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Brought a new car with leather protection, the brochure only says lifetime protection against

  • cracking, splitting and discolouration caused by the harmful effects of ultra violet light
  • permanent staining of the treated surface from water, coffee, soda, milk or other commonly consumed food and liquids

Thats all. Should I also expect (because of the leather protection)

  • the leather to always be shiny?
  • spilled liquid on the leather to remain as beads and run off the edges? (similar to water repellent coating)
  • no need to moisturise/rejuvenate the leather forever?
  • no cracking, splitting and discolouration can occur under normal butt movements?

Try to answer this based on the common understanding of "leather protection" that you can get from any car dealers.

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about legal and warranty issues, not maintenance and repair – Nick C♦ Feb 10 '16 at 9:21
  • Agreed, I was about to answer saying the only way to be sure is to see how the seats weather and claim if they crack or fade. Personally, I'd be tempted to maintain a leather cleaning and feeding routine but the best people to answer your questions are those who made the product which has been applied to your interior. – Steve Matthews Feb 10 '16 at 11:41
  • Opps, sorry if the choice of word "claim" makes the whole question pointless. I will remove that but the major part of the question is about the effect of leather protection. Please attempt to answer that. – user1589188 Feb 10 '16 at 23:01
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    Honestly, as it currently stands the question could be considered to be within scope of motor vehicle maintenance, I vote for reopening. – I have no idea what I'm doing Feb 11 '16 at 8:03
  • I agree with @IhavenoideawhatI'mdoing ,,, this seems completely within the bounds of vehicle "maintenance" to me. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2♦ Feb 26 '16 at 13:06
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Well, this answer will be primarily opinion based, but I would say "general wear and tear" is whatever your butt can do to them. Which is basically anything mentioned except stains. Stains on leather seats is pretty darn rare unless they are not coated or you somehow managed to spill something extremely nasty, so usefulness of this "lifetime protection" is debatable. You can't prove that the seats cracked or discolored because of UV light unless you haven't driven the car at all.

The leather will probably stay shiny, but cracks and tears will form naturally after more or less time (years probably) and seats should discolor eventually as a cause of friction between leather and your clothing. Spilled liquid will probably not bead up, as that requires an expensive hydrophobic surface forming or a hydrophobic coating (which would not last long at all). Liquid will simply not be absorbed and you can wipe it off without damage to seats. As far as I know coated seats do not need to be moisturized.

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  • Thanks, so as far as you know the leather protection coating does nothing else but the two: UV protection and stain protection? As for the stain protection, does it have the same effect of those water repellents that rolls liquid into beads? – user1589188 Feb 10 '16 at 23:14
  • Well, often leather for such uses is coated with some sort of vinyl, which gives the leather the "shininess" you often see. It's probably what gives the stain/UV protection, also slows down general wear. Maybe they went an extra mile and coated with something else to improve protection, only the manufacturer can tell you that. I've seen some cars with non coated leather, it wears much faster and needs much more care. I doubt that they're treated with hydrophobic products or surfaces, but vinyl won't absorb moisture in general, so it's not really needed, just wipe off anything that spills – I have no idea what I'm doing Feb 11 '16 at 7:55
  • Thats heaps for your detailed answer. I was planning to pour some water onto the leather and see if it repels when I pick up my car. It sounds what I was expecting will not happen :D – user1589188 Feb 11 '16 at 21:47

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