Why are leather seats getting a lot of hate here?

Leather wipes off easy and scratched can be colored / dyed back. Conditioner helps keep it it from cracking.

Cloth holds sweat and fart smell longer.

 

The Clazzios seat cover thread is 230+ pages, I don't think leather seats are getting a lot of hate here. Clazzios are one of the repeat recommended first mods on here.

 

I would have preferred leather to come with mine. Unfortunately being 6’4”, the moonroof with the premium package makes for no real headroom for me. I am looking into the Clazzio and Katzkin options...

 

I think people have been brainwashed by marketing to think that leather is a premium seating surface because the luxury car market has used it exclusively. While it is more expensive, I don't see it as better for every day use. Natural leather long term is pretty awful. It will fade and crack and looks horrible in only a few years. This isn't as big of a deal in a luxury car that is usually garage kept and not typically vehicles that pile up the miles. You put that in a daily driver and that leather gets worse in a hurry. Add in the fact that your daily driver spends time baking in the sun or freezing in the cold and you get another reason to not like leather. I think the latest negative is that most leather is not real leather. To deal with cost and durability issues car makers are going back to vinyl and calling it things like 'leatherette' or tricking people with statements like 'leather trimmed'. They are using a slightly improved version of that vinyl that you got in your base model 74 Cordoba because you were too cheap to upgrade to the high end 'fabric' seating surface. Funny how things have gone full circle.

 

I get the feeling that most people who don't like leather either haven't had it, or have had it second-hand after it wasn't cared for.

Leather is easy to maintain, but does require maintenance to stay nice. If you just leave it alone, it will get dry and can crack in time. If you do take care of it, it is much more resistant to wear and tear, plus it cleans up nicely. This is why the factory Taco leather seats use leather in the high-wear areas (bolsters) and vinyl in the centers. They cheap out on the lower-wear portions, and take advantage of the leather where it counts.

 

I think you are partially right because that is exactly how a lot of leather interiors will turn out. However I have always looked at leather like caring for it it was part of the maintance cycle. Every ~5k it is time to clean and maintance your leather. If you don't it will wear out early just like everything else on your vehicle.

 

I used to love that commercial...LOL!

 

I can understand the confusion you have...browsing threads can do that. I use to browse a lot too and realized a lot of folks are vehemently opposed to things I love - and vise versa. They have legitimate points for their positions - but I had legitimate points for mine. That's life - one man's trash is another man's treasure. I do not like leather seats - my wife loves them. We have 5 vehicles, 3 without leather and 2 with leather. I use Carhartt seat covers in my truck, so does my son...my wife does not particularly like them. She is not wrong and neither am I. As for leather in off roading...FOR ME it is far better to have canvas seat covers on your seats - leather or cloth, but FOR YOU it may seem crazy to remove seat covers often, wash them and put them back on. My advice to you - listen to others, but rely on your own experience and be open and willing to admit you don't know it all. My wife can't do that and that's why she refuses to understand cloth is better than leather.

 

Cloth holds up and lasts longer. Once a vehicle with leather seats is 7-8 years old the leather looks like crap. If you trade every few years I guess it is OK.

 

In my experience the opposite is true, cloth fades, developes tears, looks threadbare and smells like sweat.

 

Really got to like leather after we bought my wife's limited Rav. Just a much nicer experience. So glad I got them in my Tacoma. Was considering going with cloth when I couldn't find the truck I wanted in the color but I'm very happy I was patient and waited for the leather/softec/whatever. I find them really comfortable espectially after a few hours.

 

Imo leather is superior if you take good care of it, but it will look like shit if you dont. Cloth gets dirty no matter how good you take care of it, and it is a pain to wash it properly. Leather on the other hand can be wiped. Yeah leather get hot in summer, but at least it doesn't get soaked with sweat and smells afterwards.

 

I have cloth because I’m cheap and amenities like a moon roof, heated seats, blind spot monitoring etc. seemed weird in a truck to me. Having an automatic in a truck was a substantial upgrade for me though, backing in a trailer with my old s10 was so annoying.

 

Its only real leather in the middle of the seats, the rest is synthetic.

 

The cheap bastards .

 

The sides are where mine is wearing the most. Middle of them are still great.

 

Lol what.

 

or...........they just didn't want leather/vinyl.

 

I regret not getting the premium package. Although I did not want the sunroof.

 

jealous owners

....I have cloth seats had leather on my mazda I traded in, it was okay but I am much happier without it. I don't have heated seats, I might put those in but honestly with the cloth seats, I made it through the winter without heated seats just fine. Just didn't seem worth it to me and haven't regretted it. I also didn't want a sunroof (had one on mazda). I up trimmed to the TRD OR and got some goodies, push button, power seats (meh), locker, other bits I liked, etc, but I don't feel the need to deck out vehicles with leather, sunroof, etc etc. They're A to B machines to me mostly.