OT - Do you like leather seats?

[2Tiggers]

I have always liked cloth seats but there is a van we are considering that has leather. But I am not sure... The seats are heated so that will help in the winter but I guess I am just so use to cloth that I kind of turn up my nose at leather.

Any thoughts? Thanks Disers!

 

[a1tinkfans]

all our vehicles have leather, only one is heated (mine)
they are cooler in summer than cloth
warmer with the heater in winter.
stain Less, and have greater value in a vehicle, would not buy without that upgrade

you can maintain them nicely with a quick swipe once in a while with otc stuff you can buy at target/walmart, personally we use the stuff in the furniture aisle which is less expensive than "car" stuff and its same stuff

Be careful not to leave your heated seats on as a matter of practice


we love leather ......holds up well....also have it in our great room
Good luck with your purchase whatever you decide

 

[2Tiggers]

Thanks for your reply!

I was surprised by your comment that they are cooler in the summer. I thought for sure they would be hot! It is cream colored leather though so maybe it wouldn't trap heat...

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Another vote for leather seats. We have heated leather in our SUV and that is my primary driving car. I love love them. With three kids the ability to just wipe stuff down is super! I agree with the cooler in summer and warmer in winter (with heat). We have tan leather so that might be a part of it.

 

[DawnM]

Cream colored I would hesitate, but I have three boys and two black dogs and I am sure it would be awful to clean.

We have one car with leather, tan leather, and we like it a lot, but we do treat it to keep it soft and from cracking, and we do have to clean it.

Our other cars are cloth and they are easier IMO to keep clean (they are scotch guarded and we just vacuum.)

Dawn

 

[SaraJayne]

Thanks for your reply!

I was surprised by your comment that they are cooler in the summer. I thought for sure they would be hot! It is cream colored leather though so maybe it wouldn't trap heat...

Leather is not cooler in the summer than cloth. My sister has cream leather seats and can't even get in her car in the summer until she turns on the a/c and lets it run for a couple mins.

I won't ever purchase a vehicle with leather seats (or leather furniture, for that matter ).

 

[Sandy61]

I am short and I slide down on leather seats. Cloth seats are easier to sit on if you are short.

 

[furb & dez]

My car has BLACK leather seats and there's no problem getting in the car in summer (and I'm in Phoenix, mind you!).

Love leather seats in cars, but would never have leather furniture in the house (cats).

 

[nedac]

We have always bought vehicles with cloth seats... my wife was adamantly against leather.... then we test drove one with leather seats and with cloth seats. It sold us... leather is somehow much more comfortable. At least in a Tahoe it is. So much so, that we paid for the upgrade. Not sure we will ever go back to cloth. My Silverado has cloth seats and I much prefer the leather.

Ours is black leather, we looked at tan interior, but the doors were already stained and I said, "No thanks"

Oh, and the leather is cooler in the winter, but we have had no problems in summer with heat, and we live in south Louisiana where 90's are the norm.. and the seats are black, like I said.

 

[dcfromva]

We bought a car that had a package that included leather seats a few years ago. Previously I thought the leather seats were more for show and would not have picked leather seats as an option. But, compared to cloth I have found the leather seats are easier to keep clean and hold up well to wear and are very comfortable. All subsequent cars we have purchased have leather seats.

 

[North of Mouse]

I have heated leather seats in my SUV and love, love them - can't say enough nice things about them. My vehicle is 6 years old, garaged, and well maintained and the seats look like new. Have had no issues with cracking and I use the heated seats ALL the time if it's a bit cold, because I'm cold natured - they go off automatically when you turn the engine off so don't know what one poster said about not using them too often. They are cooler in summer and warmer in winter(those that are heated, that is ) I don't like cloth for several reasons, but the chief one being that when you sit and try to slide over your clothes sort of stick and twist and that's not comfortable. Good luck, that is one upgrade I will always get . Our indoor furniture is a mixture - my DH will only have a leather recliner.

 

[scrapquitler]

I have cream colored leather seats in my car and I HATE them. They are cold in the winter. In the summer, if you have on shorts, your legs stick to them unless you run the a/c at full blast and cool the car down before you get in.

