Jeep Liberty Interior and Upholstery

kobe8rice41kobe8rice41 Member Posts: 5
I have a 2005 Jeep Liberty limited. I noticed that the seats easily stain, with water. When it rains little raindrops get on the seats when I open the door to get out and the spots stain. I'm wondering if people have the same problem and if you put anything on the seats, like a stain protector or something?
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Comments

  • nabrown7nabrown7 Member Posts: 1
    I have the same trouble with staining with plain ol' water. Ideas?
  • kobe8rice41kobe8rice41 Member Posts: 5
    Maybe This
    I dunno.
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    kobe8rice41: I have repeatedly called the Customer Care @ 800 992 1997 and complained about the stain on the seats. I have been told that there have been very few complaints of seats being soiled by just plain rain water. 5 times I have been given the same sales pitch! Two weeks ago I emailed the customer care and gave them 6 things our Jeep Liberty CRD needed.
    Today I called the selling dealers detail shop. The manager admitted the Liberty seats were very difficult to clean. He said he uses plain steam to get it out, but there are some seats that just can't be dome very well. Armed with this information I was loaded for a gun fight. The woman put me on hold for about 20 minuets. Finally she said the 2006 Liberty's have a seat cleaning warning for dealers. These seats are very much like canvass. The material is a very tight weave. When any liquid comes in contact with the seat material, the dirt comes to the top and makes a stain. The DCX instructions say to clean the seats with warm (not hot) water, the whole seat. Then use a wet/dry vac and suck as much as you can out of the material. Then do the same thing with cold water. Vac the seats again. Let dry and vac one more time. She says DCX said it will look like new....LOL Time will tell! My selling dealer said he would have the seats steamed if this does not work. ABOVE ALL ELSE DO NOT USE SCOTTS GUARD!!! Treating the seats will actually make more stains that won't come out. This is what DCX says. If anyone trys this before I do, please tell us how it works.

    Farout
  • hankkhankk Member Posts: 5
    I have the same promblem with my 05--what a mess--jeep should be sued. Also the material is stretching badly only after less that 2 years.
  • cucmd1cucmd1 Member Posts: 1
    This is our 2nd liberty, and we had this problem with our 2004, so when we got a new 2006 I scotch guarded the seats the second I got home and it really did help prevent stains. They still look good 20,000 miles later. :)
  • bobkeenerbobkeener Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2006 Liberty Sport but have not noticed any stains yet. My problem is static shock every time I get out of the vehicle. I use my shirt sleeve to grab the door handle.
    I noticed the 2007's have a tag on the seats advertising static and stain resistant. Maybe Jeep took note of your comments and are trying to improve.
    My big problem with my Liberty is she is a piggy, 12 mpg city and 14 mpg highway. I have never own another car I did not get in the EPA rating for gas mileage. My 94 Jetta got even better than the EPA rating.
    I am naming her Miss Piggy.
    Even so, this Jeep is a lot better than any GM vehicle. They just took care of ball joint recall.
    With My GM truck you needed a Lawyer to get any warranty or recall work done. :)
  • libertyownerlibertyowner Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a 2004 Jeep Liberty Sport...today...

    I want to know if anyone has had any kind of problems
    with that specific vehicle ...besides the recall...
    or your on your 2nd time replacing the ball joints

    I am really thinking on taking it back...
    Help quick...
  • stallkampstallkamp Member Posts: 3
    I had/have the same problem and can get no one to help! I know a technical service bullentin came out on these in 2005...mine is a 2005

    I have called the dealership, the general manager, the district manage and chrsyler customer service, all to no avail...and my car is under warranty!!!!!!

