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Seat bolster wear and Convertible top seam separation
Time to attend to a few problem areas on my 2014 Cab S with 18K miles on it.
Convertible top has a seam separation on it. At first my dealer told me that no top issues were covered, its all wear and tear. I asked them where to take it and they said Lin's Upholstery in Vienna VA - they were the best. So I did, and the owner of Lin's looked it and said "That's non-repairable, they sewed it incorrectly and it would be a warranty item". Back to the dealer I went and it took about an hour and a half plus several levels of management for them to agree to warranty a new top. This is good, because a new top is around $ 5K. Here's a photo of the defect in the top, with the key next to it as a size reference.
While at Lin's, I also asked him to look at my driver's seat side bolster - it is wearing badly (base seats). He said immediately "That's caused by the wallet in your back pocket when you get in and out of the car - I see it on all sports cars. Keep your wallet out of your back pocket and try not to wear blue jeans and it will be much better after its been fixed".
Cost to repair is $ 330 and will take one day. The worn area is vinyl, which is a plastic. On the other side of the seam - the seating area - is leather and you can see it has held up better. So we are going to put real leather as the replacement panel, not vinyl. Will post photos again when the job is done in two weeks.
Time to attend to a few problem areas on my 2014 Cab S with 18K miles on it.
Convertible top has a seam separation on it. At first my dealer told me that no top issues were covered, its all wear and tear. I asked them where to take it and they said Lin's Upholstery in Vienna VA - they were the best. So I did, and the owner of Lin's looked it and said "That's non-repairable, they sewed it incorrectly and it would be a warranty item". Back to the dealer I went and it took about an hour and a half plus several levels of management for them to agree to warranty a new top. This is good, because a new top is around $ 5K. Here's a photo of the defect in the top, with the key next to it as a size reference.
I think this is dealer's automatic response because so many people complain about the wear / rub marks in the fabric of their tops. I believe the dealers were replacing these tops for a while and got their hand slapped from Germany for replacing too many tops for what is considered to be normal wear. I've seen reference to a service bulletin on this, likely from a thread here.
Originally Posted by drcollie
While at Lin's, I also asked him to look at my driver's seat side bolster - it is wearing badly (base seats). He said immediately "That's caused by the wallet in your back pocket when you get in and out of the car - I see it on all sports cars. Keep your wallet out of your back pocket and try not to wear blue jeans and it will be much better after its been fixed".
If you retrain yourself on how you get into your car after this repair you can avoid it again in the future as even leather will begin to wear. I put my left hand on the left bolster, where your wear is, as I get into the car to pivot around it instead of sliding across it. Even with this, and full leather, I am still picking up a bit of wear at 20K miles (I believe the previous owner did most of the wear in the 13K they had the car.)
8 days in the shop, new top under warranty - looks very nice, not a crease in it!
Had the seat bolster repaired, and instead of using the cheap vinyl that came from the factory I had a section on leather sewn in - match is good. $ 380 total cost for that repair.
All work was done by Lim's Auto Upholstery in Tysons Corner, VA. The Porsche dealer does not install the new tops, they say Lim's can do a better job than they can so they send it to him. Quality work.
Top looks great! RaggTopp it before the end of the year. 3-4 light coats. 30 minutes between coats. Then again in two years. Thanks baby Jesus for that CPO.
My brown colored top had the same issue with stitching within 8 months of purchase. It was replaced without issue under warranty. The replacement is same color brown, 3 years older, and only shows slight wear caused when the top is down.
Dan
thats pretty horrific seat wear. more like 10 years hard use.
The same thing is going to happen to a new seat if somebody doesnt start working their way in and out using more care. Thats why I have some seat covers for most daily use
If you retrain yourself on how you get into your car after this repair you can avoid it again in the future as even leather will begin to wear. I put my left hand on the left bolster, where your wear is, as I get into the car to pivot around it instead of sliding across it. Even with this, and full leather, I am still picking up a bit of wear at 20K miles (I believe the previous owner did most of the wear in the 13K they had the car.)
Seems like since early days, people have experienced side or bottom bolster wear on 911 seats. And figured out ways to enter and exit without "sliding" across the seat.
After I open the door, I put my left hand on the bottom door jamb and lift my weight up and forward to avoid rubbing the horizontal and vertical bolsters. I have even started to train my family how to do it to protect the passenger seat! I'm pretty much the only person that ever drives the car. So far this technique has been working well, although I've only had the car since Memorial Day. I used to drive my previous car (Panamera Turbo) into NYC every day and parked in a garage where an attendant parked the car every day (not many options to avoid that). That driver seat took a beating!
Glad to hear you stuck with it and that they replaced your top. I have the same problem with my 2016 GTS cab top. In about the same area, as well. Mine is worse. I am taking my car in for its 20k maintenance and I will be asking them about it then. I will reference this thread if they try to pull the wear and tear card on me. Thanks for sharing!
Glad they took care of it. When you say upper levels of management, was it just management at the facility, or did they have to call out to like a regional manger?
09-26-2017, 12:41 AM
Seat bolster wear and Convertible top seam separation
