General Ordered

[306maxi]

Mountain picture - Tall Y Llyn pass? Only 5 minutes from me.

Leather isn't as stretched as mine, you have to expect some stretching.

Nope

Phone's GPS says it was taken here (not where the A is, but where the green arrow is)
[ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=53.141389+-4.030278&z=11"]53.141389 -4.030278 - Google Maps[/ame]

and it's actually right to within about a couple of metres I guess

[ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=53.141389+-4.030278&ie=UTF8&ll=53.141413,-4.030224&spn=0,0.54863&t=h&z=11&layer=c&cbll=53.141413,-4.030224&panoid=ZdyFP3ahGiWYPqH9QRsvIg&cbp=12,76.48,,0,-15.99"]53.141389 -4.030278 - Google Maps[/ame]

 

[306maxi]

I can remember sitting in the showroom when I ordered mine, trying to decide whether to go for the leather option. My wallet won the day, but for a time it was a decision I regretted - now, having seen some of the pics here, I'm glad I didn't go for it.

Interestingly the leather in my previous Ka was still looking reasonable when I sold it after 10yrs & 102000 miles. Not perfect & showing a few stretch marks, but nowhere near starting to tear. The leather steering wheel was another matter & started to disintegrate after about 4 years; it was in a dreadful state by the end.

Remembering this, I usually wear gloves when driving my 500.

To be fair I think my 500's leather is just a bit poor, not everyone's leather has gone like this......

The leather on the seats is actually quite nicely aging on the sides and at the front, but the stretching is just crap and I suspect probably more down to the cushion underneath being made of crap foam than anything.

If the steering wheel ever went I'd just do what Jnoiles has done and have it redone in suede or alcantara.

 

[DraigFlag87]

Oh i see. Mountains look similar to those in the Tal Y Llyn pass. God i love living here.

 

[jrkitching]

... but the stretching is just crap and I suspect probably more down to the cushion underneath being made of crap foam than anything.

Seems a likely scenario for stretching but if true, just replacing the leather isn't going to help - the collapsing seat will need to be sorted too.

 

[306maxi]

Seems a likely scenario for stretching but if true, just replacing the leather isn't going to help - the collapsing seat will need to be sorted too.

Believe me it will be

 

[multispoke]

To be fair I think my 500's leather is just a bit poor, not everyone's leather has gone like this......

The leather on the seats is actually quite nicely aging on the sides and at the front, but the stretching is just crap and I suspect probably more down to the cushion underneath being made of crap foam than anything.

If the steering wheel ever went I'd just do what Jnoiles has done and have it redone in suede or alcantara.

I think the problem is that it is just one piece of leather. On my wife's Mito her black leather seats are like new - they'll be 2 years old this June. The seat is stitched or I should say is ribbed - so it cann't crinkle or sag.

 

[306maxi]

I think the problem is that it is just one piece of leather. On my wife's Mito her black leather seats are like new - they'll be 2 years old this June. The seat is stitched or I should say is ribbed - so it cann't crinkle or sag.

Well I've seen plenty of old leather seats and I've never seen any sag like that My parents have a 20 year old chesterfield and there's no sag in the leather at all

Anyhoo, dropped the car off this afternoon, did have the option of a courtesy car but it was a Micra so I feigned not having my licence with me and the wife picked me up. Feel strange looking out the front and not seeing the 500 there. They said they'll definitely have the breather pipes in stock so that'll be done tomorrow but if they have to order any other parts it'll probably be at least Saturday.

Oh well!

 

[multispoke]

Well I've seen plenty of old leather seats and I've never seen any sag like that My parents have a 20 year old chesterfield and there's no sag in the leather at all

Anyhoo, dropped the car off this afternoon, did have the option of a courtesy car but it was a Micra so I feigned not having my licence with me and the wife picked me up. Feel strange looking out the front and not seeing the 500 there. They said they'll definitely have the breather pipes in stock so that'll be done tomorrow but if they have to order any other parts it'll probably be at least Saturday.

Oh well!

