leather vs. cloth

[akboss]

As the weather is getting cold here in Canada, I have been in a few friends' cars that have leather interiors, and man are they cold! The seats are frozen when you get into a cold car with leather, and if it has heated seats, you have to wait for a few minutes for those to get warm. On a cold day after scraping the ice off my windshield, the last thing I want to do is get in and sit on a frigid seat. And in the summer the seats are cooking hot from the sun. So what's the point? Why is leather interior a 'luxury' item? From what I can tell its just a pain in the butt, no pun intended. Sure it's easy to clean, but spray your fabric seats with ScotchGuard, everything cleans up like a breeze! I have yet to figure out why I should pay extra to get a leather interior.

[NotoriousPhil]

Leather is a classic symbol of luxury, so most people need to have it and they dont even know why. Personally I agree with you too cold in winter to hot in summer and not to mention your back sweats because it cant breath (if you are a big guy like me) .All in all leather looks nice but is not practicle unless you park in ungerground parking, but then again the leather seats crack after 5-10 years if not maintained properly.

[akboss]

Originally Posted by NotoriousPhil

Leather is a classic symbol of luxury, so most people need to have it and they dont even know why. Personally I agree with you too cold in winter to hot in summer and not to mention your back sweats because it cant breath (if you are a big guy like me) .All in all leather looks nice but is not practicle unless you park in ungerground parking, but then again the leather seats crack after 5-10 years if not maintained properly.

I think big and small people sweat in leather seats, it afflicts us all, and I'm by no means a tiny person. But the cracking issue is something I see in almost every domestic used car with a leather interior that is 5+ years old, it looks terrible! Especially on the outboard driver's side seat bolster, they just get ruined from people getting in/out of cars, and not properly moisturizing/oiling the leather as one should do.

I posted in another column that I was looking at cushy cars - I was browsing Caddy DeVille's of the early to mid 2000's, all of them have beautiful leather interiors that are ruined by cracking.

My wife had a 1997 Jetta Trek edition that had Recaro seats trimmed in this neoprene-esque fabric, they were the best seats I've ever experienced in a car.

[NotoriousPhil]

Yeah if maintained properly leather seats do look pretty damn nice but once they start cracking it does tend to look pretty ghetto. What is sad is the treatment isnt really expensive at all if you do it yourself but people are just too lazy.

[MagicRat]

Not all leather is created equal.

Many luxury cars have soft glove-type leather (it's actually a 'split - grain leather'). This leather feels very nice but is not very durable.

I had a '79 BMW a few years ago which had thick, hard, full-grain leather seats. They felt hard and slippery, like a saddle, but they lasted forever!!

IMO cloth seats are better, except for cleaning up a mess. Leather seats wipe clean, great for spilled coffee or anything to do with children.

[NotoriousPhil]

But not matter the grain of leather you should still use a treatment on them no?

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by NotoriousPhil

But not matter the grain of leather you should still use a treatment on them no?

I do. It helps to prevent damage from sunlight etc. But no treatment is going to help stop wear from actually sitting on them.