Sticky Leather

I bought a used Toyota Tundra Platinum. I noticed that the dashboard leather was sticky to the touch. I thought it may be dirty so I tried to cleaned it with a mild soap and water solution. Cleaning did not help. I then applied a leather product I got from the Toyota dealer. This also did not help. The leather appears to be degrading or melting somehow? It has slowly started to progress to both doors. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Never saw that in any leather equipped vehicles I ever had.
My 2020 is not going that at all.

 

Have you had the vehicle serviced recently?
If so, was it at a place where they wipe down the interior as part of a sanitizing routine?

 

Watching to see if anyone else chimes in. I have a 2015 Silver Platinum as well with the exact same issue. Brought it to the dealership and they claimed it's not a "known" issue.

 

Idk if it’ll help but I use chemical guys leather conditioner and mcquires leather cleaner.

 

I have not had anyone touch the truck interior or cleaning since I bought it. I thought about emailing the chemical guys to see if they have heard or run across this.

abomb, I am glad I am not the only one who has had this issue. I was told by dealer the same thing when I went to get an unrelated part and asked if they would look at it.

 

When PU coatings-the coating that is on almost all leather in modern cars, starts to degrade it becomes sticky. I would post this in a detailing forum to see what can be done.

 

My 2014 w/215k miles isn't doing this. I use chemical guys quick leather detailer followed up with their conditioner

 

I have a 2015 with 70K milage that has the same problem, have tried leather treatment soap and water nothing works. Gets worse every summer as soon as temperature reaches 70+. It is a know problem Toyota dealers only response it to replace the door panels and the leather stitching on the dash.

 

I just came back from the dealer and for the dash pad and front passenger door panel (which are the melting ones on my truck) -- they wanted $1,300 parts/labor to do it. Confirmed that they will not cover this...

I'll end up tracking down the parts and putting them in myself.

 

My wife had a Camry that did this. The dealer replaced the dash under warranty, so it is definitely a known issue. My 2015 Tundra stays in the sun, I’m sure I will have the same issue as you at some point.

 

These parts just pop of with just a few clips. The vinyl then because of the heat will peel off the plastic with some ease and lil residue. The just wrap with choice of color.
John

 

This is something that happens in hot and sunny areas. In NM and AZ you'll see people put carpet on top of the dash to prevent the sun from breaking down their dashes (mostly plastic). My guess is the leather Toyota used has a treatment on it that doesn't do well in constant sun. Good sun screens for your windshield can protect this from happening, unfortunately I have know idea what can be done once the damage is there.

 

I have a 2014 platinum Tundra and all 4 doors are doing the same thing. It is very frustrating to spend this much for a vehicle to have this happen. I have written the CEO. Toyota should cover this! It’s ridiculous. Going to depreciate my truck.

 

Same here. 15 Tundra. Purchased with 40,000 on it. Did not notice til one hot Texas day detailing it and wiped the dash leather once and it almost peeled off leaving a few wrinkles in it kinda looks like blisters. The colder the weather it is fine. When it gets hot the stickiness just poor out and now the driverside ac section has started doing it. You can see my fingerprints embedded from simply touching it!

 

That's unfortunate to hear as a fellow Texan with a new truck. Hoping my sunscreen protects the dash.

 

Same issue here: 2015 Tundra Platinum, Black Leather, Houston TX area
Driver's Door and Front dash are degrading.
The fake leather is defective/ failing under heat/ sun
I have wiped my sticky areas with alcohol/ microfiber cloth. It takes the sticky residue and some of the color off. I was able to get it smooth again, treated it with leather cleaning/ conditioning products but with this week's 95+ temps, the sticky returned in the same two spots I previously cleaned, lasted about two months before returning. I notice it will cool and kind of re-seal overnight when it first turns sticky, but over time in the heat it gets worse.
Looks like all other others with same problem so far have been black leather. Also looks like the door panels/ dash are the problem areas. no issues with the seats.
Sounds like replacement is the only real solution. But how do we know we aren't buying defective replacement products?
If I could re-seal the leather somehow, I would give that a try. It appears no cleaning/ conditioning products will solve the problem. No success stories on youtube I can find.
Bottom line, Toyota sourced/ manufactured defective leather on these panel areas that cannot withstand heat.