We will never again get leather seats, and also never a light color interior. In spite of hearing how 'easy to clean' the leather seats are, they still show dirt (and my darn kids wrote on one of the seats with a pen, it's impossible to get it off) and I hate having to buy special stuff to wipe them with. It's a pain in the butt.

 

[pinkxray]

I never thought I would have a car with leather seats but bought my SUV used and the one that I liked happen to have leather seats. They are black leather and the only time they get too hot in the summer is when the sun is directly hitting them and then I try to sit on the seats in short shorts. I usually keep a towel around to throw on the seats if we are heading to the beach or something.

DH also has a pathfinder with cloth seats but in the winter we always have to take mine everywhere because he loves using the heated seats. They also seem easier to clean especially with DD who has a habit of dripping melted ice cream all over the backseat.

 

[Sadie22]

I would never get a light-colored interior.

We do have leather seats in our vehicles. We don't do anything in particular to maintain the leather. We have never had a crack or signs of wear. We just traded in an old vehicle with cloth seats which showed a lot of wear. I love the seat heaters. I find the leather seats easier to slide in and out on. I don't wear short shorts at my age so bare legs sticking to the leather seat has never been a problem.

We did have an ink mark once and we were able to easily clean that off. We probably gave it a shot of hair spray.

 

[kkwis2]

I have had both leather and cloth, so here are my thoughts:

Leather is easier to wipe clean (dog hair, crumbs, etc.) but can be more difficult to keep clean over time. We had tan leather seats (we bought our car used), and they just got grimy over time even though we did clean them.

I live in Minnesota where it doesn't get all that hot very often, but when it did watch out! Burned legs and butts! My kids were in car seats at the time, but if their little calves touched the seat - OUCH!. My daughter asked that we not get leather when we traded in our old car. I also don't like the "stick" factor with leather when it's hot - peeling your legs off like a band-aid.

Cloth can really depend on the material. My Pilot has a very smooth cloth interior which is easy to clean. I know some do have that "catchy, itchy" feel on clothes and on skin, so I think it really depends on the material used.

I personally don't love leather so much that I would pay a lot for the upgrade. When we purchased our last vehicle there were other things that were more important to us on which we were willing to spend our money.

 

[Plantlady]

I have leather in two vehicles. The original owner (of both of them) go the leather because she has dogs, and the dog hair won't stick to them.

I personally find them very easy to clean. All of our cars with cloth seats are filthy. The leather seats are very clean, and I do nothing to them. The floor of one van is terribly stained, but the seats... still clean.

However, I do stick to them in the summer. I do not like that feature. Once the car cools down, that is fixed. However, on minivan's AC stopped working, so I just try not to wear shorts when driving it.

I think if I picked, I would go with leather though, because of that clean factor. My boys are not the neatest creatures out there.

 

[disney_5]

We have leather seats too. My only complaint is that they are freezing in the winter when we first get in the car. They are heated but it takes a few minutes for the seats to warm up and the back seat is not heated.

 

[Judique]

My car has BLACK leather seats and there's no problem getting in the car in summer (and I'm in Phoenix, mind you!).

Love leather seats in cars, but would never have leather furniture in the house (cats).

Charcoal colored leather seats and love them!!!

Wonderful in Winter with the heater!

No problems in summer!

I don't want a car without leather, heated seats, heated mirrors, power seats and a number of other little conveniences that I love.

And I agree about the cats - you should see what they've done to a leather chair.....we keep it in the basement just for them!

 

[mistysue]

I find some car seats don't like to install on leather. Especially if you have an infant bucket and try to buckle it in. This is safe with cloth but with leather the seat just slides all over! (and yes, it is a seat that is safe with a seat belt install)
If you have, or plan to have little kids with car seats that need to be installed, that is worth considering.

 

[mdrob214]

I won't buy a car for myself with leather seats--unless I can get them cooled as well as heated.

I do not enjoy burning my bare legs in the summer on hot leather seats, or having them stick to the seat(and no, I don't wear short-shorts!). I suppose I can do what my mom does, and put a towel on it or something, but why? I'll save my money and get the cheap cloth ones.

For the record, I've never had any problems with our seats being dirty. Even when the kids were little. If we had spills, I cleaned them right away. And I've always used scotchguard or similar so no stains. Cloth is just more comfortable to me.