I am shopping for some higher-miles F-type R's and seeing the same failure in the same place on the seats. Many people write it off as being "a fat guy stretching the leather" but the passenger seat does it as well. Seems more like "dude left his car out in the sun all the time and the only place the leather does this is right at the seams on the shoulder rest on the window side."

my question for you folks is: Is this a "Fact of Life of Jaguars" or is this a sign of leaving it out in the sun and no garaging?

 

No.

 

thanks very much for the reply. I should have asked responders:

1] garaged or not?

2] how many miles?

Thanks!

 

No, climate controlled garage and 17k miles

 

Garaged and 56,000 kms. Heat and sun definitely shrink leather…and that is not a “Jaguar issue”.
Regular use of a non-silicone leather conditioner prevents drying and shrinkage (yes including in modern colour-coated leathers). I say this from my experience of restoring many cars.

 

Thanks for the responses, very helpful.