What is your opinion on Genuine Leather Interior?

[mrstallion]

I am just wondering what peoples opinions are on Holden genuine leather interior VS cloth??
What are the pro and cons Of leather interior?
What is everyone doing to keep their leather in top nick condition??

[Muzzak]

The only problem with leather is that once you have it - you're never going back to cloth again. Maintenance is easier - wipe it down with a cloth. Use some leather conditioner on occasion to make it like it came of the showroom floor again.

Muz

[The Nurse]

I've got 24,000km on my Monaro and the leather still looks like the day I got it. The main things are always keep conditioner on them, always take wallets phones etc out of your pockets, and that if you are wearing jeans with studs or buttons on the pockets put a towel on the seat first and make an effort to lift your self over the side bolsters when getting in and out, and not crushing them

[Glenn@Autowerks]

The only problem with leather is that once you have it - you're never going back to cloth again. Maintenance is easier - wipe it down with a cloth. Use some leather conditioner on occasion to make it like it came of the showroom floor again.

Muz

I agree & disagree.

With my last 2 SS's they both had leather, maintenance is definately easier, agree there. The clubbie has cloth which does get dirty real quick but at least you dont stick to it in summer. I dont think I would get leather again though. Everyone has different views on things, this is just mine. Like red cars & black cars, which is better ? :lol: :lol:

[Fezz]

I like the leather simply because it looks better. Only down side is that it shows more wear and tear over time, but that's the trade off.

I like cloth interiors, just the SS cloth looks like dog spit - If Holden had cloth interior like WRX's, etc I wouldn't even bother with leather.

[NickS]

I am spending today pulling an interior out of a VY II SS that has only done 8000 kms (looks like brand new) ... replacing it with a VZ SS leather interior from nickh @ NVU (looks unreal BTW, can't wait to get it finished).

That probably answers the question for you. I am a huge fan of leather interiors, I won't ever have cloth again.

[Ghosn]

I am spending today pulling an interior out of a VY II SS that has only done 8000 kms (looks like brand new) ... replacing it with a VZ SS leather interior from nickh @ NVU (looks unreal BTW, can't wait to get it finished).

That probably answers the question for you. I am a huge fan of leather interiors, I won't ever have cloth again.


Im guessing the VY has cloth trim?

[Ch0jiN]

I agree with Fezz,
If the VX SS Cloth wasn't so gut wrenchingly ghastly it might be an option, but as it is, I have been looking at leather only for SS's

Also, I have a mate with a leather WRX and another with a leather Mazda 6, so I'd never hear th end of it if I bought a car with a "poverty pack" interior.

[NickS]

Im guessing the VY has cloth trim?
:doh: Yes it does, sorry, probably should have made that clearer.

[pah]

Doyles in Auburn, Sydney will convert a cloth trimmed interior to leather for about $2300 (last time I checked). 02 9748 1666.

I was a tad surprised to see them ripping the interiors out of what appeared to be brand new cars and converting them to leather. If that's the case, maybe their product is as good as OEM?

I wonder what sort of a deal they'd give us if we lined up a number of cars for them to do?




PAH

[Goggles]

Like red cars & black cars, which is better ? :lol: :lol:

each are the same - when I am driving them :)

SV8 was black, SS is red, and new SS will be blue.

I will be better able to contribute to this debate in about 4 weeks.

[SS00SS]

I am just wondering what peoples opinions are on Holden genuine leather interior VS cloth??
What are the pro and cons Of leather interior?
What is everyone doing to keep their leather in top nick condition??
Leather kicks ass over cloth. I have a vx ss with genuine leather in black. It cops abuse. sand from trips to beach kids walking on it milk coke you name it nothing stains it. Meguiars cleaner conditioners keep it like new and are easy to apply especially the foam. Trim is still like brand new. By now cloth would be trashed. ssooss

[SS00SS]

Leather kicks ass over cloth. I have a vx ss with genuine leather in black. It cops abuse. sand from trips to beach kids walking on it milk coke you name it nothing stains it. Meguiars cleaner conditioners keep it like new and are easy to apply especially the foam. Trim is still like brand new. By now cloth would be trashed. ssooss
Red is faster.

