What are "leather appointed" seats?

I think it means partly, as in leather trimmed.

Reply to
Eugene
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What do they mean when they decribe seats as "leather appointed"? Is this just a sneaky way of telling you they're not real leather, or they're only partly leather upholstered. Do they use all leather on any seats these days?

Marty

Reply to
MartyK

It varies by manufacturer. Generally, it means that the actual seating surfaces are leather, but the non-seating surfaces, like the sides, are synthetic. Some people love leather, and some people hate it. YMMV.

---Bob Gross---

Reply to
Robertwgross

Simply means the trim appointments on the seat are leather. Except for ultra luxury cars, only seating surface is leather when they say leather interior, not the sides or backs of the seats. There are also different grades of leather. Lesser cars like Toyotas use split cow hide, with a man made finish. Cars like Lincoln and Lexus use calf skin with a natural finish, like cheap shoes and fine leather shoes.

mike hunt

MartyK wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

The people that hate leather probably never had leather, but vinyl. You can't buy a luxury car that does not have leather as standard equipment.

mike hunt

Robertwgross wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

A friend wanted to buy a Volvo, but all of the dealers here would only offer one with leather seats, and he wanted something simpler. So, he ordered a European version of the same Volvo and took possession at a German sea port and had it shipped to the USA west coast. That version has the simpler seats, but that is a hell of a long way to go for it.

---Bob Gross---

Reply to
Robertwgross

I have leather in my current vehicle. To damn cold in the winter (at least until the seat warmer can get cranked up) and too damn hot in the summer when

1st getting into the car after work. The leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob also are too hot to hold in the summer...very unsafe A waste of money in my opinion. Leather sure does look nice though!

| > MartyK wrote: | > >What do they mean when they decribe seats as "leather appointed"? Is | > >this just a sneaky way of telling you they're not real leather, or | > >they're only partly leather upholstered. Do they use all leather on | > >any seats these days? | >

| > It varies by manufacturer. Generally, it means that the actual seating surfaces | > are leather, but the non-seating surfaces, like the sides, are synthetic. Some | > people love leather, and some people hate it. YMMV. | >

| > ---Bob Gross---

Reply to
James C. Reeves

That seems almost silly to the point of being unbelievable. For all that trouble and expsense, why wouldn't he just buy the one with leather, then buy the cloth seats or whatever? Seems it would be easier to obtain hard to get seats than hard to get whole cars.

Reply to
SgtSilicon

Mike, my 2001 Camaro Z28 seems to have FULLY leather seats. Did I miss something? Then again, I don't remember it being called leathe r"appointed either, but rather just "leather seats".

Reply to
SgtSilicon

Trouble and expense? No.

My friend holds a British passport, so he flew over there, took possession of a European version of the Volvo, saved a bundle of cash on the deal, had it shipped back home, and the cash savings paid for his trip to Europe.

Plus, I guess he didn't like leather.

---Bob Gross---

Reply to
Robertwgross

Well now that you put it that way...

Reply to
SgtSilicon

Not a problem on my cars, they have remote starters and automatic climate control. ;)

mike hunt

"James C. Reeves" wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

How did you get around paying the duty and the shipping costs? A few years back my one son bought a Harley in London for $1,500 less than one cost in the US. When they discovered he wanted to take it the the states they advise him to simply buy one in the US since the shipping cost was over $1,000 and the duty was over $2,000. He told the dealer the ordering time for a new Fat Boy in the US was a year, besides he could get around both costs by bringing it back on 'his' airplane. The dealer asked what kind of plane he had that can take on a motorcycle? He told him; 'I can carry hundreds of them.' He flew a C5. ;)

mike hunt

Robertwgross wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

Smell the seating surface then smell the back of the setback. I believe you will smell the difference. ;)

mike hunt

SgtSilic>

Reply to
MikeHunt

Reply to
SgtSilicon

"Leather Appointed" means only part of the seat is leather. I just purchased a Buick Regal with "Leather Appointed" seats. Buick Regals are considered to be luxury cars. The sides of the bottom portion of the seats and the lower portion of the inner side of the back portion of the seats are fabric. Some other manufacturer may make parts of "leather appointed seats" with vinyl or some other synthetic material. There is no "dictionary" definition of "leather appointed", so specifics could vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from model to model of a single manufacturer. I've had customer service person of one manufacturer tell me the surfaces in contact with the body are leather and another customer service person of the same manufacturer tell me the surfaces not in contact with my body were leather (one of them being wrong).

If you tell a dealer salesperson you want leather, he/she could likely point you to the "XLE" model or the "EX-L" or whatever, and not necessarily point out that the brochure or window sticker says "leather appointed". So, if you are not "looking for it" you could purchase a car with a combination of vinyl/fabric/leather seats even though you asked for "leather".

Oh, and whatever is "leather" and "not leather" on "leather appointed" seats could change from one year to the next prior to any major design changes.

Bottom line: Ask for the specific car you are looking at, and don't think the person you ask knows what he/she is talking about.

Reply to
Dave the Rave

I just purchased a Buick Regal, which is considered a luxury car. It has leather-appointed seats. There is fabric on the sides.

Reply to
Dave the Rave

Every luxury brand has a pleather/vinyl/synthetic option, at the least. Some of the German cars, and maybe others, don't even have the option for real leather. Come on, let's be truthful. And yes, it is possible someone has had real leather and didn't like it, I hear it all the time. Not everyone is the exact same. I don't get it, but people are weird. Although some of those fur seats are really nice! Haha

Reply to
Woody

Anyone heard of seat covers cost stuff all and cover all manner of surfaces so people more money than brains lol

Reply to
jamie

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