Rapid deterioration of Fake leather

[Coronadoron]

After only moderate use of my 2016 Chateau Citation motor home, the paper thin coating of the fake leather on my hide-a-bed couch began rapidly flaking across both arms and the seating areas of the couch. The product is obviously cheap and of poor quality. To make matters worse it would almost be impossible to replace because it is part of the entire fabric covering associated with the hide-a-bed. Very disappointing. After contacting the company and advising them, they told me there was no relief, the product was out of warrant.New buyers...BEWARE! Cheap, Cheap, Cheap!

[Bob Denman]

This is a well-documented issue with RVs built around the same time as yours.
The company that sold that crap went belly-up, and your factory warranty is a distant memory.
Try to look on this as an opportunity to customize your rig.

[Pete'sMH]

Right. It’s common among all brands and has been going on for at least 6 or 7 years. The manufacturers are doing it with full knowledge. In my case, my 2019 Newmar began peeling in fewer than 6,000 miles. Newmar has agreed to recover all of my furniture and only time will tell if they choose a better product this time. Flexsteel was a major supplier of the poor quality furniture but it was only in conjunction with what the manufacturers specified. Flexsteel is still in business but is no longer supplying the RV industry. Apparently though a number of Flexsteel’s former employees have formed their own company to make seats and they will be redoing mine (in October!). I have to suppose that they are not especially interested in getting the same reputation that their former employers have!

[PictureTheSouth]

Originally Posted by Coronadoron

After only moderate use of my 2016 Chateau Citation motor home, the paper thin coating of the fake leather on my hide-a-bed couch began rapidly flaking across both arms and the seating areas of the couch. The product is obviously cheap and of poor quality. To make matters worse it would almost be impossible to replace because it is part of the entire fabric covering associated with the hide-a-bed. Very disappointing. After contacting the company and advising them, they told me there was no relief, the product was out of warrant.New buyers...BEWARE! Cheap, Cheap, Cheap!

Everyone with a rig "of a certain age" seems to have this problem. I just put these on captain's chairs yesterday - nice fit, reasonable price, durability TBD. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looking at options for recovering the dinette cushions. Thinking about giving these folks a shot - but haven't yet committed to the decision. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[16ACE27]

Look at it this way: For a 2016 you got a lot more mileage out of that covering than most people.

[howzball]

And most of us expect to aimlessly spend money on a vehicle that was probably over priced to begin with but you would like to think items like couches and seats could hold up for a few more than a handful of years.
I really did enjoy Thor's, "sorry dude" attitude about it. $187K isn't enough to include the good stuff.

The seats/couch we ended up replacing them with are a lot nicer and functional for sure so I guess in hindsight it was an upgrade it was just about the last thing we thought we would have to replace that soon.

Funny that I have lawn chairs sitting in the backyard of my house in Texas that are 8 years olds and look better than the crap we pulled out of the Palazzo.

[EA37TS]

You bought leatherette, aka fake leather, aka faux leather. What do you expect from fake anything? Thor never said you were getting real anything.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by howzball

And most of us expect to aimlessly spend money on a vehicle that was probably over priced to begin with but you would like to think items like couches and seats could hold up for a few more than a handful of years.

I really did enjoy Thor's, "sorry dude" attitude about it. $187K isn't enough to include the good stuff.



The seats/couch we ended up replacing them with are a lot nicer and functional for sure so I guess in hindsight it was an upgrade it was just about the last thing we thought we would have to replace that soon.



Funny that I have lawn chairs sitting in the backyard of my house in Texas that are 8 years olds and look better than the crap we pulled out of the Palazzo.

Take a deep breath and let it go. Sure, this sort of stuff shouldn’t happen at all - let alone be common. But it is. Expensive but at least you’ve got a nice upgrade.

[howzball]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

You bought leatherette, aka fake leather, aka faux leather. What do you expect from fake anything? Thor never said you were getting real anything.

Oh I get it, it's the consumer who's the idiot. How could anyone ever fault a multi billion dollar operation?
I mean so what if this happens to everyone who's purchased an RV with this exact same material, the builders is surely not at any fault.

The poor guys.
I guess bending over for anything they want to throw in there is the correct way to act?

You do realize there are thousands of pieces of furniture built across the world right now using "fake leather" and they aren't having this issue.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by howzball

Oh I get it, it's the consumer who's the idiot. How could anyone ever fault a multi billion dollar operation?

I mean so what if this happens to everyone who's purchased an RV with this exact same material, the builders is surely not at any fault.



The poor guys.

I guess bending over for anything they want to throw in there is the correct way to act?



You do realize there are thousands of pieces of furniture built across the world right now using "fake leather" and they aren't having this issue.

