Hello, first time to post in the forums.

Just wondering what you guys think about what happened to my Accord's interior upholstery including the center armrest and the driver's side seat.

2008 EX-L coupe, about 43,000 miles on it. Daily driver. Clean it as often as I could including occasional (not religious) application of protectants to the leather. And by protectants, I mean the Armor All brand of protectant.

Is the damage seen in the following photos reasonable from an almost 2 year old vehicle?






The center armrest started creasing a few months ago, and marks finally broke around October.

I've showed the damaged armrest to the dealers and the first thing he asked me was did I slash this part up? I wanted to answer "why would I do that to a $30,000 vehicle?" But then I explained that being a daily driver, that's what happened. He explained that since my car is over 30,000 miles and being an interior part, the warranty would not cover it since it's wear and tear. Honda sells this part, this exact same part which has inferior quality materials IMO, for about $160, and as low as $110 on ebay.

Unfortunately, the driver's seat seam on the lower left back side started to split apart as well. It appears that the stitches broke. I haven't shown this to the dealer; the scheduled maintenance is due any day now and I intend to show this as well.

Now, please bear in mind that I am by now means a small framed person. 6'2", 250lbs. Just keeping it in perspective.

 

In that 1 picture the 1st one, it looked like someone climbed into that seat
with a screwdriver in there back pocket and made those marks.. Maybe?

 

It does look like it huh? But honest to God, nobody touched it. Besides, if someone were to scratch it up with a blade or other sharp implement it would have somehow also damaged the interior lining.

 

Next time your at your regular dealer ask them for the name and number of their district manager for Honda and call this person. They will give you some B.S. story and say there is no such person, don't buy it there is such a person. I've done it twice in my life and magically both issues were fixed IMMEDIATELY after (more than one dealership) gave me the cold shoulder. The second time I had the owner of the dealership, yes the owner, call me and confirm everything was fixed to my satisfaction. I'm absolutely no complainer (I'm actually the opposite) but they pissed me off both times and enough was enough.

 

Every large customer service and sales type company has District Managers for just those kinds of problems-and they are authorized to try and take care of the customer and make them happy..I know this for Sure as I do Mystery Shops on Many Car Dealers all over Ohio...

 

I know this for Sure as I do Mystery Shops on Many Car Dealers all over Ohio...


What does this mean???

 

Regular scheduled maintenance is due on my Accord so this week, I'll bring it to the dealers.

I got no problem paying for repairs but then my only beef is that damage occurred on a car that IS LESS THAN 2 YEARS OLD. I think that is a reasonable and prudent argument there.

 

My armrest is just over 3 years old and looks exactly the same - except worse!! Apparantly this is a common issue on this model (according to research I've done online). I weigh 130 and hardly think that placing my elbow on the armrest should cause such damage in a 3-year period.

 

I have a 2008 Accord E-LX with 63K miles. My driver's right side armrest upholstery is beginning to buckle up as well. It has not torn yet, but I think it might not be long before it does. I have heard from several other 2008 Honda owners that they are having the same problem with thier armrests. I contacted Honda to see if they were aware of this, but they said they had not heard of many complaints. If you are having these issues with your vehicle I suggest you contact Honda so they can do a recall or make some other adjustment to get this issue corrected. I have two other Hondas and this is the only one that has this problem.

 

Your photos are exactly what happened to mine after 2.5 years. The "Pleather" is as thin as a sheet of paper and was designed poorly. I love Honda's but someone really dropped the ball on this one. I refuse to pay the $205 replacement cost. I am taking it and a REAL piece of leather to an upholstery shop for a long lasting replacement.