Hi, I'm having some major issues with Volvo N.A. and my regional service manager. Last year, my 2006 S40 started staining on its dark grey T-Tec seats from rain, snow, ice, etc. whenever I'd get in my car or put my kids in their carseats and the weather was bad.

I took it to Volvo twice about this -- the first time they recommended a car wash to have the seats cleaned. I took it there, paid $80 only to have my seats discolored even more. Then I took it back and had them clean them only with water, which didn't help at all.

Took it back to the same Volvo dealer, now they're telling me and Volvo N.A. that the stains are my fault and that the T-Tec is not defective -- I must have put something on the seats. In the meantime, my front seats and panel inserts are covered in white stains (salt) and dark stains (waterspots) but Volvo is insisting the stains are not from water. I even have rain streak stains on the back of the back seat, but they're insisting I must have sprayed something there and the stain is not from rain.

BTW, this car was purchased brand new and only has 20k miles on it. I've taken meticulous care of it and have treated it like my baby, never negligent with it and never letting anyone eat or drink anything in the car. I never used any cleaners on my upholstery, mainly only vacuumed it.

What I'd like to know, has anyone else had this issue with their T-Tec seats? Volvo is insisting that they have never heard of this issue and if the seat fabric were defective they'd "have heard from hundreds of other people about it."

 

Ashmawz -

I have had the same problems (I posted about a month ago re: staining T-Tech seats)! Not only do the seats stain from just about everything (water, fabric cleaners, etc.), but mine are also mysteriously fraying. I first noticed this issue during my first month with my car (new, 2005 S40 T5) and took it to the dealership (Chattanooga, TN - great people). They agreed that some of the fabric in the back seat and only the passenger side seat (don't ask me why)should be covered under warranty. They were able to replace the T-Tech fabric a little over a year ago. Even though I take great care of my S40, it didn't take long for a little water to stain the seats again. I took it back to the dealership and to a few detail shops - no one was able to clean the seats properly.

Finally, I found a detail shop that agreed to keep it for a day: they ended up having to steamclean the seats three times. The owners knew of the T-Tech staining issues. When I picked it back up at 8pm, the seats were perfect! The seats still show minor staining and fraying...but it looks like the detailer's "answer" might be as close as we'll get to our solution. Note to self: go for leather next time.

 

I have the same problem. I even asked the dealer, if they could clean the seat covers, they tried but couldn't get the water stains out. The fabric is defective and the factory should address the problem.

 

We noticed water stains on our tan t-tec fabric the day after we bought our 2011 XC60. I rolled down the windows at a drive thru while it was raining, and my seats had grey shadows where the light mist hit the seats. Since this was a new kind of t-tec the dealer had never seen the problem at that point because the new models had just rolled out.

Fast forward to 2014...I took my car to the local Volvo dealership yesterday to have it detailed and they were not able to remove the shadows and stains and said they have seen issues with the light colored t-tec fabric staining from water.

Please tweet @volvocarsglobal and @volvocarsus today to let them know your t-tec is staining from water. They read and roll up issues to review from their social media, and I assume they use that info to fix problems and make their cars even better.

I love everything else about my Volvo and assume Volvo would want to know about the issue so they can fix it on future models. This is not my first Volvo with t-tec, but this newer t-tec fabric appears to have an issue with water stains.