Car seats: Leather or cloth? (1 Viewer)

[Graham Perks]

I've never had leather. I hear some people tell me it's a pain, yet it's sold as the luxury seating. I live in a hot climate - people tell me the leather will crack, it'll be super hot, it'll make my legs sweat, ...

It sure is comfortable though

What's the real deal? Is it really that bad? Or really that good?

 

[Mark Paquette]

My leather seats are 3 years old now with no sign of cracking. I just apply some leather conditioner a couple times of year, just like you would do to any piece of leather. Michigan is not nearly as hot as Texas so I can't comment on the heat thing. It's never been a problem for me. Now that I've had 2 vehicles with leather I would have a hard time going back to cloth. My $.02 worth.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

On the other hand, I prefer cloth seats. While I doubt that leather will crack if you take care of it, I do not care for the way leather seats feel at different temperatures. They are too hot in the summer sun, and too cold in the winter (for me, anyway). I always opt for the less costly cloth seats.

p.s. I love the picture in your signature, Mark. Go Habs!

 

[Kevin P]

I too prefer cloth seats. I found leather too hot in the summer/cold in the winter and tends to be slippery (at least in the one car I had with leather, a POS Ford Taurus).

My Saturn SL2 with cloth seats is more comfortable IMHO.

KJP

 

[Thomas Reagan]

Something I never thought of until it was mentioned after the birth of my son:
Baby "accidents" are a lot easier to clean up with leather, raher than cloth, seats.
Something to think about if you have, or about to start a family....
Thos.

 

[Matt Stryker]

I love vinyl; easy to clean, easy to care for, and doesn't suck up dust like cloth. Leatherette will be the interior of choice for my next car.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

I love the Leather seats in my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder
Did I mention that they are heated..... ohhhh they feel nice in the winter

 

[Ricky Hustle]

Heated leather seats...the only way to drive!

 

[John Tillman]

Leatherette seems to be an interesting option. I would imagine it could be more durable than leather and more forgiving to temperature changes. Has anyone experienced it for a multi-year period?

I had leather on an Expedition that thankfully went back after the lease was up. The leather was nice but the driver seat cracked from sliding in and out. It was normal wear & tear but left me wondering about getting another leather interior.

 

[PatrickM]

Mark me down as another person for leather. My seats are heated too so no complaints of cold seats in the winter. I'll have to see what my seats are like when the hot weather comes since I have dark grey leather seats.

The smell and the feel just seems better to me with leather seats but it is a personal preference.

Pat

 

[Ted Lee]

another vote for leather.

as long as you take care of it, it won't crack. i've got a 94 accord with all leather interior. the leather is starting to get kind of "funky" in parts, but no cracks yet.

i am pretty good about the interior though. i usually treat it at least every other time i wash the car.

also, i live in sacramento, which can get pretty darn hot in the summer. although the leather does get hot when you first touch it (and i only wear shorts in summer) it cools down pretty quick. i forget about it by the time i'm down the road.

 

[John Garcia]

as long as you take care of it, it won't crack.

This is the key. If you are not the type of person who will use a leather conditioner about once every 3 months, then leather is not for you. It WILL crack over time, and leather tends to show it's wear much more quickly than cloth.

In the heat, leather seats will get hot in direct sunlight. That's what a good tint job is for.

Legs sweating has nothing to do with the leather...

I've owned both, and like both. Overall I prefer leather.

 

[Ted Lee]

hey john - i think we're following eachother around. i just answered behind you in some other thread...

 

[John Garcia]

Great minds think alike...

 

[Ted Lee]

wurd...

 

[Philip Hamm]

I have heated leather seats in my A4. It is the first car with leather seating I've ever owned. If I can help it I will never own another car with leather seats. They are hot in the spring, summer, and fall and I sweat and stick to them. They are very uncomfortable to me. In the winter the heat is nice, but you can get heated cloth seats.

Leatherette seems to be an interesting option. I would imagine it could be more durable than leather and more forgiving to temperature changes. Has anyone experienced it for a multi-year period?

"Leahterette" is a fancy word for vinyl. It's nowhere near as durable as real leather. It's just as nasty sticky hot as leather in the sunlight, if anything worse. I've had vinyl seat cars int he past and they suck.

The key is that you have to take care of leather. Clean and condition it regularly or it will look really bad in no short order. It's hot and makes me sweat, and requires a lot of work to keep from cracking. I hate it. It is luxurious and smells good though. And is easy to keep clean when spills happen compared to cloth. Supposedly leather is good for resale also.

 

[John Garcia]

Leatherette is not vynil, it is a manufactured fabric (ie; was not alive at some point)(I know you didn't really want to think about that), that is very similar to leather, and it IS more durable than real leather. Many, if not told, would not notice the difference. I can tell, at least with the current BMWs, but leatherette is not a bad thing. As Philip said, it has many of the same drawbacks though.

 

[NickSo]

I like leather...
NOTHING beats the smell of leather in a new car... Sniifffffffffffffffff... I wish my room smelled like that
Though it is a Pain in the Ass (literally) to sit on black leather after your car's been parked in the sun the whole day, but leather just looks so nice.. Especially tan colored leather.

 

[Paul O]

The leatherette option in highline German car's like Mercedes and BMW's are quite nice and durable and are indistinguishable from real leather. I test drove a Mercedes and was stunned into disbelief (ok maybe not that strongly) when i was told that most of the seating was vinyl or MBTex as Mercdes calls it. After taking a closer look with the salesperson pointing out what to look for i proceeded to another car and shook my head knowingly after examining it since i now knew what to look for only to be told that in this model it actually was leather! As others have said you have to maintain leather regularly and even then it tends to look worn, i really dislike a black leather interior after its been "butt shined" for a while - you need shades just looking at it..ugh.

 

[Paul O]

Phillip - i had a Saab 9000 with heated leather seats which was also uncomfortably hot in the Winter as well as in the Spring, Summer and Fall. Turns out the heated seat switch was stuck in the on position permanantly - can't blame the leather for that....