[simonwells]

I have leather in the monaro, 2002 V2, I have just placed an order for one of the first manual 6ltr SS's, with leather of course. I use mothers leather conditioner, makes it far less sticky in Summer. I live in North Queensland, the only other problem is if you don't have window tint, or use a windscreen blind, the leather can get a bit hot.

[vxleather]

this is the first car i have had leather in vx ss II black leather 60000ks leather stating to loose it's colour on the drivers seat????

Other wise all good if possible don't think i would by enother cloth trimmed car. this is my 14 th car.

[james2]

Love it, would not have cloth if at all possible.If nothing else just adds a touch of class to the car.:)

[IH8WRX]

I don't like to admit it, but Holden and HSV leather is very poor quality. It's the actual leather hide itself that is the problem. I've lost count of the amount of leather interiors I've had to recolour and/or repair, even with as little as 10,000km on them, most commonly drivers seat side bolster and steering wheels.

Just a little advice, save your money and don't buy factory leather as an option. You can have your seats and door trims redone in Connolly leather for the same price aftermarket as what you will spend on the genuine Holden leather option.

The Australian climate really isn't suited to leather. The fierce heat inside a closed car on a blistering hot summers day destroys vital fats, oils and conditioners in leather. Salt from perspiration also does damage which I'm sure leather owners have seen over a period of time. If you have a leather interior weekly maintanence is a must to keep it in good condition, otherwise that $2500 option will have a price tag to match for restoration.

Here is a topic with some information on automotive and upholstery leather for those that would like to learn more http://www.willwaxu.com/portal/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,29/func,view/id,2/catid,5/

[Jag530G]

I don't like to admit it, but Holden and HSV leather is very poor quality. It's the actual leather hide itself that is the problem. I've lost count of the amount of leather interiors I've had to recolour and/or repair, even with as little as 10,000km on them, most commonly drivers seat side bolster and steering wheels.

Just a little advice, save your money and don't buy factory leather as an option. You can have your seats and door trims redone in Connolly leather for the same price aftermarket as what you will spend on the genuine Holden leather option.

The Australian climate really isn't suited to leather. The fierce heat inside a closed car on a blistering hot summers day destroys vital fats, oils and conditioners in leather. Salt from perspiration also does damage which I'm sure leather owners have seen over a period of time. If you have a leather interior weekly maintanence is a must to keep it in good condition, otherwise that $2500 option will have a price tag to match for restoration.

Here is a topic with some information on automotive and upholstery leather for those that would like to learn more http://www.willwaxu.com/portal/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,29/func,view/id,2/catid,5/

The Leather used by Holden and HSV is known as "Corrected Grain" which is cheap leather full of scars and imperfections that is then coated to give a perfect grain finish.

Quality full grain leather hides such as Connelly or Nappa leather (now used on HSV Senators, I believe) is as it comes off the cow and through the tannery. The Connelly hides used on Rolls Royces come from cows held in paddocks surrounded by electric fences, that way no barb wire scars on the hides.

Cheers, Matthew

[fishframe]

VY II SS Ute - took the factory leather out and put in HSV Senator leather coulsens. Beautiful. The original leather seats weren't bad though.

MY01 WRX - Cloth seats. Also, Beautiful.

Depends what you personally like. I like both - if they are classy seats then leather or cloth are both going to be great.:1peek:

[KPWISHN]

My clubby has a leather interior and was really noisy when i moved on it. Being black it also gets a bit warm, but so does any interior when it's in the sun. The best thing i ever did was use some leather conditioner stuff my missus got from FREEDOM the furniture store. It is as nice as ever now. Really soft and it enriched the colour heaps too.
Definitely recommend that stuff.:dance:

[Devil CV8]

Like red cars & black cars, which is better ? :lol: :lol:
got one of each, red one with red leather, 3 yo but leather is as though it is only a few months old... (that's right it is, all replaced under warranty when they couldn't match the driver's seat)

Black one is cloth.. haven't had it long enough to determine wether I'd go cloth again.

[lukaswild]

The Leather used by Holden and HSV is known as "Corrected Grain" which is cheap leather full of scars and imperfections that is then coated to give a perfect grain finish.

Quality full grain leather hides such as Connelly or Nappa leather (now used on HSV Senators, I believe) is as it comes off the cow and through the tannery. The Connelly hides used on Rolls Royces come from cows held in paddocks surrounded by electric fences, that way no barb wire scars on the hides.

