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Crack in Drivers Seat Bolster

RedlandA9X

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Good morning. I'm trying to determine if this is a common problem with the seats in 2016 VF-II SV6 Black

I have developed a crack in the drivers seat base on the bolster nearest to door. Note that this is a crack of the top level of the leather, not a rip, tear, split or a penetration by a foreign body. The vehicle is still under its 5 year warranty, but the dealer and Holden Customer Care are now saying that it is wear & tear and not covered by warranty. This statement was after a month of the assumption that it would be covered by warranty.

After a 3 week search of the part by Holden (probably to their dealer network), I was advised that the part is NLA, but they will be re-manufacturing. The problem I see it, for a vehicle just nearing 4 years old and only 92,000 km, how could this be genuine wear & tear. There is noted other wear and tear on the seat back (scatches etc) and they are in line with the age and Km's of the car. My expectation, and I would expect generally, is that the seat bolster material, what ever it is, should last at least the period of warranty, and if not then maybe the material was not fit for purpose of being a seat bolster.

Additionally, the trimmer that the dealer uses, cannot fix the issue due to stitching and material matching. I was asked to visit two other trimmer by the Dealer, and if I couldn't they had another customer who could - as they had a similar issue. Both these trimmer also state that they couldn't match the colour or stitching. At least one did indicate that it was a definite failure of the material and that the material is not leather, but vinyl.

Holden, the dealer and I cannot rule out the fact that there could be an underlying issue with the support material of the bolster. That would only be evident once the seat covering has been removed.

A number of lo-res photo on ebay and wrecker sites do show crack in the same general area and a random in the street question provided about a 40%, "I have that problem too."

Is this a common issue, that was dealt with by a dealer, and if so how did Holden and the dealer resolve the issue ?

I've attached the best picture I can of the cracking in the seat bolster

Regards
Peter
 

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mpower

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doesn't look like wear and tear, did you ask the trimmer if it looks like wear and tear to them?

if you have an independent trimmer or someone do up a report you'd have a leg to stand on.
 

Skylarking

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According ACL Product must be of acceptable quality, that is:
  • Fit for its normal purpose
  • Acceptable in appearance and finish
  • Free of defects
  • Safe and durable
  • do all the things someone would normally expect them to do.
Acceptable quality takes into account what would normally be expected for the type of product and cost.

As such, almost everyone would expect a seat should not tear or the material should not fail through normal use. It’s not unreasonable to expect normal use being a person getting into and out of their car quite a few times a day, for years and years, well past the manufacturers warranty period. After all, one buys a car to use it :p Thus a drivers seat bolster should survive such normal use. Anything less means that the seat simply isn’t durable and fit for purpose.

(Since torn bolsters, when they get bad, could be considered a road worthy issue, it must be obvious vehicle registration authorities deem it serious enough that the defect must be corrected and proof of such provided within a specific time frame. That has to clear up any misconceptions that Holden has about the seats being durable and fit for purpose when registeration authorities have a rather different view).

As such, Holden blaming wear and tear isn’t an argument when they didn’t design the bolster to be durable and fit for purpose.

As for parts availability, ACL seems to state that spare parts and repair facilities will be available for a reasonable time. So the period is somewhat undefined but is seems the general view is that 10 years seems to be a reasonable. But knowing how many spare parts a manufacture needs
is an interesting statistical study. Seems Holden may have been caught out with too few spares but they seem to be trying to get their ducks in a row with doin a remanufacturing parts run. But it’s their spare parts, their problem to resolve...

So, I’d have a chat to the selling dealer and/or Holden Customer Care and remind them of their legal obligations under ACL that the product they sell must be durable and fit for purpose and that you expect that they fix the defect under your statutory warranty rights. If they can’t repair the bolster because spare parts (seat base cover) availability issues, well they can replace the whole seat...
 
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lmoengnr

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It looks like a material defect, something wrong with the underlying fabric.
 

