Worn seat cover.
 

As an owner in the UK I am pursuing a case with Mazda due to the fact that the drivers seat side bolster cover (the black ribbed part on the back rest) has now got a hole in it through wear and all down the stitched edge it does not look good as all the grain of the leather!! (plastic) has also worn smooth and in a short time the seat will look a mess.

Mazda has rejected my claim for a replacement seat cover saying that it is normal wear and tear, my car is 2 years old and has only covered 18,000 miles.

Has premature seat wear been a problem over here in the US - I tried a search but not come up with anything.

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Del.

Unless you're really hard on the seats that seems premature. Have you and your significant other been putting miles on the car that don't show up on the odometer =)

I've had the same issue on my drivers seat with the black ribbed cloth. It's worn so thin on one side (low on the outboard side support) that there is a hole developing. It's an 04 and I've had it almost 2 1/2 years, but it's only got 16K miles on it, so it's not like it's getting heavy use.

Seems to be a common complaint with the interiors of 2 year old cars. Seems a little odd, however, that a spot should be wearing so specifically.

I've got the saem exact problem with mine...it's an '04 as well. The ribbed piece is quickly wearing down. I first noticed it with just over 15k on it...

Ok so it's a cloth seat?

Can't see how you can wear it out unless your 250lbs plus and over six feet tall.

I would say the wear should not be normal even on cloth seat but one must look at it from a different perspective. Your weight, height, # miles on car. More specifically maybe the width of your body, you can be in perfect shape and normal weight but do not fit inside the sport seats.

Any manufacturer does not know how you meet these conditions, so they will always reject your claim. Good luck.

PS I have leather seats and one of the ribs has a very disapointing wear mark.

I am very surprised and only weigh 145lbs and do fit into the sport seats properly.

Well I am 5` 7" tall and weigh 165 pounds and my seat has always been quite far back because that is the way I like to drive, where the seat is worn is in an area that I only contact when getting in and out of the car and my car does not get a great deal of use hence only 18,000miles.

For the seat cover to have worn so badly considering the use suggests that something is wrong somewhere - I have owned 23 cars so far and have never had a seat wear out - in fact I recently sold a Ford Escort RS Turbo (a collectors car in the UK) which I had owned for 18 years and the mileage on it was 108,000 miles when I sold it, the seats were a similar design to the RX-8 but were made of cloth.

In the Ford even after 18 years and 108,000 miles the drivers seat was just starting to show a small amount of wear in the same place so the RX-8 didn`t last very long did it.

In the UK RX-8 owners club I appear to be the only owner with this problem although the number of owners is quite small in comparison to you guys over here.

These are some pictures of the wear.

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Del.

Ah.. those have always been known as wear areas and it's the entry and exit.

It looks like the seat skin may have been a little tighter that normal from the factory hence the flat look at the seems.

Second area:
It's from your comb in back pocket, if not it's the wallet.

I agree it should happen so quickly but you would be surprised what damage a come will do even when it's in the pants pocket but not hanging out.

Chances are the comb sticks out above the pocket caused by entry/exit.

I never drive with a comb in my pocket.

One scrape will get it started. Ever have anyone sit in the driver seat other than you. Maybe their comb started the process. Sport cars entry/exit more difficult than standard hence scrape.

I don`t keep a comb or wallet in my back pocket and I am the only driver of the car from new.

If you study the picture of the actual hole in the cover you can see that in this area due to manufacture there is a high spot in the stitched edge of the seat, that is the reason a hole has developed here because that high spot is taking the brunt of the wear and I accept that the wear has happened due to contact from entry and exit but surely the cover should be of sufficient quality to last a bit longer than 18,000 miles.

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Del.