Cheers, Matthew

I am sure that the original Howe Leathers in the Vx series of HSV (hail the great coulsen) is one of the better leathers you'll find; however, with the start of the VY also came a new leather manufacturer for Holden/HSV factory fitted seats - from Sth Africa, and far lower on quality.

My SS Ute, Monaro and now SV300 all have leather, but it feels heaps better than any vy/vz I have seen. Seat bolstering was also reduced by Air International for VY/VZ to provide a more cost effective product for holden.

In Nth Qld I wouldn't have a cloth interior. They reatain heat for longer than leather, and sweat and dirt is trapped in like carpet. The leather seats might get warm in the sun (not sticky hot like the old vinyl), but they cool down quicker with the aircon and stay cooler.

On the aftermarket topic - 'Blackman and Son' in Morrabin (03 9532 5338)bought the VX patterns from HSV (including coulsens) and provide the leather parts for HSV dealer orders. Supply only of leathers for Coulsen interior was about $1800 last time I checked.

[OzJavelin]

Dumbass question time .. but the last car I sat in with leather was a early 60s Bentley when I was five! Doesn't leather get hot in summer? I thought it wouldn't "breathe" properly?
Having driven the Javelin (all vinyl interior) around on a few 35C+ days this year cloth interior in any car looks good to me!!
Rod.

[Haze_V8]

Have to agree on the quality of Holden leather.... it's crap.
Personally I love leather seating in a car but the quality of Holden leather is shocking. I have a 10+ year old Mazda with factory leather and the quality difference is like chalk and cheese. The Mazda leather is soft but strong, has not discoloured or worn badly, even on the drivers seat. It has only been treated twice in its life and looks better than my Monaro leather that I hardly drive. For a $60k+ car I really expect a lot more....

[NickS]

For a $60k+ car I really expect a lot more....
That's the problem Holden / HSV faces ... everyone always expects more. Bet comparing your Mazdas performance / looks / handling to the Monaro is like chalk and cheese too. Yes, there are cars with better leather, but they fall short in other areas.

When you buy a Holden / HSV you get so much car for your money because the quality isn't up to European standards, to get a BMW / Merc. that will keep with a Clubsport and hold 5 adults and their luggage in comfort you are looking at another $100K over the HSV easily.

I have had Holden leather interiors for about 5 years now, yes you have to look after it but I have never had any fading, cracking, drying ... anything. My point is that you should not expect more out of a $60K car, you get what you pay for, if you want perfect leather ... buy a different car.

[Haze_V8]

Fair points Nick however I thought of many of your points.

The Mazda 626L hatch was 48k on the road new in 1996.
Comparatively speaking it is a similar price to the Monaro taking inflation into account.
While the target market of each car is obviously different, the quality of the Mazda in almost every area is far superior. Even 10 years later the technology in many areas of the Mazda is still superior to the Holden.
The stereo is so far ahead it's ridiculous, the performance and fuel economy of the 2.5L V6 is outstanding, the factory stock sun roof is beautifully finished and works perfectly. The electric seats are faster and have more options, the overall build quality is miles ahead (inside and out) and the list goes on (even the petrol cap is better designed!).

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my Monaro and it delivers exactly the kind of car and motoring experience I want. It's an emotional decision, not practical. However after comparing the relative value of the two cars for the $'s, the Mazda has it in spades.

Going back to my original comment - the leather in a similarly priced car is far better than the Holden leather. Even if you look at current Saab or Volvo models for the same $'s (and $10k less) the leather is of a much better quality. Hard to do an apples with apples comparison but when I think of the $'s Holden spent on useless upgrades between models (was the armrest catch really needed from series 2 to 3?) I think they could have delivered better leather quality as an alternative.

Cheers!

[Paxton]

I like the leather simply because it looks better. Only down side is that it shows more wear and tear over time, but that's the trade off.

I like cloth interiors, just the SS cloth looks like dog spit - If Holden had cloth interior like WRX's, etc I wouldn't even bother with leather.

I think the SS cloth looks great, and everyone who has been the seats in my VZ SS thinks the same. The black gauze over the red cloth looks great!

From what I've seen leather creases and start to look older a lot quicker than cloth.

[YLD57L]

One I found when looking for a second hand Monaro 14months ago was that a lot of them suffered from what should have been prematurely worn leather.

