Mk7 GTi Steering Wheel Wear

[Drinian]

Has anyone had any wear on their Mk7 GTi steering wheels?

Mine is a couple of months old now and is starting to get what looks like stretch marks in a couple of places. Just wanting to know whether this is normal or whether I should get the dealer to take a look at it.

Cheers

[vdubmotorworx]

Picture?

[Jimi]

I've had mine since April and it looks the same as the day I picked it up.

[Drinian]

I'll try to get a decent picture tomorrow to show you what I mean. It has definitely degraded since I bought it though.

[Brendan_A]

Ours is almost 6 months old and still looks new.

[NCGR1]

Are you sure you are not scratching the surface with something? Like a belt buckle or rivet when getting in? I need to be really careful or put the seat all the way back to not rub against the SW.

[Matt P]

long nails are a big offender to leather steering wheels

[n0d3]

The leather on the steering wheel is really soft, finger nails, the key, rings, anything can easily scuff it.

[Guest001]

Stretch marks could be caused by pulling the wheel to change direction when the car is not moving. I learnt years ago to always move the car slightly when turning the wheel. Causes less stress on all steering components.

[i286]

Hey Drinian, are the stretch marks on your wheel looking like ones in this photo ...



Copied photo from other forum.

There is similar wear on wife's Citroen, but that car is 10 years old and we noticed them a few years ago. They are not getting worse with the time and we can hardly see them, but definitely we can feel them. My thought was that there is some reaction between protective coat on the wheel and hand cream she is using, but who knows. We are happy it is not spreading or getting worse.

In this link there is some more info you might find useful Leather Steering Wheel Renovation - Autopia Detailing Wiki - Autopia

[NCGR1]

Stretch marks could be caused by pulling the wheel to change direction when the car is not moving. I learnt years ago to always move the car slightly when turning the wheel. Causes less stress on all steering components.

The SW on any VW from the last 15 years would not be damaged by any pulling while trying to move the SW. The VW leather SW are not fragile at all except for customer caused scratching.