I was applying some griot’s to the leather in the interior. Something I should do more often, and driver seat has some spots from repetitive wear entering and exiting car. Eventual cracking or tears are inevitable at some point. You guys use anything to protect or cover that isn’t sheepskin car seat covers? Something like a sleek sleeve style cover? Subtle padding? Willing to do anything that doesn’t have fur or glitter on it.

 

Well… leather is skin. And all of my cars have their original leather. Keep it clean, moisturized and protected from the sun and you will get many decades out of it.

So no, I do not cover them up.

Coincidentally, I keep my shoes too long too.

 

I've used Griot's Leather Cleaner for years, and my leather is still like new, including the dashboard. I've kept the seats that way by occasionally touching up the driver's seat where abrasions are caused by getting in and out.

I've also changed the way I get in and out of my XKR. I used to face the front of the car while putting my right leg in while sliding my butt into the seat. Doing so caused abrasions on the upper and lower outer bolsters. I now get in with my back to the driver's seat, plop my butt into the seat, and then swing both legs in while swiveling my butt in the seat to face forward. That minimizes abrasions to the outer bolsters.

I highly recommend this leather dye (actually, it's paint). It's water based and easy to use. Read the instructions. It will fill in thin cracks in the polyurethane coating and improve the appearance of your seats. Sorry that I didn't take "before" pictures.



My driver's seat:



Full interior



Color differences are from lighting differences.

 

Did you use their color matching service? If so, did you need to send the swatch sample?

 

I didn't use their color matching service. Their stock formula for Ivory was fine. The key is to clean the surface thoroughly, use a hair dryer on low to dry the surface, and apply one or more thin coats with the supplied sponge and dry each coat with the hair dryer until you get the desired result.

 

Stuart I have not tried getting in that way but I already know that will help minimize wear. Regardless, the fact that I’ll be rubbing different spots is worth it. So I did pull the trigger on some car seat covers from coverland.com. I stumbled onto them and everyone swears it fits snugly and looks like it’s only seat with no cover. This is one of a handful of companies that do vehicle specific covers. October is 50% off $400 to $200 and since it’s on back order they take $40 off for $160. Still a lot for something I don’t really even want to use. I’ll let you know how they work out. I have a car cover that I don’t always use so…

 

[QUOTE=Stuart S;2790749]I've used Griot's Leather Cleaner for years, and my leather is still like new, including the dashboard. I've kept the seats that way by occasionally touching up the driver's seat where abrasions are caused by getting in and out.

I've also changed the way I get in and out of my XKR. I used to face the front of the car while putting my right leg in while sliding my butt into the seat. Doing so caused abrasions on the upper and lower outer bolsters. I now get in with my back to the driver's seat, plop my butt into the seat, and then swing both legs in while swiveling my butt in the seat to face forward. That minimizes abrasions to the outer bolsters.

I do much the same. Back to the seat, put my left hand on the back bolster and slide past my hand dropping my butt into the seat. Then swivel to the front and pull my legs in. Wear and tear on the back of my hand, not the seat. Griot's feels good on the back of my hand, too.
Just kidding........