Has anyone had problems with staining or wearing of Softex? The black cover of the console between the back seats has a big uneven spot which looks like the color has been rubbed out. It will not come off w mild soap and water. The back seats rarely get used but a teen with cell phone was back there this week. Could a cell phone get hot enough to cause this? There has been no food or drinks in the back seats Thoughts?
Maybe you could tone it down with some black shoe polish. It looks like some kind of bleaching agent.
Thats not a factory warranty issue. Why do you think dealerships ask you to add additional Scotch gaurd warranty just for softtex?? Cause stuff like that happens.
I bought a black hand towel and draped it over the console. It blends in pretty well with the black Softex, but may not appeal to those who want everything to be Toyota branded. Since I usually drive in short sleeves or tank tops, the towel does a great job in allowing air circulation between my right arm/elbow and the Softex on the center console. It also protects the Softex from getting worn down (wore a hole in the top of my Camry's leather topped center console so I learned a lesson!). Kind of a slight pain opening the center console at times but not a show stopper by any means. Someone may have a nicer solution available. If so, I would be happy to hear of it.
Sunscreen is evil stuff. That might have been the issue. I don't use the stuff at all when I go out shooting because it will remove all the markings from my camera and destroy the lens coatings if they accidentally make contact.
Someone will come out with a cover you can buy for the front and back consoles soon...I hope. They tend to wear pretty fast. Oh, and those pesky teens are always causing problems. I would not have one (at least until they reach the age of reason).
To the OP, my comment re: this being a warranty issue was b/c at the time I read the thread I processed the issue as being a fading of the black color, and not a residue issue from another product. My sincere apologies..... I used to own a 1987 BMW E28 5 Series and now own a 1992 Miata. For the vinyl dash of the BMW I used Vinylex as a cleaner and UV protector, and for the Miata I have been using Aerospace 303 cleaners and protectors. Experimenting with one of these (I prefer the Aerospace 303 products) to try and clean off what is hopefully residue (and not a burn marking) may be an inexpensive means of trial and error. However FWIW, if you find it to be a burn marking like you mentioned from a cell phone and not from a lotion, you may still have a warranty claim. Dealerships ask buyers to add additional protection to seating materials and exterior paint because once in a while they'll find someone dumb enough to pay $1,000 for the application, when it fact one can buy a spray bottle of the same product for less than $20 and apply it themselves. When I bought my then new 2014 Toyota Highlander Limited, they asked me to pay $950 for an additional "exterior wax protection package", which essentially amounted to a spray detailer to make the paint feel more smooth. I use this all the time on my cars and I buy it for $30/gallon from ChemicalGuys.com (no affiliation, just giving an example). Bottom line: Try and give it a light pressure cleaning with a vinyl cleaner. If this doesn't work, you have only your time to lose in trying to make a warranty claim.
Bring it into a Toyota dealer. They've offered to fix things for me for free. It's a warranty issue, and even so, you've got 2 years of free maintenance.
I really don't think they used any sunscreen or lotion. But there's always a remote chance ... Also I brought it into the dealer for its 5K checkup and they used a leather clearer which got ride of some of the 'stain' but its still there. Thanks for your suggestions though. Thats a good suggestion. Wish I had known that putting stuff on the fabric would be an issue. Hmmm. I don't think the kids had sunscreen on but maybe something similar ... Okay, so they're grandkid teens and we'e so quiet and well-behaved the whole 3+ hrs of driving ... yeah, they were on their phones! I may try a vinyl cleaner. The dealership used a leather cleaner which lessened the residue/staining but its definitely still there.
