Gt-r Leather Quality

[GT-Ricer]

I have found the quality of the leather in my GT-R less than impressive.

Both front seats' outer bolsters are made of poor quality leather, which has no elasticity and crinkles under slightest pressure.

It suffers from, what is called in the leather trade "grain separation", where the surface of the leather is no longer attached to the fibres of the base.

It's a bit like Glad Wrap stretched over a piece of meat: it does not adhere and leaves wrinkles as you press it.

I looked at four other cars in the dealership and they all had the same issue to a greater or lesser extent, mine being the worst.

Nissan Australia sent one of their roving engineers, who is not a leather expert, to asses the situation and concluded that this

horrible missmatch, being a natural product, is perfectly acceptable in a $180,000 car!

This just adds insult to injury, after fitting both rear seats made out of the cheapest vinyl available, without cushion stitching.

Nissan saved $5.00 on the small patch of bolster leather and $50 on the rear seats!

Nissan Australia has refused to replace the seat covers under warranty as they do not see any deffect.

Take a look at these photos guys and compare them with your own GT-R seats. Any feedback would be welcome.

I am taking this now to the Consumer Trader and Tenant Tribunal.

Edited June 10, 2009 by GT-Ricer

[martz]

that really is terrible.. the leather bolsters in my 350z are even better than that

[Godcla]

I have found the quality of the leather in my GT-R less than impressive.

Both front seats' outer bolsters are made of poor quality leather, which has no elasticity and crinkles under slightest pressure.

It suffers from, what is called in the leather trade "grain separation", where the surface of the leather is no longer attached to the fibres of the base.

It's a bit like Glad Wrap stretched over a piece of meat: it does not adhere and leaves wrinkles as you press it.

I looked at four other cars in the dealership and they all had the same issue to a greater or lesser extent, mine being the worst.

Nissan Australia sent one of their roving engineers, who is not a leather expert, to asses the situation and concluded that this

horrible missmatch, being a natural product, is perfectly acceptable in a $180,000 car!

This just adds insult to injury, after fitting both rear seats made out of the cheapest vinyl available, without cushion stitching.

Nissan saved $5.00 on the small patch of bolster leather and $50 on the rear seats!

Nissan Australia has refused to replace the seat covers under warranty as they do not see any deffect.

Take a look at these photos guys and compare them with your own GT-R seats. Any feedback would be welcome.

I am taking this now to the Consumer Trader and Tenant Tribunal.

Looks Bad.....My seats don't look as bad....mainly looking at the wrinkles away from your hand/pressure.......my concern is in the lack of any leather smell in the cabin.......all my current and previous cars with leather interior smell of leather......maybe we have Pleather......

[INVRTD]

ay man, you can proberally look at this under a few sections of the Trade Practices Act, with regards to fitness for purpose, as it is a quality lower then exspected etc etc, but yeah deffinatly have a look at the TPA good it up and it has all the sections right there for you.

best of luck mate

[Vija]

It sucks, sorry to hear mate. I've been saying for a while now that I will not buy any car made in late 08 or this year as everyone has been cost cutting and it's starting to show.

[Godcla]

Just looks like it's dried out......from leaving the car outside in the sun..........No Sun in Melbourne...?

Just performed the same test and my Leather does not have that wrinkle look away from the pressure applied by my finger......?

PS: Tried to take a photo but the Camera battery was dead....

Edited June 11, 2009 by Godcla

[GT-Ricer]

Just looks like it's dried out......from leaving the car outside in the sun..........No Sun in Melbourne...?

Just performed the same test and my Leather does not have that wrinkle look away from the pressure applied by my finger......?

PS: Tried to take a photo but the Camera battery was dead....

No, it's not dry. It is a loose surface delaminating from the base leather. it's called grain separation.

My leather consultant told me that they have over sanded the poor quality leather to get rid of all the barb wire scars and blemishes and then it became crap, which should have been dicarded.

No problem, customers won't notice it at 300kph...

[GT-Ricer]

Looks Bad.....My seats don't look as bad....mainly looking at the wrinkles away from your hand/pressure.......my concern is in the lack of any leather smell in the cabin.......all my current and previous cars with leather interior smell of leather......maybe we have Pleather......

Ha, ha, ha...if milk comes from a plastic bottle then cow hide comes from a plastic cow...

[ashneel]

wow thats horriable

my dads 02 pajero Exceed leather is in better condition then that. and he bought the car second hand.

[rehab2010]

This looks like a shocker.

I find all leather seats usually pretty bad quality, they show their age after a few years - wish an option of alcantra is available, but even alcantra breaks after lot of use.

Edited June 11, 2009 by rehab2010

[paulR32gtr]

Stop whining - rip them out and put some real seats in there!!

Just joking - looks terrible... good point Vija about 08/09's

[TeMp]

So what did you actually request from the dealer? Retrim or new seats?

[GT-Ricer]

So what did you actually request from the dealer? Retrim or new seats?

I returned the car to the dealership 12 hours after delivery and asked the dealer to replace the two front seats.

