but it would annoy the snot out of me, especially if I had to look at it every time I got into the car. It just seems lazy or suggests a lack of attention to detail to me.

 

[pk1959]

It just seems lazy or suggests a lack of attention to detail to me.

You know this is it exactly!! The dealership said that the 'look' of the seat is not bad enough that Ford would pay to have it redone. They said that if some of the creases were to crack while it is under warranty then they would have to fix it.

Having said that I went on the internet and read some articles about removing creases from the leather on car seats and was able to make that one panel look MUCH better with a blowdryer. Took some time, but I was able to get a decent result. Thanks for your reply.

 

[pk1959]

I have a 2009 Flex with leather seats and they ALL still look new with the exception of something scratched the leather on the passenger seat but that is a totally different issue... I think it was a belt. and it is a minor scratching. I am aware of it because I clean my seats with leather wipes.
If it bothers you now, it will only bother you MORE in the future IMHO. Or at least that is how I would feel. If it bothered me when I first bought it, it would bother me more as time went on. I don't agree with letting it go....but that's just me. New vehicles are expensive investments!!!

The dealer was telling us and also showing us how there are actually several 'types' of leather used in vehicles. Some of them are what I guess you could call much thicker. One of my kids has a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee that has the 'thicker' or 'stiffer' leather in it and there is not a crease or wrinkle in it anywhere to this day. The car dealership owner was driving some top of the line truck and his truck had the stiffer leather on the seats and in my opinion it just looks better. Not a crease in it to be seen anywhere. This is our first vehicle with anything but cloth seats, so it's kind of a learning experience for us. Thanks for your reply.

 

[pk1959]

I've had mine for about six months. The leather on the door side of each front seat is slightly creased, although I would not call it worn looking. Was this a demonstrator on the lot for a few months? With people climbing in and out of the vehicle, it may have crinkled the leather. It's a seat. After a short time you'll stop looking at it.

The leather seats in our 10-year-old Chevy are not smooth leather so wear marks are less noticeable there.

No this is a vehicle that we ordered and waited to have it built. It did have 33 miles on it when we got it, but they said they probably tested it after they built it. Who knows.

 

[pk1959]

My husband is manager at a Ford dealership in TX. I haven't asked him anything about this yet - but I will.

A few questions -
Did you notice it BEFORE you contracted, or AFTER?
Have you completed any surveys yet? They may be more apt to help if you have not.

That said, I have a 2011 Ford Flex with leather...I've had it almost a year. It has no creases or "worn" looks. To me, it sounds like they didn't stretch the leather on that side... ? If you can take a pic I'll have my husband look at it tonight and see if he can give you some feedback on how to proceed.

I noticed it immediately before we bought it. They said that they would just get in another Escape and swap out the seat, so we went ahead with the purchase. I tried to take pictures of it, but it is black leather and a narrow strip and I couldn't get it to show very well. I did manage to get MOST of the creases to relax with a blowdryer, so it is not nearly as noticeable as it was. I am going to figure out a good leather conditioner to buy and apply and that may make it look even better. Thank you for your reply.

 

[stitchlovestink]

No this is a vehicle that we ordered and waited to have it built. It did have 33 miles on it when we got it, but they said they probably tested it after they built it. Who knows.

33 miles to test it after they built it?? that's kinda funny!! I'm not laughing at you, OP.
We bought our Flex directly off of the lot. I searched the internet to see who had what we were looking for in stock and then went to work on wheeling and dealing with them. Ours had 12.3 miles on it when we drove it off the lot for our first test drive. I figure those miles were probably from someone else test driving it and loading/unloading it on the car carrier. Then they offered to let us keep in overnight. Well, we lived about 50 miles away and I told them it just wasn't going to be possible for us to return the car the next day. They were trying SO hard to get a sale so the salesperson went to the mgr and asked if we could keep it for two nights. By the time I brought it back I had put 250 miles on it. I think they were a bit shocked! I figured if I was going to spend that kind of money I was going to drive it everywhere I would possibly drive it if I were to actually own one. We did end up buying it, and I knew I had planned on buying a Flex it was just a matter of from which dealer. I had already done my research to know what features I wanted and what I was expecting to pay.
But If It were me I would really want a better resolution to that issue, that would really bug me. it would bother me every time I got in the car. it wouldn't go away after a few months. But only you can decide if it won't bother you later on. If you really think it won't, then let it go. But, you can't go back later and try and fix it in 6 months....

 

[Sadie22]

I thought the 33 miles was excessive for a new car ordered built to specifications as well. We also purchased off the lot. My Escape had just arrived and had less than ten miles on it before we test drove it.

My Escape has leather-trimmed seats according to the window sticker. It may have been on the Consumer Reports site that I read that the entire seat is not leather, just certain parts. I would, therefore, be very careful about where I applied any heat or leather cleaner lest the colors no longer match after such treatment.

 

[pk1959]

I thought the 33 miles was excessive for a new car ordered built to specifications as well. We also purchased off the lot. My Escape had just arrived and had less than ten miles on it before we test drove it.

My Escape has leather-trimmed seats according to the window sticker. It may have been on the Consumer Reports site that I read that the entire seat is not leather, just certain parts. I would, therefore, be very careful about where I applied any heat or leather cleaner lest the colors no longer match after such treatment.

I think you are right about having 'leather trimmed' seats. Seems like I read that also.

The dealership where we bought the car is in a tiny little town and has NO PARKING...hardly any for customers, and I know when they get in their new vehicles, they drop them at a sister dearlership about 10 miles away and drive them over, so that is where some of the miles that were on it to begin with come from also.

 

[goofyredraider]

Okay I talked to him.
He said they should have checked it into service immediately and replaced the leather. They don't "swap seats" like they said they would or it was highly unlikely that they would.

 

[endy]

I have a 2007 Escape and have the same thing only on the drivers side. I figured it was because I'm bigger than the average bear. And from sliding in and out.

Glad they're going to fix it for you.