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I drove a succession of cars with leather over a period of 10 years. They were company cars, so I didn't even get to choose the color. I found them hot in summer and cold in winter, don't miss them.
Honestly, I am surprised by the folks who think leather seats are hot in summer and cold in winter. Maybe it is the differences in leather. When I started to own cars with leather, many of which I owned simultaneously with cars that were cloth, was how much the seats were pretty comfortable in temperature extremes. Maybe it is just my memories of early 80's cars with vinyl, where you would literally burn the back of your legs if you had shorts on, and sat on a seat which had been soaking up sunrays all day.
Rode in a limo with leather seats...even belted in people were sliding and slipping....we all might have had a little alcohol. It was so awful, I swore never to have leather seats in my cars....
No synthetic is as comfortable as genuine leather.
It breathes better, shed moisture better, and is generally much more comfortable.
To say nothing about being more durable.
I had a Cadillac Eldorado with leather. I did not know how miserable leather seats were until I had a car with one. I have eliminated many future possible car choices because leather is standard on them.
The current trend is to have both heated and perforated actively ventilated seats. Cooler in the summer (fine in Las Vegas) as there is a fan blowing up against the underside. Heated in the winter (fine in Aspen).
A few cars actually have actively cooled seats (air conditioned). I think a couple of Lincoln vehicles.
I know I'm an oddball, but I really miss high-quality cloth interiors. My favorite interior of any car I've had was in my 1994 Acura Legend. I bought it in 1998 after it had sat for 10 months on the Acura dealer's lot after being turned in from a 36-month lease. The used car manager told me that he had a tough time selling them with cloth interior, which is why I got a good deal on it and why it had sat so long.
But in my last several cars, there really hasn't been a choice other than leather. My 2012 Mazda CX-9 has leather seats and my 2015 Volvo V60 has a sort-of high-end cloth/leather combo that Volvo calls Sport Nubuck Textile and Leather. It was a no-cost option in place of the full leather seats. I leased it as a leftover, so I took what they had. But I was glad to have partial fabric seats.
But I will admit, one of my 'dream' cars is a BMW X5 xDrive50i with the Mocha Interior Design Package. It has Mocha seats with contrasting 'Nut Brown' stitching and they are Nappa Leather. They look, feel and smell amazing!
A lot of leather used compact and mid-size cars looks and feels more like vinyl than leather. Even some of the synthetic leathers (aka- 'leatherette') looks nicer than some supposed real leather.
Leather is so much easier to keep clean. For that reason alone, I will never have anything else. I also have heated and air conditioned seats, so hot/cold weather aren't an issue.
I know I'm an oddball, but I really miss high-quality cloth interiors. My favorite interior of any car I've had was in my 1994 Acura Legend. I bought it in 1998 after it had sat for 10 months on the Acura dealer's lot after being turned in from a 36-month lease. The used car manager told me that he had a tough time selling them with cloth interior, which is why I got a good deal on it and why it had sat so long.
But in my last several cars, there really hasn't been a choice other than leather. My 2012 Mazda CX-9 has leather seats and my 2015 Volvo V60 has a sort-of high-end cloth/leather combo that Volvo calls Sport Nubuck Textile and Leather. It was a no-cost option in place of the full leather seats. I leased it as a leftover, so I took what they had. But I was glad to have partial fabric seats.
But I will admit, one of my 'dream' cars is a BMW X5 xDrive50i with the Mocha Interior Design Package. It has Mocha seats with contrasting 'Nut Brown' stitching and they are Nappa Leather. They look, feel and smell amazing!
A lot of leather used compact and mid-size cars looks and feels more like vinyl than leather. Even some of the synthetic leathers (aka- 'leatherette') looks nicer than some supposed real leather.
My husband's truck has this ghastly microfiber velvet. It's so ....grabby. You can't slide in or out, you have to pick yourself up and plop. And after you're in it for a while, it sweaty hot.
My car has a nice fabric, allowing me to pivot, plant both feet on the ground and rise from the seat. Or as my mother used to say get out of the car like a lady.
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