A Mercedes I saw today with 220k on it and was over 20 years old had leather that looked as good as my Monaro's which only has 25k on it!

[EvillBill]

I have leather and could never go back. Have kept it clean and out of the sun and it still looks like new. Have done a few 6hr drives to Kalgoorlie and down south and the seats have been so comfortable. The VX I had before was cloth and you would begin to get sweaty after an hour or so. Got pretty manky after 6 I can tell you.


Still looks this good...
http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~billm/Car03.jpg

[lukaswild]

I am with you EvillBill. Would never go back either.

[IH8WRX]

That's the problem Holden / HSV faces ... everyone always expects more. Bet comparing your Mazdas performance / looks / handling to the Monaro is like chalk and cheese too. Yes, there are cars with better leather, but they fall short in other areas.

When you buy a Holden / HSV you get so much car for your money because the quality isn't up to European standards, to get a BMW / Merc. that will keep with a Clubsport and hold 5 adults and their luggage in comfort you are looking at another $100K over the HSV easily.

I have had Holden leather interiors for about 5 years now, yes you have to look after it but I have never had any fading, cracking, drying ... anything. My point is that you should not expect more out of a $60K car, you get what you pay for, if you want perfect leather ... buy a different car.


You raise some valid points Nick. What seems to be a frustrating part tho, is that you can readily have your stock cloth interior including door trims retrimmend after market in Connolly etc for $2000 - $2500. Yet the same price is what it costs for the factory option for leather. Surely the large buying power of GM/Holden would be able to use better quality leather as one would think they could secure a better price abd therefore use better quality leather.

I'm with Paxton. I'm not a fan of VY SS cloth trim, but I really do like the trim on the VX's. I'm lucky tho I have the best of both worlds tho as I have leather and cloth.

[NickS]

You raise some valid points Nick. What seems to be a frustrating part tho, is that you can readily have your stock cloth interior including door trims retrimmend after market in Connolly etc for $2000 - $2500. Yet the same price is what it costs for the factory option for leather. Surely the large buying power of GM/Holden would be able to use better quality leather as one would think they could secure a better price abd therefore use better quality leather.

I'm with Paxton. I'm not a fan of VY SS cloth trim, but I really do like the trim on the VX's. I'm lucky tho I have the best of both worlds tho as I have leather and cloth.
Fair points Rick (& Haze_V8) ... and I certainly wouldn't complain if Holden started using top quality leather. It's just that the quality of the leather (HSV anyway) has never worried me. I guess I regularly pamper the cars anyway so the extra maintenance doesn't faze me.

It's funny, my parents have had BMWs for years and I have several clients that never buy anything but Mercs. The number of little things that go wrong with them is amazing, they may have overall better quality but just as many things break / fall off etc. It's rather scary the number of things that can go wrong with an S500 in the first few years :eek:

I have driven a lot of different cars and as an overall package I still rate HSVs well ahead of pretty much everything, but that's just my personal preference. I could quite easily be driving around in a BMW ... "I just don't want one" :lol:

[Haze_V8]

I could quite easily be driving around in a BMW ... "I just don't want one" :lol:

:lmao: :lmao:

[Belzey]

I have had leather on my last 2 cars now (monaro, lx8 adventra) and would never consider going back to cloth specially with kiddies. Wipes clean looks better and with a conditioner stays extremelly soft. I think the leather in the adventra is way softer and better quality than the leather we had in our Monaro as well.

[nbr334]

leather all the way, I wish I had it in the calais, vn that is. Key to it is to just look after it. Like previously mentioned the most important thing to do is condition it frequently. Their are some good products out their. Do it so they dont dry up and crack

[y-b-jls-4]

Ye I would have to agree with most of you leather is the way to go. When I bought my vx s pack I didn't care if it had leather or not but once you have it theres nothing like it. I mean it looks great. Can anyone recommend me some products to use as a conditioner and something that also smells good ?

[SV8er]

Ye I would have to agree with most of you leather is the way to go. When I bought my vx s pack I didn't care if it had leather or not but once you have it theres nothing like it. I mean it looks great. Can anyone recommend me some products to use as a conditioner and something that also smells good ?

Dont know about smells good , but have you tried the Meguirs Range of leather conditioners , i used them when i had my Vy Berlina and found them great