deteriorating Leather seats

[docj]

I empathize with those of you who have newer coaches and may need to reupholster seats. We just had our front captain's chairs reupholstered by a local boat upholstery shop in Rockport TX.

What we discovered in the process is that UltraLeather appears to be an over-priced material that is actually inferior in some respects to products that it competes against. Its manufacturer gets away with the high prices because it somehow has a "lock" on the RV industry. Customers have been brainwashed to pay exorbitant prices for UltraLeather, prices that are often higher than genuine leather.

We used a competing material, designed for high usage commercial applications that has performance specifications better than UltraLeather with respect to wear. The price was a whole heck of a lot less and the chairs look super. The reupholstery was so much less expensive than we had been quoted for UltraLeather that we can afford to reupholster them again if need be or if we simply wanted to change colors!

If anyone wants additional information send me a PM.

[bonabob]

I just heard from Damon and they confirmed that the new skins are exactly the same as the old and the life expectancy (2 years) is about the same. So the game begins. I wrote to Action Line "Highways" Good Sam Club. I posted on Roaming Times and will post wherever a review of Damon/THor is available. I read in "Highways" that an owner of a late model Mandalay Bay is having the exact same problem with his seats. Mandalay Bay is manufactured by Thor. Oh well, they sent him the same defective skins. Even the extended warranty company has refused to pay to install them because they say Thor knows about the problem and refuses to stand behind their products.
This is amazing....it's like everyone in the industry knows about this problem and Thor sticks its head in the sand and hopes this will all go away. If this information is published enough, Thor will have no choice but to correct it to clear up its diminishing reputation.

[Perry White]

Damon surely don't make the seats. Most are Flex-steel or Villa

[DGShaffer]

Damon specified the material though. Because of that, Flex-steel doesn't warranty the material, just the frame.

I got my replacement set of covers from Damon but I won't install them until I go to sell it.

[bonabob]

That is exactly what I am going to do. For now I will get inexpensive covers to go over the peeling leatherette. When we decide to sell, I'll recover with the junk Damon sent. If I trade in, I'll just hand it over to the dealer and let them deal with it. In the meantime, I'll continue to blast Damon and let all potential buyers of Thor products know what a lousy company they are. I feel bad for those who think they did something wrong, like cleaning with the wrong cleaners, or sitting in the sun too long, when all the time it is defective material, probably from China. I hope anyone interested in purchasing a motorhome searches through these forums to get a good idea what they might be up against with some of these manufacturers. I remember when GM, Ford & Chrysler only gave a 12 month warranty. Then along came the overseas manufacturers with 4 year and 5 year warranties. That forced the American car companies to match it. My suggestion is to purchase from whomever gives the longest bumper to bumper warranty. I use to feel proud of our RV manufacturers, because the units are built in America. After this experience, particularly Thor is behaving like GM did in the 1980's and I'm not so proud anymore.

[lllkrob]

Just received NEW seat covers for the drivers and passengers front captain's chairs from Flexsteel. Ordered them over their web site, the lady I delt with was very helpful. They even sent me a material sample card for the materials they have available. From that I was able to select almost an exact match with the existing seat color and texture. The 2 complete cover sets came to $536.22 including shipping charges. Visual inspection shows the material to be of a better quality, only time will tell. If you don't recall my previous post Thor wanted $742.00 for each cover set plus shipping. So this price was approximately 1/3 the Thor price. Now all I have to do is get them installed, but that's next winters project. Time to go RV'ing.

Thought you might like to know,

[SteveOGilroy]

lllkrob, What was the contact number and name of the lady that helped you. I think I'll follow in your foot steps + I want to upgrade the side arms to adjustable ones.

Steve

[bonabob]

Did anyone get a price on installing the covers? Or are you going to try yourself.

[lllkrob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveOGilroy lllkrob, What was the contact number and name of the lady that helped you. I think I'll follow in your foot steps + I want to upgrade the side arms to adjustable ones. Steve

Here is the contact info:
Lisa Bauer
RV Customer Service
Flexsteel Ind.
563-585-8356

As to the matter of installation, a local upholestry shop quoted me $100 to $150 per seat including adding some additional lumbar support.

[bonabob]

I installed 2 seat covers from Camping World. They fit perfectly and look fantastic. They were very easy to install. They are vinyl based but are extremely comfortable. The total cost was $62.00 for both seat covers delivered. (they were on sale) The color was close but not an exact match. They really look pretty good. I sealed up the skins I received from Damon and put them in storage. When it is time to sell the coach, I will have them installed. I wonder how long the cheap Camping World seat covers will last compared to that very expensive defective stuff that Damon put on some of their coaches. Haven't heard from Damon or Flexsteel since I complained to Highways magazine, but will keep you posted.
Bob

[SteveOGilroy]

I've been wondering if the CW covers would work. For $62 or $83 (Catalog Item # 49406) as now I could afford to replace the covers every few years. I'd be interested in a review in a few months of wear.
Steve

[bonabob]

I'll keep you posted as time moves on.That is exactly how I felt, for $83.00 (not on sale) every couple of years makes it worth while. Unfortunately the couch on the passenger side is beginning to look worse as the vinyl peels. I wish CW had covers for the couches too. I don't understand Damon's (Thror's) stand on this. They are fully aware of the defect and elect to hide behind the warranty and be a real stand up company.

[slvrfx]

We have a 2008 Damon Challenger with less than 10,000 miles, stored inside. The driver's seat shows significant wear already. Has anyone made any headway with Damon or Flexsteel?

[Mody n Domy]

We have a 2008 Challenger 378 and at 1 year old it had this problem. I don't think anyone has had much luck with getting the seat material cracking problem resolved. In this post many have tried but all have failed. It is sad when you can't get a manufacture to stand by the products they use when it is apparent they are defective. If you have any thoughts as to how to resolve this issue many of us would be thankfull.