 

This isn't just Tundras that do this. My Civic EX-L did the same exact thing on the drivers side door panel. I put some silicone trim restorer on it and it helped a lot, at least for a while, but when it got really hot, it was sticky again. My door skins were vinyl, not sure if Toyota uses a nice faux leather or vinyl for those areas. If it is indeed leather, there must be a chemical reaction with the dye or tanning solution and heat. No help, I know, just stating that I've seen this in another vehicle.

 

I'm having the same issue on a 2015 Platinum with 130k miles.

 

So I heard back from the Executive Secretary of Toyota (I emailed the CEO and CFO) and they had me take it to a Toyota dealership to have it looked at, and then the service manager would respond to her with his findings. Well, I heard back from her and she cannot find anything about recalls or such. Service manager told her it must have been from outside influences (duh) and since I am out of warranty, it would not be covered. She said the service manager told her $3900 and some change to replace them. I told her that was outrageous! Those panels can be found new for less. I would buy them and do it myself, but scared to mess it up. Wish that one part would come off and I could recover it. Oh well...

 

Back a few years ago they had a recall on the dashes of some Camrys because the leathers was sticky and falling apart. Had to take it into the dealer and the service manager had to write a ticket on it. They then ordered a dash and when it came in they called and set up appointment to replace it. Sounds like the same problem to me.

 

I have it on both front doors. 2014 Platinum 75k

 

Nothing y’all do is going to fix the problem. I thought my wife had did something and wouldn’t tell me so I tried a bunch of stuff??? It’s the materials they used it is sticky and acts like it is degrading/ rotting away!!! Toyota did not have a problem back then replacing the dash but it was a few years after we had purchased the vehicle before it started to happen. They replaced the whole dash to fix the problem!!!

Want to say it was in 2014 or 2015 somewhere around there??

 

I have a 2016 Tundra Limited with same problem. The vinyl around the drivers side AC left vent adjacent to the door gets sticky and shiny when parked in the sun. When it cools off it leaves a white film. To me looks like bad adhesive used and it is bleeding through the vinyl. Problem started after a year. Does anyone know of recall or extended warranty to fix this problem?

 

Sunscreen and Bug spray can cause this. It breaks down the petroleum products in synthetic leather. Looks like most the photos are from heavily touched areas.

 

I removed the left front vent and looked at the backside. It is definitely a bad adhesive problem by Toyota. I placed it in the sun for 5 minutes and the adhesive glue became moist and sticky. Adhesive never cured properly. It obviously a defect that Toyota should fix at their cost.

 

Did anybody ever get a fix for this? 2015 platinum

 

2015 platinum here.. same problem. Very frustrating

 

I have a 2014 Sequoia. Same issue on the driver door panel, color red/brown. Any solutions are welcome!

 

Bought a 2015 Tundra Platinum in mint shape with 70K miles in March 2022. Was looking for a newer used, but this was decked out and had low mileage and a SnugTop on it. The bed looked like no one ever put something in it! I’ll post more in the new member intro section.

Point of the above, is that even with the mint condition and the way the previous owner took care of the truck, the passenger side dash panel with the air register was a sticky mess. I thought it was just the detailer over saturating with armor all when they cleaned it up for me to take home, so I tried cleaning. Did not work, so I was on this forum and went through a variety of failed fixes. Warm soapy water, leather cleaner, leather conditioner, alcohol, WD-40 and nothing worked. Didn’t get worse, just started looking crappy as I was assaulting the leather. I decided to tear off the leather to see if I could just clean it up and put paint or plasti-dip on the plastic and make it look good. What I found out is that this is not leather, it is vinyl! I was trying to be so cautious since it was “leather”.

I didn’t tear it off, I gave it a warm sudsy bath to clean off as much of the chemicals I had use on it and then after it dried I wiped it down with alcohol. Took off all the lint and other crap that was stuck to the pleather.

Six coats of plasti-dip later and the leather looks amazing! I am looking forward to seeing how it holds up in the sun/heat and will update the thread after we experience some sun this summer. I live by the beach in SoCal where May and June are notorious for overcast, gloomy days (May Gray, June Gloom). Should heat up in July - October for a real test.

To apply the Plasti-Dip, I removed the air vent (three easy screws) and then did two light coats, then two a bit heavier coats and then two fairly heavy coats. The sitching got a bit covered up in some areas and you can see that, so I would not do the heavier coats if doing it again. Would keep up the medium coats for the last two.

The zoomed in picture is where the sticky area was. It looked really bad after I used all the chemicals and now it looks great.

I know it’s not a solution, but it is an experiment in process!