They politely declined and showed me four other cars which were no better.

Then it escalated to Head Office and after three weeks Nissan Zone After Sales Manager showed up and took some photos.

Two weeks later they blew me off with this gem of a PR fiasco:

Dear Mr. GT-Ricer,

In reference to the concerns you have raised regarding the seat leather used in your Nissan GT-R. Being a natural material, the leather upholstery in your vehicle may contain imperfections in grain and finish which are an inherent characteristic of the product. Based upon an inspection of your vehicle by a Nissan Australia regional representative and review by our Engineering team, we can advise that there is no evidence of a defect in the upholstery. Should you have any further concerns or feedback regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact your Nissan High Performance Centre.

Yours Sincerely,

Jo Nightingale

Customer Service Delivery Manager

If Nissan Australia has the audacity to deny warranty on something so obviously deffective that one can see it, touch it, feel it, I dread to think what will happen with warranty claims on invisible issues deep inside this complex machine. We will never be able to prove anything!

Brace yourselves guys, this is going to be a very "rewarding" car ownership from the point of view of Nissan head office support for their proud creation.

We might as well tear up the ridiculous agreement they made us sign at the point of a gun and modify these cars within an inch of F1 performance and stuff their silly warranty!

Edited June 11, 2009 by GT-Ricer

[LSX-438]

Sounds like you are pretty unhappy with the car, that sucks. To be frank i just dont see your 0~100km/hr performance and leather concerns being "fixed". Probably best to cut your losses and more on to somethign else.

[paulR32gtr]

Sounds like damage control from Nissan. Would surely cost them a considerable amount to replace everyones seats, and even then it is still going to be the same problematic leather.

[GTR-N1]

Well there's no grain separation in my wife's 530i BM; and that costs a lot less than the R35.

My mother's Maxima has very thin leather and this cost-cutting would have a detrimental effect if it were parked out in the sun.

The rear headrests would go very dry & crinkly for starters...

[rehab2010]

Sounds like you are pretty unhappy with the car, that sucks. To be frank i just dont see your 0~100km/hr performance and leather concerns being "fixed". Probably best to cut your losses and more on to somethign else.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, GT-Ricer is the same guy that cannot get his R35 to do anything better than 4.3sec 0-100km/h. Jeeezzz, not good buddy, I'd be mega pissed of also.

[handbrake]

I think I have the solution, find 200-300k cash (what you might have saved on a Porsche turbo or Ferrari) and either spend it on getting the car where you want it standards wise or buy something nice for your misses, you might get lucky and relax a little!

Just kiddin buddy. I too have noticed the difference in fit and finish to my 540i, the car more than makes up for it in bang for your buck though. You are paying for R and D, techno wizardry and not paying much for it compared to it's competitors. Go track the car so you and it can bond a little

[GTR R35]

Mate, Get a "Leather Expert" to write a report on the poor condition of the leather.

Put that with pictures and a formal demand to Nissan Oz to rectify. Let them know that NO will not be an acceptable answer.

If they deny your repairs, then either get them retrimmed properly and send the bill to Nissan, or go to some media outlets and tell them.

I am sure they would run a story on poor after sales from Nissan. My $80k Ford has better quality leather than your GT-R, so I would also be angry if my car had the same problem.

There is no point in getting angry, if you carry out the formal steps, then Nissan will usually respond faviourably as they do not want a fight over a $2k retrim job.

[elrodeo666]

I returned the car to the dealership 12 hours after delivery and asked the dealer to replace the two front seats.

They politely declined and showed me four other cars which were no better.

Then it escalated to Head Office and after three weeks Nissan Zone After Sales Manager showed up and took some photos.

Two weeks later they blew me off with this gem of a PR fiasco:

Dear Mr. GT-Ricer,

In reference to the concerns you have raised regarding the seat leather used in your Nissan GT-R. Being a natural material, the leather upholstery in your vehicle may contain imperfections in grain and finish which are an inherent characteristic of the product. Based upon an inspection of your vehicle by a Nissan Australia regional representative and review by our Engineering team, we can advise that there is no evidence of a defect in the upholstery. Should you have any further concerns or feedback regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact your Nissan High Performance Centre.

Yours Sincerely,

Jo Nightingale

Customer Service Delivery Manager

If Nissan Australia has the audacity to deny warranty on something so obviously deffective that one can see it, touch it, feel it, I dread to think what will happen with warranty claims on invisible issues deep inside this complex machine. We will never be able to prove anything!

Brace yourselves guys, this is going to be a very "rewarding" car ownership from the point of view of Nissan head office support for their proud creation.

We might as well tear up the ridiculous agreement they made us sign at the point of a gun and modify these cars within an inch of F1 performance and stuff their silly warranty!

I know it will be pain in the arse but get a leather report, all your correspondence with Nissan Australia, pay it to get it translated into Japanese and send it to Nissan Japan.

There is no way in hell a japanese customer would get treated like that or stand for quality like that. Those seat would have been changed on a blink of an eye over here. They wouldnt want the bad PR..

Give it a go you never know your luck.