    This is ridiculous!
  • chester5chester5 Member Posts: 9
    same here, my seats are stained simply from rain water, the one day I actually left my windows open a crack because it was so hot, and it poured, they are still stained, what a senseless goof by somebody
  • podompodom Member Posts: 1
    i have the same problem with mine, i have contacted the better business bureau, the attorney generals office in missouri. i am tired of being told the same things. i should not have to clean my seats. my car is 4 months old. so, my advice is, do the same things that i have done and maybe just maybe jeep will get the message. i cannot fight this battle by myself, so if you all will please file complaints maybe something will be done. this should be covered under warranty. i have been told by a few of the service managers that this is a reocurring problem. jeep chrysler doesn't seem to think that this is a manufacturer defect. well i beg to differ with them!!! water should not stain. my seats look as though they are 10 years old. i don't know about all of you, but i feel that i paid too much money for some flunky to tell me how i need to clean my seats. they knew this problem existed and they should have at the very least scotch guarded the seats before these vehicles were driven off the lot. so please help me stand up for what is right and maybe we can get something done. i know i will get something done because i will not stop until i am satisfied.
  • jeepers2002jeepers2002 Member Posts: 1
    The handle that positions the back of the driver's seat snapped off. In addition since the handle is not there the side cover is now hanging and cracked. So now... unless I use a pillow or hold myself up with the steering wheel to sit up straight basically I am sitting in the back seat.
    This happened while under warranty and the the dealer screwed up not once but 3 times then changed hands and well my warranty was up and well it was tough crackers. D/C was interested at first. Then not. All I wanted was the part for the seat. They are not responsible for their dealerships they say. I was told I cannot just replace the handle. I have to replace the whole mechanical part that makes the back move. I have searched for the part on line however have not looked in an actual parts place yet. The dash recall that was done is falling out again. And quite frankly I don't know where to take it for it's last recall. Salerno and Dwayne in Summit NJ is out :lemon: and now Frystock in Avenel is out. Did anyone have the same situation with this mechanism? And can anyone in Central NJ suggest a reputable dealer? I need to get the ball joints fixed. I am hoping I can repair the seat myself. :(
  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    You may also want to visit Warranty Claims Administration. It would seem that the manufacturer may still responsible for the repairs since they didn't do it properly while the car was still under warranty.

    tidester, host
    SUVs and Smart Shopper
  • hmallandahmallanda Member Posts: 2
    I also have a Liberty 05 and to date i have taken the jeep back 6 times for the seats to be shampoo, they tell me each time that they have treated the seats with a scotch guard type of spray, as I write this the jeep is in the shop again, from rain stains, I as well have contacted Jeep and they do not see where this is a defect, the dealer will not replace the covers with the new fabric that is suppose to be water and snow resistant, when I took the jeep in this am I suggested again replaceing the covers and they tell me how expensive it is, it is hard to beleive that you can spend over 20k and they do not care .
  • hmallandahmallanda Member Posts: 2
    I just got back from my dealer, I have been there 9 times to have the seats cleaned, this time they could not get the stains out, they actually look worse than before, they had put the master shield on the seats, the warranty on master shied states that if the stain will not come out they must replace the covers, so I am waiting for the 07 yes essinsial fabric covers to come in , finally an end to this problem, so for all of you who are still having problems just keep bugging the dealer, he has to cave in sooner or later :blush::)
  • allshookoutallshookout Member Posts: 1
    I also own a 2005 Liberty. The first time I noticed the rain spots, I couldn't believe my eyes. I owned 2 old clunkers before the jeep and the seats had absolutely no stains on them. Rain sure as hell wouldn't stain the interior. That is, until I got the Liberty. It's funny, the salesman bragged about how rugged and tough the jeep is. He even punched the fender flares to prove it. I really wish he would have told me that innocent raindrops would stain the tough seats. It's not like I leave the door open or the windows while it rains. If it even looks like rain, the seats stain. I scotch guarded the back seats, and now they're sticky. I haven't noticed any stains on them, though. It just rained yesterday and now the front seats look like they're polka-dotted. I guess $24k doesn't buy what it used to. :mad:
  • ehd24ehd24 Member Posts: 4
    I too have an '05 Jeep Liberty and the seats look TERRIBLE!!! It's really embarrassing!!! This has to be a defect, especially if water stains!!!
  • rgrobinsrgrobins Member Posts: 5
    I have an '05 Grand Cherokee with the same problem. Dealer kept putting me off. I emailed Chrysler Customer Service and they called it a 'non-problem'. I then called them, spoke firmly, and the agent told me to take it back to the dealer for resolution since it was still under warrranty. Today the shop manager said it was soap residue from a cleaning, and doused the seat with lots of water and told me to come back when it is dry to see if the seat is mottled and blotchy. I do not intend to give up; this is a material defect. He said they could maybe give me some seat covers. I want new fabric. I was told by one of the salespersons that the '07 models do not have this problem. Can anyone confirm this?
  • charliee1charliee1 Member Posts: 3
    My seats all stain with water and you can't get the stain out it just keeps getting worse, I'm finding out i'm the not the only one with problems with my jeep. All windows come off track often, Rims are all peeling, Noise comming from the right air vent. All my air vents have been replaced. Just keep adding up.
  • ronaldcronaldc Member Posts: 50
    Same problem with my 2005 GC. Try steaming the seats and wiping down with clean towel.
  • jeeplover7jeeplover7 Member Posts: 3
    I am having the same problems w/ fabric on my 06' Commander-07's have new stain resistant YES fabric! Chrysler denied my warranty claim. Salesman says nothing they can do-bring in one more time to have it shampooed-his very own daughter has a Liberty with same problem and she can't wait to get rid of it!