I am fortunate to have a 3-year-old Natuzzi 3 seater coach and where I seat on the LHS is a 'nice' round seat mark/stretch - I'm around 75kg and only sit there if I'm watching TV which is intermittent. When the repair guy came last week for a buckle mark on the coach (€150 repair job for a tiny cut ) I asked him about the seat wear and he said that the leather is like the nappa leather you get in the BMWs. I then showed him my 500 and he said the leather was similar but probably not as good a quality. If you look at the leather on the Mito the design & the leather is of a higher standard. If I was going for leather again on the 500 I would opt for the sport spec with the half leather even though it does not photograph as well and gets a bit grubby.
Re not seeing your car outside - I can empathise. I'm waiting for a replacement for my 1.4 sport which so far seems to be evading me.

 

[306maxi]

I am fortunate to have a 3-year-old Natuzzi 3 seater coach and where I seat on the LHS is a 'nice' round seat mark/stretch - I'm around 75kg and only sit there if I'm watching TV which is intermittent. When the repair guy came last week for a buckle mark on the coach (€150 repair job for a tiny cut ) I asked him about the seat wear and he said that the leather is like the nappa leather you get in the BMWs. I then showed him my 500 and he said the leather was similar but probably not as good a quality. If you look at the leather on the Mito the design & the leather is of a higher standard. If I was going for leather again on the 500 I would opt for the sport spec with the half leather even though it does not photograph as well and gets a bit grubby.
Re not seeing your car outside - I can empathise. I'm waiting for a replacement for my 1.4 sport which so far seems to be evading me.

IMHO the problem is the seat cushion underneath collapsing rather than the quality of the leather per se.

 

[DraigFlag87]

As you would probably say to me Maxi:

"Shouldn't this be in the members motors section?"

 

[306maxi]

As you would probably say to me Maxi:

"Shouldn't this be in the members motors section?"

Not really, as it relates to warranty issues with the car and I'm not spamming every thread possible with pictures of my car.

Anyhoo, called the dealership before. They've ordered some parts for the car, apparently there was a broken pipe at the back of the airbox (I didn't see one?) and they've had to order the airbox assembly as well as a washer pump. They sent off pictures of the seats to Fiat and they say it's fair wear and tear so I've called Fiat CS up and got a case number on the go so we'll see how it goes. Explained the fact that it was a £750 option and the reasoning behind going for leather over cloth was that the seats would wear better in the long term and not worse! Strangely he was already talking about compensation without me mentioning so that seems a good sign

Will have the car back on Monday with the pipes fixed and the washer pump replaced.

 

[multispoke]

...talking about compensation without me mentioning so that seems a good sign

Tell that you want the seat fixed and recommend that the other is done at the same time ! (prevention). Compensation is fine if you going to sell the car. For me - the 'sag' upset me and I used a seat cover from Lidl so I wouldn't see it on a 'bad' day. The half leather option on the sport is the better option if I was buying again or seats from a mito !

 

[RobinPJ]

Now that I cannot understand: a bit of a baggy seat, so you cover it with a cheap Lidle seat cover.

Isn't that the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face?

 

[multispoke]

Now that I cannot understand: a bit of a baggy seat, so you cover it with a cheap Lidle seat cover.

Isn't that the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face?

The covers were bought so I wouldn't mark the red leather if I was wearing blue jeans or my trousers were dirty. They were quite cool with a scorpion sign at the top and looked the business - which I know is a total contradiction! They didn't cover the sides of the seat so the airbags still worked and surprisingly they seemed to flatten the sag out on the seat - a bit of repair therapy ! Still the sag annoyed me everytime I opened the door and was a contributory factor in selling the car on so on some days I would put the cover on so I wouldn't see it. The car drove better with the cover off so I could really sit in the seat and enjoy whatever the 1.4 could muster up. The covers went with the car when it was sold. It's a pity I have no pics of them - they were way better than the ones I saw on a recent thread .

