Leather or plether?

[dhodg]

As previously stated I'm looking at buying my first Elgrand E51 S3 hopefully.

My question is..... How can you tell if they have Leather or Plether seats? By looking at pictures online.
Is there a common spec? IE half leather half fabric? Full leather seats are actually half leather half PU leather


I've had plether before in a Mercedes c350d and c350e and was not impressed. Also as a truck driver the Volvo's have plether and you tend to sweat more compared to real leather making the drive less comfortable.

 

[Nevillerover]

I think it's pleather, probably plastic coated leather in places and vinyl in other areas but I'm not an expert. My seat has cracked a bit in one area and it shows white where the surface had lifted.
Sweaty arse has been an issue for me and the wife so I have recently installed sheepskin covers and they are lovely.

 

[WhatsThisFor]

Not much of the leather interior is in fact leather…. Like real leather from a real cow.

I found this when swapping a drivers seat, so using all these leather balms and lotions is a waste of time, money and effort, just a quick wipe with a vinyl cleaner with suffice.

Don’t believe a word when the advert says full leather interior, because it’s not.

 

[Cato Fong]

Having both worked for an automotive seat manufacturer, and also bought luxury seats for a certain British 4x4 manufacturer, I can confirm that leather is a misnomer - usually only applies to the bits in direct contact with your bum and back - the rest is effectively PVC or similar as a cost saving. The grain is also faked. The seats in my E51 aren't bad - seems to be good thick durable quality apart from the driver seat side/bolster which always seems to fail first and split/peel. As always watch put for rivets on jeans which can damage a seat cover. The leather, or whatever it is, on the steering wheel does seem prone to abrasion/scuffing.

 

[WhatsThisFor]

When I was employed by Jaguar Land Rover - I would visits 2 sites called Dakota and Adient, they were suppliers to the JLR plant.
Adient made seats….Dakota made bumpers and trims.

Leather seats are not all leather even on premium brand vehicles.

I would bet that Bentley leather interiors have zero PVC.
In fact I recall hearing they buy their leather from a country that doesn’t use barbed wire fences, so the hide doesn’t get marked.

 

[Londonglide]

My non leather S1 seats are still in perfect shape, never freeze me or burn my bum in the summer. Actually prefer them to the Saab leather in my 9-3

 

[Joerob]

my seats seem like real leather they even smell like it.

 

[kfgas]

I think that the leather on the seats in virtually all lower to mid range cars including the Elgrand is normally a mixture of real leather and PVC although some in the more basic models will just use leather look PVC.

Even then the quality of the leather will vary as not all leather is equal

As regards the Elgrand the leather in the seats of the XL is a slightly better quality than that used in the Rider and Highway Star but they are still only a mixture of leather and PVC and not that good a quality

Top models of the prestige brands will use better quality leather plus offer options to upgrade to something like nappa leather.

I have what back in 2004 when it was new was a £115000 Mecedes on which the original owner specified a £4000 option to upgrade to nappa leather and this is at a totally different level to the leather in the Elgrand

Even then the leather only extends to the front and sides of the seats and a downside is that it marks very easily.

Bonus is that these seats also have a heating, cooling and massage function

I have changed the front and middle seats (my Elgrand is converted to a rear camper) in my Rider from the original leather as they were looking a bit tired to the Highway Star half leather/PVC and fabric seats and find them much more comfortable and durable as well as being nicer to sit on.

I did look into having my Rider seats recovered and was very tempted with a suede/alcantara look fabric similar to what is used on Recoro seats but in the end decided against it as I could not justify the cost.

 

[russ]

When I was trawling all the classifieds and dealers etc looking for my car; I noticed a few had random styles of leather and after some digging I found out they were Clazzio seat covers.
I tracked them down to here 11i.co.jp and after a rigmarole I got some ordered. they are pu or pvc but are really nice quality. I do woodwork so am always dusty so having leather was a deal breaker for me, so having the option of seat covers really widened my choice for cars and so I was able to find an X with 4x4 and fabric seats. I'm not a big fan of the saggy frilly look of the jap style leather anyway.
I got these 4 years ago and I think this style is discontinued but looks like they still cater other styles for the Elgrand, might also have leather/suede versions.
I had to choose the covers and screenshot the cart and then sent that to their sales email, then an English speaking guy called Lee responded and sorted it out. I was able to pay for the covers, then they sent package dimensions/weight and I used a courier broker to do a reverse booking to get it collected and shipped here. Cost about £500 all in inc. customs. Probably more now though.

 

[Rob Whitton]

My half leather Highway Star is actually half PVC, no leather at all. My Maserati which has the hidiously expensive extended leather pack (all Maserati options are hidiously expensive and few things are standard!) Has fake leather on the door cards!

 

[Londonglide]

The old Mercedes Naugahyde was the best