Hi,
My husband and I just recently purchased a brand new, 2007 Acura MDX. After driving it home, we noticed a small tear in the leather on the passenger’s seat. Neither of us sat in the passenger’s seat. When asked what they would do to fix the situation, they said that they would do a repair. The vehicle was returned to us today, and the repair is evident; the texture of the leather on the seat where the repair was made is not the same, and there is a depression mark on the seat from the person who was working on it. Do you think this is acceptable, being a brand new vehicle, or do you think that the dealership should have replaced the seat?
Thanks,
cmj223
If it were my vehicle, I would want a new seat cover installed. You can’t “repair” a tear in leather.
I’m guessing that by repair, they had a leather repair shop remove the damaged section and stitch in a new piece of leather. With real leather, you would not have the texture match from one section to another. A perfect match would be an indication the real leather was not used. Leather seat covers are made up of several pieces of leather sewn together. Usually they are from the same hide so the texture is similar, a replacement section will not match as well.
Only the seat and seat back where you sit and lean against are leather, the rest is a vinyl known as leather match. I would hope thatg they didn’t repair it with the leather match instead of real leather.
The problem is you accepted and signed off for the vehicle. Typically a good dealership checks over the vehicle with you before delivery.
Hopefully they make good business wise however they really have no obligation as you accepted the goods unfortunately and damage before after delivery cannot be proven.
The dealer just made a ton of money off you and they should have been happy to have the piece of leather replaced. Or the vinyl as the case may have been. If it doesn’t quite match the color, at least it isn’t in a conspicuous place. If it is on the top of the seat cover, the section should have been replaced. They can order the whole new seat cover too. Anything you do now will not be the same as new. They don’t have to fix it, but you don’t have to go back there for your next car either.
Since you just purchased a “brand new” '07 while the '08s are coming out, any chance this vehicle was a dealer demo?
If it’s brand new it should only have had 5-10 miles on it at the most. If it had several hundred then it’s a dealer demo.
After you both drove it home and no one was sitting in the passenger seat, does this mean one of you was sitting in the back seat or how was this deal done?
If the seat had a snag, and the vehicle was a demo, it’s entirely possible that somone snagged it during a test drive or someone in the family of whomever the demo was assigned to may have snagged it.
There’s also the possibility it was snagged at the factory and someone overlooked it during the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection).
The best option on a torn leather seat is another cover IMHO.
I can't give you any direct answer. Others have made many of the same comments I might have made.
I will make one observation. You had a chance to look over the car before you signed the papers. You did not see the rip. That means one of two things are likely. The rip was not there when you originally inspected the car _or_ you did not notice it, indicating that it is not likely to be noticed by anyone other than you. That said, you will have to decide if you want to contact an attorney. Frankly I have my doubts if you will be able to recover anything in this he said she said, situation as I believe your attorney will tell you that when you signed off you lost your rights.
Personally I hope you don’t let this hurt your enjoyment of the car. In the long run, it is one of the small things in life. Good Luck
First, determine which you’re more upset about - the fact that it was damaged to begin with, or that the repair is shoddy. You could call or write the Regional Representative for Acura in your area. For the kind of money you spent on their vehicle, they won’t ignore your complaint. They often mediate issues between dealers and customers. They’ll review it and likely talk to the dealer as well. Most of us don’t expect to really examine a brand new vehicle - it’s just human nature. The dealer may not have noticed it either, and they may think you caused the damage. If you’re certain you could not have caused the damage, maybe try talking to the dealer again, tell them you are not satisfied with the repair. If this still doesn’t resolve your complaint, call the Regional rep.