‘21 Tahoe Leather Seat Split

[Micahsd]

Anyone encounter this yet on their ‘21 or newer Tahoe? I noticed today when cleaning and putting some leather protectant on my driver’s side seat that the area closest to the door has two small tears or splits in it.

What’s more odd is this vehicle will be 4 years old in April (has 37k miles on it) and has probably seen the least amount of sunlight due to coming out of the pandemic. I regularly clean and add leather protectant to the front seats every 6 months or so and baby the crap out of my interior so I’m a little surprised this has happened.

I’m also not sure how to really fix it…anyone have some ideas? I’ve owned several vehicles with leather seats from GM (even an old ‘91 Corvette that was junk with leather seats and 150k miles on it) and none of them have ever done this.

Attached are photos of what I’m seeing. Thanks. Is there a glue or something that I can use to bond it back together before it spits more?

 

[ReaperHWK]

Looks like I see dirt/abrasion on the area where the 2 cuts are. Do you slide out of the truck(meaning rub the edge with your ass on the way in/out vs lifting yourself out?) Your probably wearing the seat and you had jeans or some pants with a button or something that cut it is my guess.

 

[Micahsd]

Looks like I see dirt/abrasion on the area where the 2 cuts are. Do you slide out of the truck(meaning rub the edge with your ass on the way in/out vs lifting yourself out?) Your probably wearing the seat and you had jeans or some pants with a button or something that cut it is my guess.

The dirt is actually the dye from my blue jeans wearing into the leather. I’ve just grown to accept that due to how it happened on my prior ‘17 GMC Acadia as it had light-colored leather seats in it too.

But yeah I do slide my ass in and out.

Another thought I had is maybe when I last took it into the dealer maybe they had something on their pants which messed it up but I’d have no way to prove that. I wear regular blue jeans and really don’t have anything in the pockets that would cause a puncture…this is more like a split.

The weather also turned cold here so maybe that was a factor along with age, but still surprised to see it.

 

[Fless]

@Tonyrodz any insight?

 

[Tonyrodz]

I've been out of the business for a few years--but in my experience--most likely the seat has leather seating surfaces--so it's not completely leather. That side panel is probably vinyl and split from it constantly bending from your weight of getting in and out over the years, I'm sure the cold didn't do it any favors. I don’t know of any permanent fixes other then having it repaired by an upholstery shop. They'd have to rip that piece out and sew in another panel. All the other fixes I've encountered are temporary at best, especially for a high wear area as that.

 

[KMeloney]

But yeah I do slide my ass in and out.

That's it right there.

My '09's seat developed cracks in the same general area.

 

[ReaperHWK]

It’s hard not to slide out of the Tahoe since it’s tall. On my car with leather I always lift myself out and never rub the seats and they look mint.

 

[Tonyrodz]

It’s hard not to slide out of the Tahoe since it’s tall. On my car with leather I always lift myself out and never rub the seats and they look mint.

Jeans are the worst material for seats, not only for leather. I have over 300k on my Tahoe with cloth seats and they're still in pretty good shape. Whenever I get in or out I always use the grab handle and lift my butt getting in and out. Never slide in.

 

[KMeloney]

Jeans are the worst material for seats, not only for leather. I have over 300k on my Tahoe with cloth seats and they're still in pretty good shape. Whenever I get in or out I always use the grab handle and lift my butt getting in and out. Never slide in.

No more grab handles [in the front] in these models!

 

[Tonyrodz]

No more grab handles [in the front] in these models!

Lol, it's been awhile since I've driven my 03. The NBS doesn't have one either. I step up on the running board getting in and out.
300k on the original seat.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

I've been out of the business for a few years--but in my experience--most likely the seat has leather seating surfaces--so it's not completely leather. That side panel is probably vinyl and split from it constantly bending from your weight of getting in and out over the years,

This is a fact, on all the SUV models except the Denali and the Cadillacs, the only Leather is the center portion of the front row. Row 2, 3, and all the side panels are Vinyl.
Denali got leather across the whole seating surface surface of the front and 2nd row seats, along with a better grade eather (full grain) is what they marketed it as.
Cadillac's got even better leather in the higher trims, and I think even possibly 3rd row leather on the higher trims. These were part of the "upgrades" for going to the higher priced units.

I have the light shale interior on my Denali. 33k miles, still looks factory new, and I wear jeans always. Once in a while, when I see the beginnigs of some jean dye getting on the seat, I take a damp microfiber cloth and wipe them down...the blue die gets soaked right into the cloth, and off the seats. Not sure what would happen if I left it there for a longer period, I never let that happen...takes about 5 min of maintenance once a week.

To the OP, looks like the whole seat cover is less than $200 on gm parts direct...maybe just order it up and swap it..can't be that hard to do. Link, just check the color and make sure you order the right one.

 

[GMCChevy]

My 2017 has a crack in the same spot. It's the crap vinyl GM used.

It's pretty much been the case for all leather interior cars that the only leather is the seating surfaces.

 

[Gearz]

I just replace the bottom seat cover on my 2011 Tahoe LTZ but it's common for this gen. Top wears great but the sides where the seat cracks is some type of leatherette. I do drag myself off the seat because I'm old. If you replace the seat bottom be sure to replace the foam because they usually tear on the clips plus they wear out.

 

[NELLY1947]

Anyone encounter this yet on their ‘21 or newer Tahoe? I noticed today when cleaning and putting some leather protectant on my driver’s side seat that the area closest to the door has two small tears or splits in it.

What’s more odd is this vehicle will be 4 years old in April (has 37k miles on it) and has probably seen the least amount of sunlight due to coming out of the pandemic. I regularly clean and add leather protectant to the front seats every 6 months or so and baby the crap out of my interior so I’m a little surprised this has happened.

I’m also not sure how to really fix it…anyone have some ideas? I’ve owned several vehicles with leather seats from GM (even an old ‘91 Corvette that was junk with leather seats and 150k miles on it) and none of them have ever done this.

Attached are photos of what I’m seeing. Thanks. Is there a glue or something that I can use to bond it back together before it spits more?

Ask you dealer for the guy your used car uses to fix the interiors when a dash or seat is cracked. He should be able it fix that like new. If you were here I know someone that would make that disappear