Leather seats ... well, mostly leather

[mr_walker]

I was just giving the leather a once over this afternoon, and I happened to look at the seam inside the "map pocket" when I was cleaning behind the front seats. Guess what ... it's vinyl!

That got me looking very carefully, and now I'm not so sure what's leather and what's not. I'm thinking all of the wear surfaces are cow, and the other bits (sides, door trim, headrests) are not. Anybody else figured it out?

Walker

[tezza]

YUP

Thats why we had ours totally recovered

[Logzy]

Quite disgusting of VW really considering the extra we have paid for Leather seats.
I dont remember the option saying Leather & Vinyl.

[Golf Houso]

Quite disgusting of VW really considering the extra we have paid for Leather seats.
I dont remember the option saying Leather & Vinyl.

So your basically better off just buying a non-leather car, and paying an auto trimmer 2 -2.5k for a great high quality leather jobbie

[Logzy]

So your basically better off just buying a non-leather car, and paying an auto trimmer 2 -2.5k for a great high quality leather jobbie

If youre not interested in the seat heating then I'd say yes in hindsight, however the heated seats are good as Leather can be a bit cold to sit on.

[Golf Houso]

If youre not interested in the seat heating then I'd say yes in hindsight, however the heated seats are good as Leather can be a bit cold to sit on.

In my opinion, its just another thing waiting to break, as I wouldn't buy a new dub (not enough dosh for one)

Good food for thought, cheers

[RIS00]

why waste perfectly good leather on bits that arent going to be seen?

Also the pockets are meant to hold crap and pull things in and out so maybe the vinyl inside is a bit tougher and doesnt wear as quick as leather so then people dont whinge that the leather inside there seat pockets is wearing from lifting in and out there street directory

[Golf Houso]

why waste perfectly good leather on bits that arent going to be seen?

Also the pockets are meant to hold crap and pull things in and out so maybe the vinyl inside is a bit tougher and doesnt wear as quick as leather so then people dont whinge that the leather inside there seat pockets is wearing from lifting in and out there street directory

when you pay $3,000 for seats, you really expect them to be what they claim to be... leather, anything less is just misleading consumers and does not help the brand's reputation. And besides, what on earth can you put inside a back seat pocket besides a single magazine?

[TSi2NV]

I was just giving the leather a once over this afternoon, and I happened to look at the seam inside the "map pocket" when I was cleaning behind the front seats. Guess what ... it's vinyl!

That got me looking very carefully, and now I'm not so sure what's leather and what's not. I'm thinking all of the wear surfaces are cow, and the other bits (sides, door trim, headrests) are not. Anybody else figured it out?

Walker

Sorry to hear you kinda got ripped off glad i didn't get the leather pack now.

Hit VW up about it and see what they have to say for themselves

[gti]

Is everyone's car who have leather have vinyl as well?

[BigMan]

i am also very dissapointed with the leather seat.

Accord Euro or Lexus has better leather seat than my GT

I was also expecting the leather seat to be eletrical adjustable seat not those manual levers.

If you look at their brochure it clearly show electric adjustment.

[Maverick]

i am also very dissapointed with the leather seat.

Accord Euro or Lexus has better leather seat than my GT

I was also expecting the leather seat to be eletrical adjustable seat not those manual levers.

If you look at their brochure it clearly show electric adjustment.

Did you drive a GT or did you look at the leather in a GT/GTI before you purchased?

Did you read the brochure where is shows what is optional on the car as it clearly explains that electric adjustment is extra and only available for the drivers side. It also shows this on the list of options with their prices.

[Pharkus]

A couple of observations on my R32 leather seats.

Heating is awesome in winter especially given that I think it gets colder each winter!!!

The sides of my seats (towards the centre console) is not leather or even vinyl!! It's this poxy cloth stuff.

We didn't go the option of electronically adjusted seats. Note that my mates MPS has seating memory on his electronic seats (AS STANDARD!). I have the electronic controls on the sides of both driver and passenger seats though.

Finally, A3 had the option for red leather but none for R32??? Oh well my personal taste was that I wanted red leather but no cigar. Guess you can't have the totally perfect car.

[Maverick]

The sides of my seats (towards the centre console) is not leather or even vinyl!! It's this poxy cloth stuff.

There's a reason for this, it's to stop wear and noises from it rubbing against the plastic of the console, when the seat is forward it touches the console.

[mr_walker]

Despite my recent discovery, I'm still happy I got the leather option. The heated seats are a *so awesome* in the Canberra winter. Doesn't matter how cold the air is, if your butt is being roasted then you feel warm.

We ended up going with leather because it will be easier to keep clean with 2 x kids in the back, I thought the "waffle velour" standard trim was awful, and I didn't like the cloth centre storage lid that serves as an armrest. I can just imagine what that'd look like after a few years of elbow wear.

I'm just a bit that I've been spending my time putting leather treatment on the vinyl bits of the seat.