Hows your wear and tear?
 

How are your seats and steering wheel holding up? On my 08, the driver seat, the leather is wearing on the edge and the steering wheel is losing some of it's texture where I grip it. This after 33K miles.

This is typical of the newer Fords, my parents have an 06 EB Expy, has about 45K miles, their leather looks like trash, and my dad gets it detailed every month or so.

That is why I rock wet okole seat covers, since <500 miles, and I ALWAYS put a microsuede and memory foam steering wheel wrap on all my vehicles. It is cool in the summer, warm in the winter and protects the steering wheel.

I hear you there. Friend of mine has a 88' BMW, leather looks brand new. It feels about 1/4" thick.

Do you have a link for the steering wheel cover?

My seats are starting to show some color, but they are in tact. The color is a little darker, sort of like a stain, but it is on the edge of the seat where I would expect it to wear thin over time.

Otherwise, it is holding up well. '08 w/40k

Here is my seat. Sorry for the pic quality, used my phone.
http://home.pacbell.net/cclary1/0828091305.jpg
http://home.pacbell.net/cclary1/0828091306.jpg

you need to stop dragging your bottom off the seat.:)
when you are getting in your car pull yourself up with the grab handle and sit.
Do the same when you get off: pull, then stand up, put your feet in the running board, and jump off.
I know its too much work but your seats will last longer. My 05 with 110,000 miles still look pretty good. except for the back ones (kids).

Or you can get in and out like a normal person, get rid of the cheap trash "leather" seats and put some nice covers on them. Although, I will say the Recaro leather seats in my Isuzu are amazing. But that is the difference between quality and Ford penny pinching. 9 years old, 115K miles, no tint on the windows, and the Recaros still look and feel new. They will be getting wet okole covers as well, after I finish putting lockers and diff drop brackets and cv boots....

As for the steering wheel cover, I get them at pepboys, like 15 bucks, different colors. Barely fits in the expy, takes some muscle to get it on, but well worth it.
As for the seat covers, www.wetokole.com. I did front and middle rows,and they are separate pieces, so when I yanked the middle seat of the middle row to make captain's chairs, no problems...it now sits nice and protected in the garage.

I know it's from me dragging my butt. For some reason my height 6'3" it's awkward to not drag out. I still think they should last longer. The leather is so thin.

I like the wetokole covers but don't have the cash for them. I will check out the steering wheel covers.

Coverking makes some nice covers that are cheaper. Neoprene just works well for wet dog and kids.
If you want durability, they make a cordura set (back pack material), probably not comfortable, but should last forever!!

I feel your pain as well. My wife's garage kept, 05 Grand Prix is showing the similar wear at 43K miles, my 03 F-150 Lariat did it as well (looked about the same as those at 80K miles but I also wiped my seats weekly which I think helped a ton. The only ones I don't see are as mentioned Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and the King Ranch if lubed up properly.

Its everything. My 2007 Impala which I just traded for the Expy had a tear in the vinyl on the drivers seat from where it creased. So cheap. .. . Just the way of the world.

Talked to a coworker who used to work at a large seat manufacturer for domestic and global car manufacturers. He mentioned that all the leather is generally the same anymore, but the seat structure and design make up, ie seams, support, contour (defined by Vehicle MFR) has a lot more to do with wear and tear than the leather itself.

While I agree the design does have a lot to do with the wear-high bolster force wear on the high points, the quality of leather(thickness, coating, etc) on cars in general has gone downhill. I Ford, Chevy, Dodge have progressively used a thinner, less expensive grade of leather as time has gone on. It's possible the other makers have done this, but I have no experience with them.

nothing on my Expy to date.

the stitching on the leather steering wheel annoys me...and on my Bullitt. But that is a re-curring thing from my 06 FX4. For something that sees litterally everyday use, I would have expected immaculate stitching.


as for the leather quality. I had a 1993 Bronco XLT with Blue Leather seats. by the time I got ahold of it it was 10 yrs old. The leather in that puppy was damn good. 283,000 miles on the odometer when I got done with it and 15yrs on the clock. Leather was used looking obviously, but I wasn't ashamed to show it to anybody. I hope my Expy/Mustang hold up even 1/2 as well.

The steering wheel is another item that is showing wear quickly. The texture is wearing flat and I am just starting to see the color deteriorate. This mind you is a truck that has the inside cleaned and conditioned at least twice a month. Warm damp lint free cloth and Lexol or Zaino's Leather in a Bottle.

I agree Tylus, the stitching looks like it belongs on a swap meet pleather coat. Threads sticking up, mis-aligned leather, etc.

I found the solution to the leather issue in the owners manual.

The boys at the car wash could never get the tan seats in my Navigator clean, they tried Lexol, Armor All, and a bunch of different cleaners.

The Lincoln owners manual recommends Ford's leather cleaning solution, and it works. It goes on a little bit like saddle soap (if you've ever saddle soaped horse gear) and makes the leather look new with the mat finish that came from the factory.

It even made my steering wheel look brand new. I love this stuff.

When I ordered this from Ford, I also ordered their interior cleaner for the silver colored plastic trim, and it doesn't work worth a damn.

The silver crap gets stains all over it, and if you scrub it hard the silver comes off. Has anybody found anything that works for this?