mercurytech

i bought my truck (2012 lariat) new on 3/6/13. i noticed that the drivers seat had a bunch of very thin spots in the leather on only one section of the seat. i have never seen anything like this in any other vehicle with leather interior. i brought the truck in a few days after purchase to have the service manager look at it. he claimed he had to take pictures of the seat and send it to ford to get approval. after over a month i had to call the dealership to find out what ford said. when i called they told me tat ford said these are natural dimples in the leather and they would do nothing about it. i could not believe what they told me as these spots are very noticable and very, very thin and i doubt the seat makes it a year without one of the spots tearing though. i cant believe that ford will not fix this after i just bought a $50k truck from them. i was under the impression that ford was a stand-up company and took care of their customers. if this is how they handle their warranties, then this will be my first and last ford vehicle.

to top that all off, it was raining the day i brought the truck in and the windshield wipers were molded over and jumping along the windshield when they would sweep. i told the service manager that the truck was built in august 2012 and sat on the lot until i bought it in march 2013. he proceeded to tell me that they couldnt replace them under warranty because he said it wouldnt fix the problem, but i could replace them with the one set of wipers i get for the year on the maintenance plan. i told them to go ahead and replace them and drove the truck right outside the door in the rain and showed the dealer how perfect the new wipers worked.

etcbrown

Go to another dealer.

TexasTaxi

Good luck!

My stealership told me that it was "normal" for my brakes to squeal.
I got a followup call after I raised hell during the satisfaction phone survey.
The "corporate" office sided with the stealership.

I love my truck, but Ford service sucks!

mercurytech

here are some pictures of the thin spots on the leather

mercurytech

great, my brakes sqeal for the first 10 minutes of driving and im waiting to tell them about that when i go in for my first oil change. sounds like im going to get the same b/s that i did with the seat

Cleanmaxx Brian

Just to share with my own leather experience....
2003 Nissan Frontier with the same thin spots (I think they are scares) on the drivers seat on the doors side on top of the thigh bolster... This is the worst spot to have any issue as it is the spot that gets the most wear getting in or out. I am 375 pounds and had 85k of short trips on it when I traded it in. The seat was fine and held up fine. And Fords leather is better quality...

So I say don't worry about it.

iFord

Is it real leather in the Lariat? I thought my older Lariat was leather, but it's not. I want real cow hide!

justjimmy

I thought the only "real" leather in on the King Ranch. Maybe I'm wrong.

tgwill

Pretty sure it's real leather. I think they have to state on the sticker that it isn't. I recall BMW getting into some legal trouble because the low end 325i's were coming with synthetic "leather", but it was only mentioned in very fine print in the brochure.

Might be wrong.

However, those look like natural scars from the hide. That's probably why this truck sat on the lot for so long. I'd live with it, you probably got a pretty good deal on it, and it's something you should have noticed before delivery.

Truck owner

Its pleather! The only real leather is in the King Ranch. The leather used in the other models is the same type they use in most cars/vans/trucks. If cleaned/treated regularly it should hold up fine. The enemy to pleather is sharp objects. Keep sun off the seats in summer, the inside will get so hot and dry out these seats quickly. Put sunshade in front window, tint front windows, add window visors so you can crack the windows and allow heat to exit and clean/treat regularly..