Steering wheel leather is "fish scaling"
08-13-11, 10:50 PM
#16
At the bottom of the steering wheel, the leather is starting to "scale" a little bit, small cuts that are like fish scales in the sense that if you rubbed them in one direction, its smooth and the little scales lay down against the wheel, but rub in the the other direction and it feels rough.
I have no idea how it happened, I only noticed a couple of days ago. There's a full service car wash I took it to, maybe they had something abrasive on them that rubbed the bottom of the wheel?
Good thing is I only notice it when I turn a corner. Bad thing is it bugs me.
Is there anything I can do? It seems like something simple that just seals the scales down, like a soft glue would do the trick. Should I try to warranty it? It seems too small for that, and I just have a feeling it's not from normal wear and tear.
I have no idea how it happened, I only noticed a couple of days ago. There's a full service car wash I took it to, maybe they had something abrasive on them that rubbed the bottom of the wheel?
Good thing is I only notice it when I turn a corner. Bad thing is it bugs me.
Is there anything I can do? It seems like something simple that just seals the scales down, like a soft glue would do the trick. Should I try to warranty it? It seems too small for that, and I just have a feeling it's not from normal wear and tear.
Can you take a good quality pic of your steering wheel scales.
08-14-11, 07:48 AM
#17
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Thread Starter
Oops...too late for pics now, the wheel has been replaced and I do not have the old wheel part.
The original problem would have been hard to see in a photo except with some lighting experimentation and a cam that's very good at closeups (iPhone pic probably wouldn't have worked). I used the term fish-scaling to describe a sort of peeling where if you rubbed the leather in one direction, it was against the scales and you could feel it, but if you rubbed in the other direction the scales laid down and it felt smooth. I've had many leather wrapped wheels, as well as leather jackets and furniture over the years and I've never seen this occur anywhere else.
The net result of the scaling on the bottom of the wheel was that when you rounded a corner and turned the wheel, the scales would rub against your hand and annoy you. It seemed like a small thing but the overall annoyance was worse than this. For the short term, I just took a normal shaving razor and shaved off the scales. It removed the steering annoyance but it looked horrible since you could see the grey material underneath, passengers sometimes would say "what happened there?" when the wheel was turned a certain way.
I could have probably taken black leather shoe polish to it, covered the grey and it would have been good enough that I could have tolerated it, but I did not to doctor it up any more than I already did before I got a chance to meet with the Lexus district representative in person (they had already told me he would need to look at it to make the final warranty call).
The unanswered question is whether this was a bad batch of leather or if I have to be super careful with this wheel, too. Looking up close at the leather on the old wheel I could see tiny "cracks" in the leather that led me to believe its just defective leather. If that's not the case, they really need to select different materials for their wheels.
The original problem would have been hard to see in a photo except with some lighting experimentation and a cam that's very good at closeups (iPhone pic probably wouldn't have worked). I used the term fish-scaling to describe a sort of peeling where if you rubbed the leather in one direction, it was against the scales and you could feel it, but if you rubbed in the other direction the scales laid down and it felt smooth. I've had many leather wrapped wheels, as well as leather jackets and furniture over the years and I've never seen this occur anywhere else.
The net result of the scaling on the bottom of the wheel was that when you rounded a corner and turned the wheel, the scales would rub against your hand and annoy you. It seemed like a small thing but the overall annoyance was worse than this. For the short term, I just took a normal shaving razor and shaved off the scales. It removed the steering annoyance but it looked horrible since you could see the grey material underneath, passengers sometimes would say "what happened there?" when the wheel was turned a certain way.
I could have probably taken black leather shoe polish to it, covered the grey and it would have been good enough that I could have tolerated it, but I did not to doctor it up any more than I already did before I got a chance to meet with the Lexus district representative in person (they had already told me he would need to look at it to make the final warranty call).
The unanswered question is whether this was a bad batch of leather or if I have to be super careful with this wheel, too. Looking up close at the leather on the old wheel I could see tiny "cracks" in the leather that led me to believe its just defective leather. If that's not the case, they really need to select different materials for their wheels.
08-14-11, 10:23 AM
#18
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I'll take some today and post it later. I just noticed a very very small part start to scale. Didn't even know when it started since it's a part I don't usually look at or touch.
My baby girl was with me in the front and she was touching the horn when I noticed it.
My baby girl was with me in the front and she was touching the horn when I noticed it.
08-14-11, 12:29 PM
#20
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I was once in a furniture store looking at a couch with very soft italian leather, and expressed a concern about durability of such soft leather. The salesman pulled a ball point pen out of his pocket (the kind with the removable cap, but it had the cap on). As a demonstration of the durability of good leather, he started stabbing at the leather with the pen very vigorously several times (it was a little disturbing actually), and the leather just bounced back into place without a mark or scuff.
This is why even with softness of the leather in the IS 250, I don't think these wheels have any excuse to start scaling like that. Good leather is too tough for something like a flexihose rubbing against it to scuff it.
08-14-11, 12:30 PM
#21
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I was going to ask where on the wheel it is, but I guess your pic will answer that question once posted.
08-14-11, 01:05 PM
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Here's the pic. It was really hard to get a macro shot with my camera. You can see it's just starting to. Had more shots but they didn't really turn out.
I've also never had my car detailed by anyone else and I drive usually with my hand on the 5 or 7 oclock positions.
I've also never had my car detailed by anyone else and I drive usually with my hand on the 5 or 7 oclock positions.
08-14-11, 11:53 PM
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Write lexus!!!!
I had a catalytic converter go bad like 1,000 miles after my warranty ended. Being very expensive I was pissed because I complained about the issue while it WAS under warranty, then the engine light/code went away . But then once warranty was passed it came back on. Write a professional letter about how you're a dedicated lexus customer and it's things like having this taken care of that will keep you buying lexus products. Chances are it will get fixed. Start with the manager of the service departement if you get no luck talk to the owner of the dealership, if still no luck keep calling/writing lexus corporate. I did and it they gave me a 75% "good will" discount on the new part which was near 5k. IN retrospect , I dont think the converter was bad at all. I still have those codes fire. I reset the codes and it's fine. I think it mightve been an 02 sensor but, at least i didnt have to foot the 5k bill.
I had a catalytic converter go bad like 1,000 miles after my warranty ended. Being very expensive I was pissed because I complained about the issue while it WAS under warranty, then the engine light/code went away . But then once warranty was passed it came back on. Write a professional letter about how you're a dedicated lexus customer and it's things like having this taken care of that will keep you buying lexus products. Chances are it will get fixed. Start with the manager of the service departement if you get no luck talk to the owner of the dealership, if still no luck keep calling/writing lexus corporate. I did and it they gave me a 75% "good will" discount on the new part which was near 5k. IN retrospect , I dont think the converter was bad at all. I still have those codes fire. I reset the codes and it's fine. I think it mightve been an 02 sensor but, at least i didnt have to foot the 5k bill.
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