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Looking at a 2003 Seat with around 70000 on the clock, however there are holes worn right through the fabric on the bolsters to both front seats. Surely seats last longer than that?
A rep up and down the motorway could cover hundreds of thousands of miles on decent seats. The car could also be used for a large amount of small trips and getting in and out putting much more wear on the fabric.
Seats in my touran are absolutely perfect after 80k
yes, they should.
an 8 year old car with average mileage should have about 96k on the clock, and even then the seats should be pretty reasonable. Badly worn seats on a below average mileage car rings alarm bells for me.
A rep up & down the motorway would have more miles than that, and probably only the driver's seat would be worn.
Check also the carpet in the driver's footwell, gearknob & steering wheel. If shiny, higher mileage than the 70k it says it is.
Aye - 170000 miles.
I have an '06 ibiza with 63K on and whilst the seat cloth is pretty poor quality there isn't the kind of wear you describe. Sounds clocked to me
It's all about use not mileage and the person using the car. For both seats too. A couriers van in a city can have a hole in the seat in 2 years and 50k. As above a reps car on the motorway could be 200k and not showing any major signs of wear. Larger people (think very) tend to wear seats a lot more quickly as well.
Seats won't necessarily match carpets, pedals & gearknobs, as these items are easily replaced and dealers often do so to mask signs of wear.
If you have doubts, then steer clear, there are thousands of cars for sale.
My 3 year old 80,000 mile Suzuki seats look pretty much like new (albeit a little grotty and needing a good clean... but no damage!). I would be somewhat surpised to see such damage on seats after 70k miles.
I am not small, tend to be wearing work gear and am doing both short and long jounrnies with the odd forray away from the tarmac to boot. So my seats don't get an easy life!
My Honda Type R is showing a little bit of wear on the driver bolster, although it is quite high and snug fitting. Car has done a genuine 50k.
Might depend on the shape and fit of the seat?
Our audi seats are almost perfect after 260k miles.
My previous Mondeo was ditched at 200000 miles and the driver seat was starting to show signs of wear at the door side, but still in good condition.
Current Mondeo is at 160000 miles and drivers seat is still in very good condition, no signs of wear. I do normal journeys (previous owner claimed mostly motorway milage upto 70000, I'm confident that was true).
I expect dyls is right, depends on seat design and that might be reflected in the model rather than the manufacturer.
Could've been a fat lad/lass who wore jeans (rivets) and squirmed around a lot...
check the rest of the interior for signs of wear, and drive it - you can tell if a car is shagged just by driving it. if in doubt leave it out.
Kev
IMO the deeper (more sportier) the side bolsters the susceptible they are to 'knickin' on the leading edge closest to the door.
I wouldn't expect any car to have HOLES at that mileage though. Unless its ex-Police. Even with jeans on you wouldn't create holes.
Sounds to me like the previous owner clocked it.
Has this just become a 'my car's seats are better than yours' thread?
I am not sure what mileage my car has done and I don't check the seat fabric.
I have a Vectra which we acquired from Father-in-law at 40k miles, He'd had it since new. He's a short-arse who has his seat quite far forward so the fabric on the "bolster" gets worn getting in and out (much more of a sideways exit than a forwards and sideways). Typically a journey for him was less than 10 miles (so thats probably 8000 entries/exits). He also would typically be wearing jeans with metal poppers etc which catch on things. Compare that to a sales rep doing 200 miles between clients, and wearing a suit - and wear is completely different. We've had it for 20k miles and its got much worse (because we didn't bother to fix the initial wear) - as with most things once its started it progresses quickly. If my missus has been driving and left the seat forward I can feel the drag as I squeeze my ass into the seat to move it back to full size person position.
jools182 - Member
Looking at a 2003 Seat with around 70000 on the clock, however there are holes worn right through the fabric on the bolsters to both front seats. Surely seats last longer than that?
Is it an Ibiza?
I bought mine (Seat) with 24k miles on the clock and there was a bit of damage to the edge of the bolster on the drivers side. It was frayed with a couple of small holes. The guy was selling it on behalf of his father-in-law & reckoned he had mobility problems so tended to slide past the bolster, which had worn it. I was a bit dubious, but accepted the explanation.
Being a short arse, I have the seat quite a way forward and that coupled with the long doors (3dr) mean that I invariably have to squeeze myself past the bolster (kinda validating the blokes explanation), particularly in car parks. This has completely knackered it - not helped by the fact that a trouser pocket button once snagged the edge of a small hole and ripped it right open....
So, given mine was pretty well worn at 3 years & 24k miles......I'd say it's completely feasible.
EDIT - ha ha - a bit slow there typing.....poly appears to have had the same experience I have.....
Never trust short people anyway, so another valid reason not to touch the car.
One of the first items that I check (visually) when looking at a prospective purchase are the pedals, seat, general interior trim etc.
Yes, it can be someone with access difficulty however seat fabric is designed (to a degree) to negate exit/entry wear and tear.
If there are signs of wear in a car less than 10yrs old I'd expect the mileage to be quite high.
If its less than average I walk.
Lots of short journeys also equal excessive wear and tear on the engine IMO.
The leather in my V70 has started to come apart after 15000 miles 👿 not impressed.
A warranty claim coming me thinks..
Interested to see what happens. A reader in Autoexpress complained to Audi about leather 'sagging' and Audi replied that it wasn't their fault 👿
my mondeo has 140000 on it, and there is a 2" hole in the fabric of the drivers seat.
im a fat knacker though, i wear jeans a lot too.
when i got the car it had 70000 miles on and it looked like new.
2002 70k miles Leon here - edge of drivers seat is going, but it gets used for work a couple of times a week and I'll be getting in and out 20-40 times a day, so must just be my heavy draggy backside.....
Ask to see the old MOT's as they'll show the recorded milage. If not the VOSA website will have the records if you take a copy of the numbers on the V5.
If someone had jeans with zippy bits and decorations on, it could've worn it double quick.
Or perhaps a previous owner was into LARP and wore chain mail.