I've been shopping for another 928, since I sold mine last November. I saw a 1989 S4 on E-Bay advertised with 27K miles. The photos are limited, and according the seller, the interior is in excellent condition except for the driver's seat which is worn. My question is, if the car has only 27K miles, how in the hell can the driver's seat be worn . I have a 98 Accord with over 100K miles, and the driver's seat is just barely slightly worn. Anyone have any thoughts on this .

 

Did he forget the 1....127k?
Strikes me as a red flag, but that's the magic of ebay.... you only show what you want the buyer to see.
The group on this list amazes me with some of the observations
they make from 2 or 3 photos. Post the link and get some feedback ( & maybe some competition)

 

Depends on how the driver entered and exited the car, how many times and what kind of pants he/she was wearing doing it. A pair of Levis riveted jeans will tear up almost any seat quick.

 

perhaps the owner just enjoyed sitting in the car in the garage ....... , only drove 1/4 mile at a time , had the digital dash fail and replaced it with a new one , bought a used dash with low miles and switched , was really large and put a lot of stress on the bolster sliding in and out ... or simply unplugged the wire near the spare tire and drove with the tachometer as a speedometer ..........last but not least it could be actual miles !!!

 

There's a power lead to the speedo inside the dash wiring harness; an industrious person could actually place an inline switch. Then the speedo could literally be turned on or off with the flick of a switch.

It would be a bummer for the cruise control. Does anything else on the car key off of the speedo?

I heard that if you have the speedo disconnected, those new fangled radar/laser detectors can't get a good reading....

 

Exactly. I have seen people get into Porsches actually trying to avoid
hitting the bolster by putting their butt in first, then swing their legs around to the driving position.......not even touching the bolster.

Others I have seen jump into the seat like it was a bean bag chair......with keys sticking out of their back pockets, big belt adornments,.......makes me cringe.

 

JE has it right, people who are vertically challenged tend to have the seat far forward, this means chaffing of the bolster on exit and entry is almost guaranteed.

Seen high mileage cars with mint bolsters and low mileage with wear.

However, the rest of the seat should be in good condition unless it was left out in the sun .....

Chris

 

my seats are kind of worn from where the seat belt touches it. its kind of cracked but not all the way through from being sat in a million and a half times too. its still the most confortable car seat i have ever sat in.

 

The '89 Carrera I had a couple years ago had under 40k miles and was in really, really fantastic condition - except for the drivers seat bolster and the pocket on the driver's door which were both quite worn. I don't know what the PO did to cause it, but it was almost literally the only thing wrong with the car!

 

27k miles == easily a worn driver's bolster.

300 workdays every year,
5 miles to work and back every day,
1989 - 2004 = 15 years
300 x 15 = 4500 days
4500 x 5 = 22500 miles

Getting into and out of your driver's seat, when it's close to the steering wheel, and in a tight garage, wearing anything but silk, will damage the bolster, the steering wheel and the door pocket and carpet.

 

Other than the seat, do we have a 'winner'? A seat can be refurbished - an extra 100K miles cannot - so if the car is a legitimate 27K, it must have a number of pluses!. I would agree with Jim and other's that suggest that it is the size and athleticism of the driver that determines seat wear: "Butt - rub" is ...well, deleterious to the seat - but rarely harms engines and transmissions.
As for future preventative measures, one opinion quoted is, ...." and in a tight garage, wearing anything but silk, ...."
I have no personal experience in this venue, nor am about to acquire any - but(t) in a voyeristic sense am curious as to how this fact was validated. This could make good copy ....