Owners of the first batch of CTRs, how's your alcantara holding up?

sean465 said:

15k miles I'm on a sept 2017' and the centre arm rest is fine, but the door pull area gets very manky But as has been said some good interior cleaner and a nail brush sorts it right out.

The seats have not faired so well, with wear on the drivers side as well as the creases which no matter how you might swing over and try to avoid it's inevitable in a daily driver. But, bought some dream covers and out of sight out of mind!!!

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Which covers? Mind posting a link?

I can also attest that the drivers side door arm rest is probably the grossest piece in the car. I use a "suede brush" with i'd say fairly stiff bristles to gently pull the matted fibers back up with some of the sonnax cleaner.

Had mine june 2017 till august 2019. About same as everyone else. Arm rest very little wear nothing a cleaning wont solve. The door handle probably worst . Kept mine clean but it was starting to show a little wear. Seats were ok except the driver bloster its gonna get rubbed wrinkled up no matter what.

My wife fabricated a felt cushioned pad to cover the center console and to provide a soft place to rest my arm during driving/shifting etc. I too am concerned about oil and skin getting into the "alcantara-like" suede material. I'm an office worker but still after 3 months ownership I can see the beginnings of residue buildup, hence my using a pad like covering. I've also contacted Overland Designs and their response is below:

Thank you for reaching out about your Alcantara questions.

We do sell authentic automotive Alcantara on our website. The black 9040 panel is the material we use for the 10th Gen civics.


overland-designs.com


Cheers!


Sincerely,

Jason Esposito
Overland Designs
2 Knox Rd.

Red Hook, NY 12571

facebook.com/overlanddesigns
@overlanddesigns


So, they do sell their actual Alcantara and we can re-cover our dirty armrests or make protective pieces to be removed and cleaned/replaced as we see fit.

So Honda calls the seat stuff "red-and-black suede-effect fabric". How does one clean "red suede-effect fabric" as in oily Chinese food gravy leaked out of the bag on the seat on the way home...

Curious... for those of you getting wear on the door from your elbow... is that something Honda would replace under warranty?

If so, would it be an all new interior door panel? Or....?

CivilciviC said:

Curious... for those of you getting wear on the door from your elbow... is that something Honda would replace under warranty?

If so, would it be an all new interior door panel? Or....?

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Wouldn't hurt to ask several dealers depending on how bad the damage is, but they will probably just say it's a wearable item.

CivilciviC said:

Curious... for those of you getting wear on the door from your elbow... is that something Honda would replace under warranty?

If so, would it be an all new interior door panel? Or....?

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Basically what @s2kdriver80 said, I'd go ask your dealer to see, but they most likely won't replace it. At the same time, my dealer did replace my steering wheel because the leather was peeling (it was considered normal wear and tear though). That being said, you can try to use a suede brush and maybe some suede cleaning products to bring the nap back out of the Alcantera-like material that Honda uses.

wildbilly32 said:

So Honda calls the seat stuff "red-and-black suede-effect fabric". How does one clean "red suede-effect fabric" as in oily Chinese food gravy leaked out of the bag on the seat on the way home...

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Why would you put that on the seat....yikes. Best of luck.

Subscribed to see if you find a solution.

OneSickFK8 said:

Why would you put that on the seat....yikes. Best of luck.

Subscribed to see if you find a solution.

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In a paper bag, in a plastic flat container,...just a stupid move on my part!

The night of the incident I dabbed as much up as I could with a clean diaper and a terry cloth towel. Pretty much gone. Will probably just take it to the detail place and have them do it. Car does smell faintly of Garlic Chicken though!

Stupid question, but did all non-Type R Civics come with vinyl-covered center consoles and door armrests for all 10th gen model years? Just wondering since the photo galleries on Honda's site of 2020 non-Type R Civics show vinyl surfaces. If they were alcantara/fabric pre-2020, then probably a good chance they will also use vinyl on 2020 CTRs to address the wear issue. Not sure if the lesser Civics had vinyl from the beginning.

s2kdriver80 said:

Wouldn't hurt to ask several dealers depending on how bad the damage is, but they will probably just say it's a wearable item.

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Absolutely brutal. When I had my 370z Nismo, I claimed warranty on the interior door handles (normal 370z handles are silver. The Nismo had dark grey handles). The paint chipped on each handle. Very small spots. Both were replaced without question.

Same with the factory shift knob. The leather started failing. Replaced without question.

Sucks if Honda isn’t the same.

s2kdriver80 said:

Stupid question, but did all non-Type R Civics come with vinyl-covered center consoles and door armrests for all 10th gen model years? Just wondering since the photo galleries on Honda's site of 2020 non-Type R Civics show vinyl surfaces. If they were alcantara/fabric pre-2020, then probably a good chance they will also use vinyl on 2020 CTRs to address the wear issue. Not sure if the lesser Civics had vinyl from the beginning.

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Adding to what I said earlier, has anyone tried replacing the center console and door armrests with the vinyl ones from other Civics? Wonder if it's easily interchangeable and doable. Not sure how they would look but probably should cut down on the wear issue.

s2kdriver80 said:

Adding to what I said earlier, has anyone tried replacing the center console and door armrests with the vinyl ones from other Civics? Wonder if it's easily interchangeable and doable. Not sure how they would look but probably should cut down on the wear issue.

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The normal civic armrests are terrible scratchy material. Many in the si forum were trading up to the type r armrest. In 2020 it may have changed. I would look in the si section and see what they are doing now.

In any case, you can buy any alcantera covers from Honda. You have to take whatever piece it is apart and replace the fabric part. I'm just going to drive my car and if I start to see wear I will buy new fabric from Honda and keep them stored away, good luck everyone

while possible, it certainly will not be cheap. Generally, replacement material prices are cost prohibitively astronomical