It's definately not a waste of money. Although most everyone has 'treated' leather seats, the coating that is on the leather itself is, indeed, very porous. Thus, if you don't condition it, it will become brittle and will crack.

It's just that simple.

RP

 

Yeah, but "treat" it with the correct material. Something with UV protection would be optimum, instead of leather treatment. Seriously, the leather treatment is never getting to the leather.

It makes sense that one can draw on the seats with a pen and wipe it off with 409 without damaging nor pulling color from the leather. The coating will, after time, crack. It's hard to avoid, but can be exacerbated by sunlight and heat.