Henry19720

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Hi Redland,

I had exactly the same issue with my MY15 SV6 at like 3 months out of warranty I think. Looks like the same area too. And would you belive the identical same answer from Holden “wear and tear”.
I begrudgingly accepted that explanation and purchased the genuine replacement cover and fitted it myself.
Then I thought bullshit this car is designed for Australian conditions and how come my 2005 ZC Vectra with leather trim and 265,000km on it hasn’t had the same problem? Coupled with the fact I had genuine neoprene seat covers fitted for most of the time as well.

Long story short complained through the website to Holden Customer Care and got a phone call within a few hours. Result sent them a copy of my invoice and was given the amount I paid for the part as a credit for my next service.

Keep at them and good luck!
 

RedlandA9X

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Thank you all for your input

From what I can tell, talking to random owners on the street, etc this is a very common problem. The dealer sort of tried to wash their hands of it by passing me the Customer Care, (they have moved to a new franchise) but did give me some 'off the record' information. Holden Customer care was involved for a 3 weeks, at at no time did they indicate that it wouldn't be covered under warranty. Then out of the blue, almost a scripted phone call with no further explanation, they said it was consider wear & tear and indicated that I was more than welcome to escalate it to the ACCC. Interestingly that was never a threat made by me.

I have a document from the trimmer that the dealer asked me to see, stating that in their opinion it is material failure. The underlying foam is ok.

With some of the info & wording here, its off to Customer Care again to indicate that their response is disappointing and totally unacceptable especially pointing out their obligations by law and Holden's comments made in the media, and in writing to myself, when local production stopped, then again in February this year.

As a side point, the bolster was, I believe, misrepresented as leather. Selling dealer, service dealer, customer care always refer to it as leather, but if fact its leatherette, a spunky name for good-old vinyl and that just pisses me off even more.
 

Henry19720

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Yep vinyl it is. Leatherette sure sounds better than “taxi pack inspired seat highlights”.
IIRC Mercedes called theirs MB Tex in the 1990’s.
Imagine jumping into a taxi in Berlin “Wow mate you’ve got a flash car MB Tex and all....”.
 

Paul Smedley

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Gotta love the term "Leather appointed" .... and we used to call the vinyl 'pleather' :)
 

RedlandA9X

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Hello all again.

Holden are being very arrogant and insist that the crack is wear and tear, but offer no reason as to why apart from "In their option it is considered fair wear & tear due to the age and KMs travelled."

I don't know if this is allowed on this forum, but if anyone reading this has had the seat base or cover replaced under warranty due to the same issue, is it possible to get your VIN, State, approx date and the approx KM's travelled.

They are really saying to me, go for it, we don't care, bring in the ACCC.

This is shaping to be an ACCC complaint which I'm getting all my documents and correspondence together now.

Peter
 

Skylarking

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ACCC will handle complaints of a general nature (for statistical gathering reasons to understand market wide issues) and around the court enforceable undertaking Holden made to them to follow consumer law and to train their dealers to do the same (they should be well behaved until at least 13th December 2020 when the undertaking expires).

Concerns of an individual nature sit with NSW Fair Trading so give them a call. But if it’s something that can’t be resolved with Holden, after getting advice from FT, you’ll need to go to NCAT.

You’ll have to prove either it’s a defect in the material and is not wear and tear, or provide a strong enough argument that the seat bolster is not durable, or that it was misrepresented as leather seats but in fact it’s part vinyl which is less durable. You may need an expert witness and some report or documentation which bolsters your claim.

PS: kms isnt a great indicator of bolster wear as someone who drives 80kms to work and 80kms back home will get in and out 4 times a day but someone who does multiple very short drives will get in and out much more causing much more wear yet theyll have a lower km car... regardless the seat should cope with a driver getting in and out multiple times a day for years...
And if Holden say time is a factor, it sounds like material composition was chosen to fail in a given time frame or their cars aren’t durable...
 
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