Seat Discoloration.
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Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 2
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From: Bedminster, NJ 07921
Discoloration
Seats are black leather. The discoloration is on the back of the seat below the headrest and on the seat. There is a slight discoloration on the passenger armrest.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 10,612
Likes: 230
From: Northern California
Pictures would help.
I see the year you have 2020 it should be a warrantied item I should think? My first thought would be to hop on over to your local dealer and have them check into that first before making any attempts to correct it yourself.
Then if if is not warrantied:
The Leather that MAZDA uses is pretty good quality. However it is still leather and needs to be treated with a good quality Leather treatment. more often if extreme cold or hot temperature and surely if it sits out side in the summer heat and sunlight.
When choosing a leather treatment read the ingredients ...I would highly suggest not to use anything that has alcohol either in the ingredients or used as the propellant and no petroleum based ingredients. No matter what the advertisements claim or reviews its leather not vinyl
If the coloring in the Leather has already faded to a lighter color then there is not reasonably to much you can do to bring back all faded color to original Black. However there are some products available that may restore it to less noticeable condition. My only experience with restoring leather I used a product re-package and labeled by Harley Davidson on one of my leather coats that started to fade a lightish grey color and it worked pretty good. But that was a few decades ago and I looked and can't fond the product listed anywhere?
I see the year you have 2020 it should be a warrantied item I should think? My first thought would be to hop on over to your local dealer and have them check into that first before making any attempts to correct it yourself.
Then if if is not warrantied:
The Leather that MAZDA uses is pretty good quality. However it is still leather and needs to be treated with a good quality Leather treatment. more often if extreme cold or hot temperature and surely if it sits out side in the summer heat and sunlight.
When choosing a leather treatment read the ingredients ...I would highly suggest not to use anything that has alcohol either in the ingredients or used as the propellant and no petroleum based ingredients. No matter what the advertisements claim or reviews its leather not vinyl
If the coloring in the Leather has already faded to a lighter color then there is not reasonably to much you can do to bring back all faded color to original Black. However there are some products available that may restore it to less noticeable condition. My only experience with restoring leather I used a product re-package and labeled by Harley Davidson on one of my leather coats that started to fade a lightish grey color and it worked pretty good. But that was a few decades ago and I looked and can't fond the product listed anywhere?
Last edited by Callisto; Jul 23, 2020 at 09:46 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 1
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From: Redondo Beach
Seat Discoloration
I have the same car, less than 5000 miles and the front seats are fading, I asked a tech at the dealer today and he said lookonline to see if anyone else is having that problem
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2020
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From: NJ
That's the type of stupid response from a tech that would tick me off. Totally unhelpful and unprofessional. Makes you wonder the quality of people they hire.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 345
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From: NJ
Callisto - as usual has good advice.
I will echo what he said - pictures would be very useful - even critical in offering advice. Go to the dealer first, if they determine it's a failure in the seat's coating/leather, it's under warranty - nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Being a hobbyist detailer for about 10 years and frequenting many of those car detailing forums, I can say with certainty that leather care (and that applies to leather jackets and shoes) is the most controversial of all the varied detailing products and methods. They go from simply wipe down with a damp towel when dirty to use a dedicated leather cleaner and conditioner often. And there are literally hundreds of leather car products available. For a deeper dive go check out AutoGeek and Autopia Car Detailing Forums to name just two and type in "leather care" into the search area.
Almost every car's "leather" seats are coated with some type of urethane finish to protect the leather - or vinyl underneath. And on many cars, only certain parts of the seats are leather and almost no cars have leather on the backside of the seats (facing rear passengers). I'm no expert in car leathers, but I am willing to bet that the leather used in years gone by were of far better quality than what is used today. So you are not "conditioning" the leather per say. But, some of the thinking goes like this "you should apply a conditioner to coated leather seats because after time and wear/friction, there will develop tiny fissures in the coating and the conditioner will then penetrate into the actual leather and do some good." Many will argue that the best advice is to clean and protect and use products that do just that - protect from abrasion, wear, stains and UV damage.
Again, not seeing the damage, it's hard to offer a proper solution, so if you can, please post a few pics. My first thoughts would be dye transfer from denim, but unless everyone is wearing denim jeans and shirts, I doubt that's the reason. But if this issue is not solved by your dealer or is not something covered under warranty, I suggest before you start applying any other products - which may or may not work and some may even make matter worse, go to this website - COULORBLOCK. They are leather care and leather restoration specialist and I'm confident they can best guide you to the proper product for your seats.
I will echo what he said - pictures would be very useful - even critical in offering advice. Go to the dealer first, if they determine it's a failure in the seat's coating/leather, it's under warranty - nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Being a hobbyist detailer for about 10 years and frequenting many of those car detailing forums, I can say with certainty that leather care (and that applies to leather jackets and shoes) is the most controversial of all the varied detailing products and methods. They go from simply wipe down with a damp towel when dirty to use a dedicated leather cleaner and conditioner often. And there are literally hundreds of leather car products available. For a deeper dive go check out AutoGeek and Autopia Car Detailing Forums to name just two and type in "leather care" into the search area.
Almost every car's "leather" seats are coated with some type of urethane finish to protect the leather - or vinyl underneath. And on many cars, only certain parts of the seats are leather and almost no cars have leather on the backside of the seats (facing rear passengers). I'm no expert in car leathers, but I am willing to bet that the leather used in years gone by were of far better quality than what is used today. So you are not "conditioning" the leather per say. But, some of the thinking goes like this "you should apply a conditioner to coated leather seats because after time and wear/friction, there will develop tiny fissures in the coating and the conditioner will then penetrate into the actual leather and do some good." Many will argue that the best advice is to clean and protect and use products that do just that - protect from abrasion, wear, stains and UV damage.
Again, not seeing the damage, it's hard to offer a proper solution, so if you can, please post a few pics. My first thoughts would be dye transfer from denim, but unless everyone is wearing denim jeans and shirts, I doubt that's the reason. But if this issue is not solved by your dealer or is not something covered under warranty, I suggest before you start applying any other products - which may or may not work and some may even make matter worse, go to this website - COULORBLOCK. They are leather care and leather restoration specialist and I'm confident they can best guide you to the proper product for your seats.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 1,354
Likes: 21
From: North of Atlanta
Mazda should be similar to other manufacturers in that the "leather" seats are typically only what you actually sit on. So the centers of the seat bottom and back are leather while the bolsters on the seat bottom and seat back are vinyl. This was the way my Acura RDX and Audi Q7 were as well. I had the same issue with white/gray spots all over the black interior when my wife returned from a trip to Florida. Sunscreen products are terrible about leaving marks on the vinyl/leather. I am still trying to rectify the issue. I have used a dedicated leather cleaner/conditioner and my go to diluted Woolite cleaning solution so far.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
From: NJ
Mazda should be similar to other manufacturers in that the "leather" seats are typically only what you actually sit on. So the centers of the seat bottom and back are leather while the bolsters on the seat bottom and seat back are vinyl. This was the way my Acura RDX and Audi Q7 were as well. I had the same issue with white/gray spots all over the black interior when my wife returned from a trip to Florida. Sunscreen products are terrible about leaving marks on the vinyl/leather. I am still trying to rectify the issue. I have used a dedicated leather cleaner/conditioner and my go to diluted Woolite cleaning solution so far.