Of course it’s the manufacturers fault. They’ve been putting that stuff in all brands of coach for years. It’s a dreadful practice and they don’t even try to hide it. But getting all fuzzed up about it after the fact is not very productive. You can go there if you want but at this point in my life I simply refuse to be upset about something as relatively unimportant as furniture.

[southladon]

Feeling the same pain.. All the furniture in my 2015 Windsport is ruined with this issue and am forced to deal with it. Recovering was going to cost me $4K. So I decided to remodel the interior. Here is my crappy covered Thor furniture:

I will send a post with updated interior once I’m done. Went with new pieces from Shop4Seats.

The Manufacturers have been using this stuff knowingly for years. I’ve seen posts across many from owners of 2009-2016 models. Doesn’t make it right in any way shape or form what they are doing. Like most of you, I enjoy owning my RV, and have taken many great trips and tailgates. Been RVing for 25+ years and understand well the quality burden owners face. This particular issue is such a pain. I think it’s worth some effort to ensure new potential buyers are aware. Maybe that will improve what’s offered.

[Bob Denman]

It stinks that you have to go through all of this trouble; but your RV will be a one of a kind beauty: when you're done!

[southladon]

Yes. We are taking opportunity to rework the interior. Quite a project! Been dealing with the pleather dandruff mess for past 4 years, every type of seat cover you can imagine. Had enough. Having some challenges with Shop4Seats also, but they are working with us and have been very supportive. Can’t say that for Thor. Although I will say this, we have had to order a variety of indoor materials to do our mods and the The Thor parts folks and our dealer have been fantastic to help. I’ve been able to get everything I need to match the interior. Also some great help from some countertop makers in Elkhart.

[Scubawise]

does this work? 303 Products (30308CSR) UV Protectant Spray for Vinyl, Plastic, Rubber, Fiberglass, Leather

[mcr1010]

I use 303 on dash and exterior, but it will not help on the seats. I had the same crap on my home recliners and it rotted also.

[southladon]

I used UV protectant on vinyl and covered my RV for good portions of the year. Also had a treatment done at the dealership which was supposed to cover warranty on leather/Vinyl for 5 years. When I attempted to act on that warranty, I found it required follow up treatments which we never knew were needed, so no luck. I will say this, now that I’ve removed the furniture, the vinyl is more intact on spots that weren’t exposed. But I don’t think any protectant would of helped. I read on another forum that this pleather was also heat sensitive.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by southladon

Feeling the same pain.. All the furniture in my 2015 Windsport is ruined with this issue and am forced to deal with it. Recovering was going to cost me $4K. So I decided to remodel the interior. Here is my crappy covered Thor furniture:Attachment 29296

I will send a post with updated interior once I’m done. Went with new pieces from Shop4Seats.

The Manufacturers have been using this stuff knowingly for years. I’ve seen posts across many from owners of 2009-2016 models. Doesn’t make it right in any way shape or form what they are doing. Like most of you, I enjoy owning my RV, and have taken many great trips and tailgates. Been RVing for 25+ years and understand well the quality burden owners face. This particular issue is such a pain. I think it’s worth some effort to ensure new potential buyers are aware. Maybe that will improve what’s offered.

It’s not Thor furniture. Thor did not manufacture that furniture and the warranty was through the furniture manufacturer.

Please stop misleading folks by saying it is Thor furniture.

Crappy, yes. Thor, no. Channel the complaints where they belong and maybe something will be done.

BTW, leatherette desk chairs also deteriorate after a short time in use and many of them are made by the same company.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

It’s not Thor furniture. Thor did not manufacture that furniture and the warranty was through the furniture manufacturer.



Please stop misleading folks by saying it is Thor furniture.



Crappy, yes. Thor, no. Channel the complaints where they belong and maybe something will be done.



BTW, leatherette desk chairs also deteriorate after a short time in use and many of them are made by the same company.

I disagree. It IS the RV maker’s fault. They are the ones who specified and purchased this furniture for their products. Certainly they did so with full knowledge that the seats will fail. It has been common practice in the industry for a decade or more. My 2019 Newmar began peeling in fewer than 9 months/6,000 miles. It’s a disgraceful practice but it’s just one of the things you’ll likely have to deal with when you buy an RV. Like leaks and high maintenance costs. Doesn’t make it right but getting upset about it isn’t very helpful either

[Bob Denman]

I sorta kinda gotta agree:
Thor sourced the furniture based on low bid...

But I would be much happier to blame the manufacturer of the "Pleather"...

[atreis]

I'm a software engineer. If we use a third party software library in an application and that library introduces a bug, we don't, and can't, get away with saying, "Don't look at us! It's because of a bug in component X made by company Y! Oh, and sorry about your lost data. Better luck next time!" That's ridiculous. We chose that component, and it's our responsibility to make sure our software works for our customers, and fix issues should they arise.

Likewise, Thor chose the make and model for the furniture, and it's there responsibility to fix issues, should they arise, for their customers.