Bounder Front Seats wearing fast

[erniehughes]

I have a 2016 Bounder 35K and the Leather on the front seats is flaking off from wear and looks bad.  I can't believe this should be happening this quick, the coach only has about 14k miles on it.

Any ideas how to fix this or can anyone recommend nice seat covers, I really think this should be covered under warranty?

Any thoughts or comments?

I attached a couple of pictures

[richard5933]

That does seem surprising to happen on a 3-year-old coach. Not sure if that is leather or some leather look-alike, but I'd guess that it's not real leather (at least not beyond the very top layer).

We had that happen to a 'leather' sofa at home a few years ago. The culprit was sunscreen/bug spray someone was wearing which reacted poorly to the material used to make the 'leather' fabric. The top layer of the fabric separated from the fabric under-layer and flaked off just like in your photos.

Upholstery is expensive, at least for the good stuff. If you can identify the manufacturer of the seats you might try to contact them directly to see what they have to say about their product and how poorly it held up. Maybe they'll be able to help, or at least offer a discount on a new set of covers for the seats.

[dickandlois]

Think You are correct about the material brake down Richard. We have a much older Bounder with the same kind of material on the dash and no sign of separation, but I have used leather dressing on it. The seats are fabric in our coach and we have used covers to keep them clean, but no seam failures. and they have still collected years of dirt.

Rich.

[jleamont]

4 hours ago, erniehughes said:

I have a 2016 Bounder 35K and the Leather on the front seats is flaking off from wear and looks bad.  I can't believe this should be happening this quick, the coach only has about 14k miles on it.

Any ideas how to fix this or can anyone recommend nice seat covers, I really think this should be covered under warranty?

Any thoughts or comments?

I attached a couple of pictures

I would reach out to Fleetwood if no satisfaction then onto the seat manufacturer. My fear is they replace it with the same quality you currently have and in 2 years your are back where you are now. I would also express that when I spoke to both parties.

[wildebill308]

I would try to get some satisfaction from Bounder. My 2003 does not have any issues.

Welcome to the forum. 

Bill

[erniehughes]

Well, I called Fleetwood just today and they told me they only cover it for 1 year and that after that I would have to go to the vendor that supplied them.  I found out from there parts department that the vendor is Lexington Corp and they gave me a phone number that is not the correct number.  I am trying to find out how to contact them.

In the mean time I am trying to find out if there are any decent after market covers but no luck so far.

Thanks for the input

[erniehughes]

By the way, the parts guy at Fleetwood says they hear about this problem a lot, it must be common on the later model coaches.

[kaypsmith]

See if this helps!

https://www.manta.com/c/mmdfxyg/lexington-corporation

[kaypsmith]

5 hours ago, erniehughes said:

I found out from there parts department that the vendor is Lexington Corp and they gave me a phone number that is not the correct number.  I am trying to find out how to contact them.

See if this helps!

https://www.manta.com/c/mmdfxyg/lexington-corporation

[SarahR]

I have a 2012 Thor Ace -- all the upholstery is flaking and I understand this is happening to even new units of all kinds,  Apparently a manufacturing issue.  Mine started last year. My driver set has a tag from Lexington Corporation and the fabric back has a stamp "Halo Fabric Services"

Not sure of other items in my coach as don't know where to find brand, etc.  Also don't know what steps need to be taken for correction.

Unit is stored at my residence with temperature controlled all year with either A/C or ceramic heater.

Any suggestions will be appreciated

SarahR

[ispjs]

Welcome SarahR.  You are partially correct, it is happening to "almost" new units of several different brands.  Our Newmar has been in service for 23 months.  Even though our flaking issue isn't nearly as bad as what the OP posted, you can still see evidence of it starting.  Our chairs/furniture is Flexsteel.

We contacted Newmar as soon as we noticed this, of course it was several months after our 1 year warranty expired.  They requested photos and after receiving them they agreed to replace both front seats at no charge to us.  We have the appointment next month at their factory to have it done.

I read where Flexsteel, and probably other RV furniture makers, were getting some of their leather and similar products from China between 2015 and 2018.  Much of this stock material ended up having the flaking issue, or will have.  Not sure how accurate the information was.  

I am just thrilled that Newmar is not only covering this issue well after my factory warranty expired, but they are actually replacing the chairs instead of just having them recovered.  Hoping the new material is better.

[andrenaknicely]

I’m new to this forum. Just seeing the post on deteriorating faux leather seats. If you haven’t solved the issue - here’s this:  Thankfully, my Sept issue of Motor Home (MH) magazine was in my recycle.  This is an industry problem!  MH’s Hot Line (HL) addressed also in April & Aug issues.  Mr Ratliff wrote MH’s HL (pg 80) re his 2010 Newmar Flexsteel ultra-leather seats.  (Flexsteel is great co - I’ve owned numerous products).  With Hot Lines asst, Newmar gave him new seats.  I recently looked at a 2010 Phoenix Cruiser (used dealership) with HORRIBLE pealing seats!  Somewhere in the ultra-leather manufacturing there’s been a HUGE goof!!! - starting about ‘09.      To protect our Flexsteel seats I bought Covercraft seat covers from Amazon.  Good price. They fit real well.  The seat does move when you move.  I’m trying to come up with a solution to that issue.  Good luck!

[huffypuff]

On 5/19/2019 at 8:22 AM, erniehughes said:

I have a 2016 Bounder 35K and the Leather on the front seats is flaking off from wear and looks bad.  I can't believe this should be happening this quick, the coach only has about 14k miles on it.

Any ideas how to fix this or can anyone recommend nice seat covers, I really think this should be covered under warranty?

Any thoughts or comments?

I attached a couple of pictures

I saw worst on a couple of year old Tiffin.  Needless to say I walked if this is the quality they put into their coaches.  

[campcop]

If I recall correctly, Tiffin also had a problem with units starting around 2014. These were on the mid level coaches. The covers were not UltraLeather but something similar. Tiffin was replacing them for a few years and now I think they will just supply you with the covers and labor is on the owner. The problem was traced to the vendor supplying the covers.

[dkreuzen]

It's called "Bonded Leather" and doesn't last. I have a friend that bought a new Newmar Dutch Star in 2015. All of his seats did that in the first year. He ended up getting the front seats re-upholstered and they completely replaced the rest (both couches and the dinette seats) but it took a couple of years to get it all done.

[richard5933]

Not limited to just the RV world either - we bought a sofa for the house once thinking it was leather. Looked and felt like leather, but after a short time the same problem occurred. Turns out it was bonded leather, and the top layer of leather separated from the underlayer is was bonded to. We've been much more careful buying furniture since, both for the house and the coach.

[manholt]

It's vinyl, looks like leather and feels like leather...I keep mine clean with Windex!  It's biggest enemy is bug spray with DEET in it...Deep Woods. If you have sprayed your legs, that's what you get.  I learned that lesson from my motor cycle seat...same vinyl.  Real leather, is very expensive.  We have a Love Seat sofa at home, cow hide = $6,200.  That money will replace all my "Villa" furniture, including driver/co pilot seats in my coach + I'll have $$$ left over!

You can get it on line, for 80% or more, cheaper than Fleetwood will charge you!  All furniture in a RV is modular.