Limited owners, how's the alcantara holding up?
 

My experience when I was shopping around for a used BMW with alcantara steering wheels have me in doubt about alcantara. They all peeled after a few years and it was gross looking. Now that some of you have had your Limiteds for a while, how has it held up to use?

Would you say wearing jeans wear it down quicker?

Is it a mess if you get it wet (due to rain, not an uncontrollable bladder)?

While the alcantara isn't something that would keep me from going with a Limited, I'd just like to prepare myself :) If all goes according to plan, I could end up getting one in two weeks!

I have the 2nd oldest BRZ in the US and the alcantara is holding up pretty good. I have not done anything special to it except vacuum the car once a week.

The seats will be fine. I think the reason the steering wheels was gross is because it is touched by greasy or sweating hands. Your hand is never in the same position every single time either. You're always moving your hands all over the wheel. The seat, however, you sit and don't really slide around so it's not going to wear as much.

Jeans should be fine, unless you have many rivets or or studs on your pockets. I had a Evo IX and the seats looked damn near brand new when I sold it. There was slight wear on the leather portion, but the alcantara looked new

Got my Limited June 1st. That said, it only has 2,700 miles and drove it in the rain for the first time last week (I nearly cried it got so dirty!). My interior still looks like new - but again, not driven heavily. (3x per week). I don't see it being an issue, but if it does wear poorly, an upholstery shop can sew in some inserts for not much $$.

That's exactly what I was thinking. If my alcantara ever starts looking bad, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to have an upholstery shop replace it.

I've had alcantara seats in my cars since my first sti. It holds up really well. The alcantara in my brz has around 10k on it...looks brand new. I think the leather side bolsters will show wear far before the alcantara. I'm thinking about sending my steering wheel to be wrapped in the stuff actually.

Mines holding up well too.


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Yep, 8k miles since last August using her as a DD, and alcantara still looks like new. Even with getting in wet from rain, it doesn't ever get that damp/musty smell like some other car fabrics. But we'll see about that in a few years, I guess

2,200 miles on my limited since I bought it November 25th and the Alcantara still looks like new.

My seats definitely still look new after about 10K miles on it. It is daily driven but not long distances. What do you guys use to clean them?

10k miles since May. Seats are fine. 2 years in a spec.b prior to that, fine too.
However, alcantara seems to be eating the backpocket stitching in my jeans, lol.

70,000 miles on my 2008 STI with the grey alcantara/black leather seats and they still looked as fresh as when I picked it up with 37,000 miles on it.

The BRZ side bolsters definitely have me a bit more concerned about wear than the STI since there is an actual side bolster.

Here's a tip for helping prolong the life of your side bolster. When getting out of your car slide the seat back as far as you can. That way when you are getting in you're not rubbing your ass across the bolster as much since the seat is so far back. Of course this likely depends on factors like how large your ass is. :happy0180:

My ass is badonkalicious. :lol:


But honestly, I'm 5'8" and 145 lbs soaking wet.