Appaling Steering Wheel quality on 65 plate Hybrid

[yessuz]

So, got 65 plate Hybrid (not-vignale)... One of those, when Hybrid was allowed with 16' inch rims only. Anyhow.

I have covered 32k miles only (and it's 3 years old now) and look what's happening to the steering wheel.

the top layer of the faux "leather" is peeling of in patches. Thank god that this is the benefit car - so my employer covers all the repairs and such..

More over, this is actually THE SECOND steering wheel. I had one already replaced when car was merely 1 year old. reason - same, only that time it was very small patch which appeared on the very top of the steering wheel.

This time it appeared at more or less exactly same spot as the first one, only this time ALD were not so reluctant to replace it... so had to wait for bigger patch to appear 😄

 

due to nature of the first appearance - it starts on very top of the steering wheel, where I almost never have my hands on - I suspect it has to be connected with the windshield. Most probably it created the magnifying glass effect...

 

btw - wheel itself feels to soft for my liking and this might be another reason..

 

anyhow- pics attached...

 

anyone got same?

[yessuz]

oh and have another, super annoying issue (from new) - there was horrible wind noise coming from passenger door/window, when going 60 mph and more. 

It took me almost a year and 3 dealerships, until I managed to convince the garage technician to sit in the passenger side when I was driving on motorway, until they understood the issue (because previously it was - everything is fine..). 

Fix - replacement of the passenger door completely. check this out...

 

 

[The_Venom]

Regarding the steering wheel I had the same, picked up the car a couple of weeks back, has done 33000 miles and the top of the wheel was wrecked, managed to get one off eBay in immaculate condition and changed it a couple of days ago

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[Dee_82]

It might be someone on your skin, as you say, you dont use the top as much as the sides meaning anything you put on it doesn't get rubbed off as much.  It could also be to do with the sun / how the car is typically positioned during the day.

Ive seen it on a few wheels myself although not quite as bad as that.  I guess what im saying is, dont rule anything out, it might not be shoddy build quality, it might be something your doing to it. (directly / indirectly) your skin leaks all sorts of oils and can make a right mess of leather if not kept in check

[TomsFocus]

I think the fact that it's happening to a few modern Fords suggests it is a build quality issue...  I've noticed wear on a lot of the Mk3.5 Focus wheels that I've been looking at, around 30k miles.  Admittedly none as bad as either of the above so far but I wouldn't expect any steering wheel wear on a 3 year old/30k car.

 

[cyprinus]

Exactly the same thing happened on my last car, not a Ford at all though, a Nissan Qashqai.  It may be as previously said a supplier quality issue, possibly the same manufacturer of steering wheels to both companies and more aswell.

[oldhenry]

Well my 2005 Zetec Estate 2l petrol has covered 70K and the leather wheel is perfect. Has a nice feel and shows no sign of wear at all. neither does any of the interior except the very rear where I take stuff to the tip. The pics look very much like my first settee when we were married. It was a rubbish covering ,not leather, and wore out when our daughter came along. Real leather lasts years and years ,not months.I suggest  a steering wheel cover, like we used to do?

Sorry to hear of your problem.

[FatHead1979]

15 hours ago, oldhenry said:

Well my 2005 Zetec Estate 2l petrol has covered 70K and the leather wheel is perfect. Has a nice feel and shows no sign of wear at all. neither does any of the interior except the very rear where I take stuff to the tip. The pics look very much like my first settee when we were married. It was a rubbish covering ,not leather, and wore out when our daughter came along. Real leather lasts years and years ,not months.I suggest  a steering wheel cover, like we used to do?

Sorry to hear of your problem.

The steering wheel on  my 2005 MK2 is also fairing pretty well, the MK3s have the now trademark "squidgy" Ford steering wheel which is made out of a very different material to the MK2s.

[Paul1972134]

Exactly the same on my s max. Ford refused warranty claim but dealer did it as good will gesture. A year later it's done the same again and yet again ford refusing to cover it. It must be a very common problem for 2 wheels to do the same

[Incontro]

This is a known/common problem on the Mondeo.

The jury is out whether it affects all Mondeos - as only some exhibit the issue. Perhaps there are parts from different batches or manufacturers floating around, and only some of them have the issue.

One tip/recommendation would be to use the gloves at petrol stations - as perhaps diesel residue could be eating away at the material.

[Russdaz]

Not just ford my Audi steering wheel is showing more signs of use at 16000, then compared to my Mondeo with 148000 miles. Must be a steering wheel thing.

 

Oh the Audi wheel are  £200-300. for the different types of flat bottom ones.

[iantt]

My 16 plate Mondeo is the same. I put a steering wheel cover over it. It's a good quality cover from Alibaba in China. Instructions to sew it on were poorly translated which made amusing reading.