Leather steering wheel question...

[Rogue]

I have a car with a leather steering wheel. I recently put a cover on it for fear of "wearing it out" and having a hell of a time refurbing it. That leads me to my question. How long can you expect a leather steering wheel to hold up to normal usage? I had a vinyl wheel for over 5 years and when I traded it in, it was wearing pretty good in places.

 

[d33pt]

just use it..what's the point of having a nice leather steering wheel if you don't use it.. that's like buying a tv and saying damn it might wear out if i watch it, so i'll just cover it up

 

[Rogue]

Yeah, but I would still like to know the average life expectancy of a leather steering wheel. Having a leather wheel in winter is definitely nice. Doesn't seem to get as cold as vinyl does, so I'll probably remove the cover once it gets cold again, maybe sooner.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

The original cover can be replaced by sewing on a new one, and in my observation the leather covers will last a long time (my father's Acura Legend clocked roughly 100,000 miles on the original cover without showing meaningful wear). Just apply leather conditioner from time to time and enjoy it.

 

[geno]

My car is over 13 years old and there's only a couple of places with minor wear. (95k miles)

 

[Rogue]

Now that's the kind of answers I was looking for. I kinda like my new wheel cover, but I'll take it off from time to time and enjoy the "investment".

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I put like 130,000 miles on one, absolutely no wear. That was with hard driving too. Go for it (and like they said, it's not a huge deal to have replaced. Certainly not worth not using).