Leather Option

[Gav23]

Sure it might; but for $1400? Bit of a gimmick.

No more so than leather seats. At least Park Assist actually does something.

[G-rig]

No more so than leather seats. At least Park Assist actually does something.

Come time to sell leather seats would add more value IMO, gives the car a luxury feel and I'd chose it as an option over park assist.

I can see how it would help on large vehicles like the Touareg/Passat etc but if you can't parallel park a small car then you need more practice.

[pologti18t]

Come time to sell leather seats would add more value IMO, gives the car a luxury feel and I'd chose it as an option over park assist.

Maybe if you sell privately... trade-in I dont think it would make much difference at all.

[G-rig]

Maybe if you sell privately... trade-in I dont think it would make much difference at all.

Yeah i try and avoid trade in's as you usually get heaps less.

[Gav23]

Come time to sell leather seats would add more value IMO, gives the car a luxury feel and I'd chose it as an option over park assist.

They don't add resale value, they add resale appeal. There is a difference. Nothing wrong with leather seats if that's what you want, but in reality it's just as big of a gimmick as Park Assist (especially considering the price)

I can see how it would help on large vehicles like the Touareg/Passat etc but if you can't parallel park a small car then you need more practice.

I certainly wouldn't get this option for myself, but some people have partners that drive that can't reverse park. In these cases it would be beneficial.

[Kirium]

The leather is very nice. The fact that even the rear of the front seats are leather wrapped was noticed by a jealous BMW 3-series owner. They have plastic at the back of their leather seats. It gives the rear seat passengers a greater feeling of luxury.

I wouldn't be feeling too jealous, given it's not genuine leather...

I think leather is probably the worst value option on the MkVI GTI given the price. I'm amazed they can even advertise them as leather seats given the amount of vinyl. On the fronts for example, the only panels that are genuine leather are the central panels on the seat and seat back, and the immediate adjoining inner bolster panels for the seat and seat back. The back of the front seats, headrest, the outer and central panels of the side and seat bolsters and all other panels are vinyl. And I don't think the pitiful amount of leather that is there is even very good quality. It doesn't feel any more supple than on the 04 Commonwhore SS I had before my MkIV GTI and even may be a step back on MkV leather, where I think more of the bolsters were made of genuine leather.

[G-rig]

They don't add resale value, they add resale appeal. There is a difference. Nothing wrong with leather seats if that's what you want, but in reality it's just as big of a gimmick as Park Assist (especially considering the price)

Most people would chose the car with leather given the chance if the prices were similar, so it may mean making a sale or not (I agree with being more appealing, but the car without as many options would be cheaper too.

Leather was standard on the R32 but i would still probably get it anyway, wears and looks better than cloth. However it is a bit of a con not getting full leather on the seats for the price, and agree with Kirium it could be higher grade like other euro cars (BMW & Audi).

Hard to say if people are really going to care about all the gimmicks like ACC, Park assist etc when they are buying second hand cars, as it's more stuff to go wrong once it's out of warranty.

It's all subjective and personal anyway but i'm sure a lot of people would buy a car that had one or two extras instead of one that was too expensive with the works.

[Dubya]

Rather than replacing cloth with leather, in places such as centre armrest etc VW uses vinyl which gets much hotter and is even cheaper than cloth! Tnucs!