 

[306maxi]

Picked the car up just before. Running much much much smoother now, idle used to kind of drop ever so slightly before and now it's just much smoother. Strangely enough I never had a smell of oil before but a couple of times since I picked it up there's been a whiff of petrol but of course that could just be other cars. They replaced the washer pump and the tiniest bit of washer fluid still comes out of the front when I'm washing the rear but it's much better.

The service guy said that they are still talking to Fiat about the seat and he said they claimed that it would just happen again if they replaced the seat cover, he said the technician felt that it was the seat cushion which was the problem which tallies up with what I've said above. We'll see how it goes, with the dealer onside and Fiat seemingly receptive on the phone I'm fairly confident it'll get sorted. I might ask if they can put a little more padding on the seat base to stop it being an issue in the future and if it's agreed that the cushion is the issue I'll want the passenger side done too (in terms of a little extra padding.

As with the last time it went in it came back with the coolant overfilled! Could be worse things to be wrong with the car, but it's annoying that it's happened twice. But hey ho.

Received the discs and pads I ordered on Friday and judging by the amount of meat still left on the current pads it's going to be a little while yet before it needs them but they're sitting on the shelf waiting Just over 24k miles done and I'd estimate that the pads were 1/2 to 2/3 worn. Doesn't anything on this bloody car wear? I want to buy new summer tyres but these ones are just refusing to wear Oh well at least it's living up to the promise of being cheap motoring

Edit: Being Brembo discs, the ones I've got have 2 little dimples on them, 1 which when gone indicates that the disc is half worn, and the other which when gone indicates that the disc needs replacement. So you can check the discs without the need to actually measure them or even take the wheel off!

 

[306maxi]

Called Fiat CS this morning who said that the case was in the hands of the dealership. popped into the dealership this afternoon who said Fiat CS had said no. Someone doesn't know the ****fight they've started

Option A: Fix seats (Sane option)
Option B: Refund cost of leather and replace interior including door trims with sport seats (silly idea)
Option C: Go to a small claims court and claim for the cost of having someone competent retrim the whole interior of the car (even sillier idea)

 

[grimwau]

Called Fiat CS this morning who said that the case was in the hands of the dealership. popped into the dealership this afternoon who said Fiat CS had said no. Someone doesn't know the ****fight they've started

Option A: Fix seats (Sane option)
Option B: Refund cost of leather and replace interior including door trims with sport seats (silly idea)
Option C: Go to a small claims court and claim for the cost of having someone competent retrim the whole interior of the car (even sillier idea)

Is this something that you would hope Fiat might do or is it something you would do yourself, ie. buy some off ebay or similar if the money was refunded by Fiat. Not such a silly idea as the Sports seats are much nicer (no offence meant) than the lounge variety.

ps. good luck with whatever route you decide to go down but in all honesty I think the best you will get out of Fiat CS is a £100 voucher.

 

[306maxi]

I don't want b or c tbh. I won't be letting this go for £100 especially as other have had their leather replaced, they won't have a leg to stand on

 

[multispoke]

I don't want b or c tbh. I won't be letting this go for £100 especially as other have had their leather replaced, they won't have a leg to stand on

Is that 'cushion pads' replaced ? It wasn't clear on the previous threads if the existing leather was stretched or if the 'base' area of the seat had its leather replaced. This is payback time for your contributions to-date (including the pics of the bubbles of course) on the forum . Option A is what you want.

 

[wigit]

maxi i think there is some dealer bs on issue returning, the issue is its a natural product so the grain of the fabric linked to its cut and location in car can cause issues of premature wear and creasing, i had a side bolster look awful after 2,000 miles the repalcement still looks better 30,000 miles later

the main issue i found was as they replace the cover, you are in the hands of the workshop monkey, first attempt dealer managed to refit the seat cover incorrectly so it looked pants (i still can't understand why they did not mirror the other seat in the car), second attempt swapped one out of a stock car lol

in reality i think the main issue will be colour match given cars age, leather used to be first tick in box but grossly over rated and a lot of money for vinyl with a smattering of leather