Has anyone seen anything like this??

DaveT435

DaveT435

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This is an arm rest in a 2009 Lexus. All the vinyl in this car is like this...extremely soft. My son gently pushed on it with his thump nail and it left a permanent mark which looks like a little cut.
watermark.php


You can actually see where he pushed his thumb nail into it. Bottom left of the photo.
 
shiners/buck said:
Looks like blisters.
Battery acid??
Let me know.
Click to expand...

The thing is every surface like that in the entire care is like that. The raised spots are where my grandson picked at it. It's extremely soft. As I mentioned my son pushed his thump nail in it and it looks like a cut and doesn't go away.
 
•For the Lexus' cabins to have that high-end luxury look and feel:
-it looks like Toyota provided materials...for "the touch points" on the door/armrest (and no doubt: the console and steering wheel as well)...that are probably among the best you'll find in a vehicle in this price range.
-The cabin area pictured, appears to be buttery smooth---which would mean this area is quite vulnerable to being harmed by sharp objects---sharper, than say, an elbow.

•But the trade-off?
-Who wouldn't want the door cards/armrests to be supple, cushy components that would be right at home in a Rolls, Bentley or Maybach.

Bob
 
Is there a large diamond ring on the passengers hand?

I have seen similar damage on the dash of a Camry above the steering wheel
 
I've got cars with soft touch vinyl surfaces, but never seen anything that soft.

Could it be a very soft coated leather rather than vinyl? I've seen leather in some cars that was very soft and prone to scuffs and damage like that.
 
No diamond ring. It's definitely vinyl. Bob mentioned them making it plush. I don't think that's it. I watched my son do the thumbnail thing. In my opinion if it were just a plush material the thumbnail spot would have disappeared after some time. He didn't push very hard. Is it possible that something was put on it to make it start to break down? Plastic shouldn't react with any kind of acid.
Bob do you know of anything that would cause vinyl to start to deteriorate? Or anyone else...I direct that question to Bob because he seems to know a lot about chemicals...
 
DaveT,

I would go and speak to the fine people at Lexus as this looks like a panel failure!

Panels should not split unless they have aged! Ie 7 to 10 years old!

Ronan
 
DaveT435 said:
Bob do you know of anything that would cause vinyl to start to deteriorate? Or anyone else...
Click to expand...
When I think of Vinyl beginning to deteriorate, I think of it becoming brittle, cracking---not softening, as this example appears to be.

Although they can...
The seemingly "extra softness" may not even be due to sources such as cleaning/dressing chemicals.

One factor that may explain this extra softness is the material's: Heat distortion/deformation temperature...
sometimes referred to as the:
Vicat Softening Temperature.

The OEMs are the ones that determine what materials
are viable in the long-term for their Consumer base.

Since this vehicle is only ~5 years old:
I'd give the people at Toyota/Lexus a
friendly heads-up call.

Note:
The Lexus TSB (technical service bulletin), that I found, that comes closest in addressing this issue is:
L-SB-0144-11


Bob
 
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