    I am interested in filing a class action lawsuit against Chrysler for the material defect of the fabric-anyone else interested?
  • jeeplover7jeeplover7 Member Posts: 3
    I am having same problem w/06 Commander Fabric-Dealer shampooed-supposed to take care of problem and it hasn't. The 07's have a new YES fabric that resists stains and confirms problem. I have asked them to replace my fabric-they called warranty company and my claim was denied. I was told there is nothing they can do-bring it in again to have shampooed! I do not have the time to bring my car in once a month to have it shampooed. I am not giving up either. Called the warranty dept. myself-they said there is a Technical Service Bulletin that explains how to clean the seats. That is all they can do right now. They can not replace fabric unless there is a recall. I would like to file a class action lawsuit-sounds like a lot of people are dealing with this.
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    Hmm, I love my Liberty except....
    The dealership now confirms the seat stainng problem and the vehicle jumping or pulsing or whatever you want to call it, when at a stop......
    Anyone had any success with the seats?
    I bought an 06 with warranty left. Love the color, miss the fact that there were no floormats and now that I know of these two problems, I wonder what else is there?
    Oh and already had to have the back window put back on the track.
    ugggh.
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    Having has FOUR Jeeps, 3 Liberty's and 1 Compass, The cloth seats in the 05 Liberty CRD and an 06 we bought for our daughter to use, I can say the cloth seats ware like iron, but turn nasty dirty in a very short time. We found out fron our dealers detail man thet he uses dtean to clean the seats. He says it takes several times to get "some of the dirt out". We hated the cloth seats! However the yes seats in the Compass we much better and cleaned easy.
    In saying this I hope to NEVER own a Jeep again! We bought a 07 Chrysler Pacifica AWD Touring with the LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. We take it on the same roads as we did the Jeep Liberty's and get much better mpg and we are not jerked arround as we were in the Jeep's. We don'tforge rivers, or climb huge steep hills, so the Pacifica works for us much better.

    farout
  • rgrobinsrgrobins Member Posts: 5
    Folks, If any one is interested in a class action lawsuit, I'll throw in with them. I'm tired of my seats looking like leopard spots. I'm embarrased to have anyone ride with me; they think the seats are 'dirty'.
    On another note - what is that Technical Service Bulletin number for cleaning the seats? The dealer doused my seats in water and then used a towel to absorb some of the water. He claimed it was soap residue that was causing the dis-coloration.
    Again, unless we group together on this, Daimler/Chrysler will stone wall us. How about starting a blog for collecting names. This website is OK, but it's not enough to create momentum on this effort.
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    OK, let me say first, we own a carpet cleaning company (steam cleaning truck mount equipment.) 20 plus years so my husband is a pro.
    He uses steam on the seats, plus his usual chemicals and they cleaned up ok but they still look grungy and they still spot every single time you get one drop of rain on them.
    I am going to call the dealership and see what they say, but I know my husband wont let them try to tell him how to clean them or what may have caused the damage. He wont take a bad answer.
    He also wants to ask why they know the vehicle jumps or pulses when you come to a stop and why the windows go off track. My back window already did, and I never ever use it.
    It is pitiful that so many of us have problems.
    I wonder if we started a blog or yahoo or MSN group, would we get lots and lots of folks to join in and file complaints?
    Maybe we would?
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    The seat material used inJeeps has been a sore spot for a good long time. The bad news is few buyers give the seats much thought when they buy one. Having everything you can think of tryed there is little if anything that can clean the seats even close to like new. DCX who is responsible for these "Wear like Iron, get dirty dog dirt" seats will never loose a lawsuit. The Liberty CRD (diesel) was a total disaster and so many have been bought back out of the 11,000 made it was a total consumer rip off. No one was able to get an action started. Remember the seat material is made for rugged use, not to look pretty, as I was told. I have had 4 Jeeps and I hope I never again have to consider owning one. Poor on mpg, poor on quality, poor on trade in.

    farout
  • caribou1caribou1 Member Posts: 1,354
    Farout,
    David Hume wrote:
    "Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."

