I noticed the SofTex "leather" is peeling off on the drivers side seat. I know the steering wheel is also wrapped up in this synthetic material so I'd imagine I can expect that to peel off too. I've only had the car for 3 years, so much for SofTex being more durable than leather. #disappointed
Yikes! X2 for the pictures. The only thing my wife and I have noticed is the softex on the DS arm rest getting stretched out/wrinkled because we tend to rest our elbows on it.
See pic attached. To give you an idea, the area peeling off is where the back of my left elbow/arm rests on the drivers side seat. It appears that SofTex is just a coating similar to Teflon. My car is due for an oil change this weekend so I will ask the dealership about it. I will report my findings.
Just outside of bumper-to-bumper warranty? Hopefully the dealer or Toyota can do something about it. That seems odd.
Sew a big patch on it, maybe shame 'em into doing something! Off topic, but our drivers floor mat blew a hole right through, at about the one year mark. Sewed in a rubber panel, what any decent car mat would have had to begin with.
I wonder if that seat belt buckle (see your picture) has anything to do with the delamination. I have to admit that I don't really even think about it when I get out of the car, but it's likely that buckle hits nearly the same area occasionally when you leave the car. Over three years… Well, you can see a smaller but similar delamination on my seat. This is very likely due to the friction of the seatbelt against the material over time. Not sure how to deal with it, though. Maybe some kind of sealant or plastic coating?
This is disappointing. It would be natural to assume Toyota would create an upscale artificial material with outstanding durability. Here's what the literature states: Cloth and vinyl still are the most widely used "basic" seating materials on lower-priced cars. One characteristic most motorists have learned about vinyl is that in warm, humid weather the passenger's back becomes sweaty and clothing sticks to the seat back. That's because vinyl is nonporous—it doesn't "breathe." And there's a second issue: in time, vinyl can dry out and crack from exposure to sun. Even many natural leather seats eventually may crack, particularly at the bolsters. Although Softex releases moisture more quickly, so that in effect it dries faster, the material's characteristics are such that, unlike vinyl, it is highly resistant to dry-cracking, according to Toyota. Softex also reportedly has good strength-to-weight and surpasses natural leather in seam fatigue, abrasion, and scratching tests. The tensile strength of Softex is only slightly lower than natural leather. Although the material does have some limits in forming and sewing some trim patterns (as noted for Avalon, for example), Toyota said it is rated higher in these same areas with other patterns. Toyota added that Softex passes its durability tests, of which a spokesman said "there's a complex battery in a variety of environmental conditions."
I finally took my car in for servicing and the service advisor told me he had never heard of this happening (of course). He said my vehicle was out of warranty so he suggested I take my car in to a car upholstery place down the street. I'm not doing that so I guess I'm stuck with this until I get a new car.
Wow, sorry to hear about the Toyota SofTex issues and that 2015 C class! The vinyl "leatherette" on our 2002 Audi A4 cracked a couple of years ago on the driver's seat. No other issues with the upholstery.
I have not and probably won't. I will email them and include the picture instead. I will post my findings.