    My seats are covered with black fabric, the same style used by BMW 30 years ago. They suffer from no stain nor wear but don't look fancy at all. I just have to brush the dust off to make them look new!
    .
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    Here's a good one.
    My Jeep dealership told my husband there is something wrong with the RAIN where we live.
    And all the stories on the Internet dont matter one bit.

    If anyone did receive an official statement on this from Jeep, I would like to know how to get a hold of one.
    I also may consider bailing this vehicle before everything falls apart and looks horrible.
  • rgrobinsrgrobins Member Posts: 5
    Visited the dealer again yesterday, told him there was a Technical Bulletin on this, and sure enough he found it - 23-015-06 or 25-013-06 (tried to memorize the number). It covers the 05-06 Liberty, 05-06 Grand Cherokee, and 06 Commander. This was issued in 2006.
    It says the problem is caused by residue puddling when it gets wet. The fix is to douse the seat with warm water and dish detergent, scrub up a foam, wipe off the foam with a cold-water sponge, re-wipe with a sponge, and then wet vac. Allow to dry. No allowance to replace the seat covers fabric. I'll try this as a next step, but it is not a valid fix. How many times will I need to clean the seats this way?
    The only true fix is to replace the fabric. If anyone will start a class-action suit, I'll go along with it.
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    I dont see how that suggestion could fix the problem.
    I sure would like a copy of that statement to wave in their face, since they told me it was the actual Rain that was the culprit.
    Like I said, we own a carpet cleaning company with very powerful truck mount equipment. We use straight steam and non toxic chemical emulisfiers. This did not work on the spots. You can still see them. It helped a tad, but not much.
    And we would be charging a minimum of $70 per visit to clean them.
    Thanks for the update though, and providing another look at the whole mess.....
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    The bulletin number is 23-015-06 from March (06, I think?).
    I found a place to obtain the bulletin but I dont feel like paying for getting it, so I am going to keep looking to see if there is a place to find it for free.
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    The only place to get a copy of the TSB is a dealer. But the TSB does little good! There is nothing that the seats do not attract, the material is like a magnet to anything that can make any kind of stain. Think about ...rain stain? That's pretty far off and deserves a "fickel finger of fait award" in my book.
    Take your Jeep in to the dealer and tell them you want the seats cleaned. When they try to give yoy a bill go to the General manager with the bill and explain you unhappy experience. Bet he lets the bill go.

    farout
  • caribou1caribou1 Member Posts: 1,354
    Happy New Year Farout,
    Are you guys complaining about the water droplets that inevitably fall on the seats when a door opens? In this case it's pollution carried by rain drops plus pavement residues that collect on the seats.
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    I'm sorry. I do not believe seats should stain from anything you mentioned.
    That is just plain silly.
    How many vehicles with fabric seats have you had, and how many of them stained when rainwater got on them?
    They are perfectly capable of making good quality fabric seats, which look nice and hold up through anything.
    I have had a goodly few GM vehicles with cloth seats, which looked nice all the time.
    I dont buy the rain story.
    And like I said, we clean car upholstery for people through our business and we dont see spots from rain showing up on most of them.
  • caribou1caribou1 Member Posts: 1,354
    It's not pure rain water that stains, it's the oily substance that deposits onto the asphalt and that makes roads so slippery during the first hour after it starts to rain. When you have this solution under your shoes, you stain your carpets.
  • jeeplover7jeeplover7 Member Posts: 3
    I don't buy the rain water story either. If that's the case how do you explain plain tap water staining the seats? My children are not allowed to drink anything in my car other than water. They occasionally spill their water and we have horrible stains as a result.
  • caribou1caribou1 Member Posts: 1,354
    I agree that drinkable water shouldn't stain the glass used to drink it.

    If there is an alteration of the material covering the seats when your children spill their water, then the dye is not fixed well or dust becomes a coloring pigment of the material.

    In industrial cleaning processes where ultra pure water is used for aerospace or scientific applications, a cascade of water rinses is standard practice after detergent(s) . It's a matter of dilution in this case.
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    Caribou, do you work for jeep?
    Not a word you said makes any sense.
    I'm sorry, no other vehicle we have ever ever owned gets stained from rain or any other kind of water or liquid.
    None.
  • caribou1caribou1 Member Posts: 1,354
    I work for a nuclear research center, and we have our own cleaning department ;)
  • bedfordresbedfordres Member Posts: 5
    Try the leather heated seats the next time. I've had them on the 2003 and now the 2008. Easy to take care of and keep clean just a couple of times a year.
  • trrumpetwashertrrumpetwasher Member Posts: 4
    I must replace the passenger side outside mirror on my 2005 Sport CRD. How do I get the front door panel off so that I can do this job?
  • trrumpetwashertrrumpetwasher Member Posts: 4
    I have had good luck with Maguires spray-on upholstery cleaner. Just let it set for a while, and vacuum it up. Or you can let it dry and whisk it off with a dry cloth.
  • april0524april0524 Member Posts: 1
    I have an 2006 Grand Cherokee and I'm SO sick of the water stains. I couldn’t believe it when it happened the first time! It was raining and I hopped in the truck quickly, that's all it took! Even snow flakes stain the seats! The stains look as if Coke or oil got on the seats, it's so awful. It looks like I don’t take care of my truck, and that al I try to do. I called the dealer and told them about it - Instead of offering to HELP me they tell me to buy something for it.... I shouldn’t have to do that.. That’s the whole point. I'm going there today in person - as usual I'm sure I'll be treated like I don’t know what I'm talking about because I'm female. I'm almost temped to trade it in and take my business elsewhere (non-Jeep), which I hate to do. I LOVED my 2002 GC so much that I bought the 2006; unfortunately not such a great experience the second time around. We’ll see what happens. I’m glad there are others out there with the same issue because other people don’t believe me when I tell them that water stained my seats. :mad:
  • xtecxtec Member Posts: 354
    Thats why I bought A can of Scotchgard for my seats.I'm doing mine this weekend.A little over 5 bucks will cure your problem.Good Luck.
  • pattilpattil Member Posts: 2
    I can attest to that. I have a 2005 Jeep Liberty, bought it new. I went crazy with the water stain issue and for the first year, what I would do is soak the whole seat with a spray bottle of water, and do it evenly. Then I would let it dry overnight, and everything blended in then. But I can tell you that just simply dripping water from my water bottle AND if opening the door when it was raining out and rain came in on seat would do it! It was ugly and I hated it. I am a clean freak and it would always look like I had six friends in my Jeep, having dinner. I have no little children in there, no pets, no smokers, just me. So....I ended it taking my Jeep in (to a company here in Vancouver) and converting the whole darn thing to leather. I couldn't be happier!!
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    Well, if you are scotchguarding or teflon coating your seats, make sure they are cleaned first or you will just seal in a mess.
    Also, as professional cleaners we would never ever suggest soaking down vehicle seats. Truth of the matter is, and we all know it, this should never have happened and the only remedy is to redo the seats or buy covers (which I never did like).
    Btw, a few weeks ago a nice bit of snow fell off the roof onto my seats.
    Just lovely.
  • ehd24ehd24 Member Posts: 4
    I just received the new Jeep magazine and had a laugh. On page 6 there is a column titled, 'We want to hear from you...' Chrysler LLC is inviting Jeep customers to visit www.chryslerlistens.com and encourages you to provide feedback on your Jeep products. I say we all repost our water stain horror stories there too!!!!
  • rgrobinsrgrobins Member Posts: 5
    2005 Grand Cherokee - I have posted in the past on this thread. I did not want to be too optimistic until it really happened. My local (Memphis) dealership has promised to replace the seat cushion covers (not the backs) due to water spotting. They said they are authorized to do that much, reference to the Tech Svc bulletin that was released. That was 2 months ago. I'm checking with them every three weeks to see if the fabric has been received; am still waiting. I will keepp you all informed when it happens. Ron
  • emmabemmab Member Posts: 43
    I say we should bombard them.
    Not only about the seats, but other things as well.
    My windows were all redone at my request a couple weeks back (two had stopped going up and down).
    Well, now I have a horrible squeak screech coming from the window they just fixed.
    I have my eyes set on a Hyundai Santa Fe, and nearly was able to buy one last Friday but darn if my stupid Jeep hardly has any trade in value (2006, 20000 miles).
  • jeepboy08jeepboy08 Member Posts: 49
    I tell you what! My dealer told me to put scotch guard on all of my seats! He also told me that he has never heard of water staining the Liberty seats before! Man, this whole YES! essentials thing is CRAP! I want NEW FABRIC, now! But I will ALWAYS love my liberty. :D
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