Hi all....just wondering what you think of "leatherette":

Does it hold up okay?

How close is it to feeling like real leather?

Pros?

Cons?

 

relatively close to real leather, not as soft.

as ive heard, the best anology is a leatherette seat will hold up in a nuclear holocaust!!!

i have to agree, i couldnt be happier with mine!

 

I dig mine. The only thing is, it doesn't breathe well so your back gets a little sweaty during the summer. So crank up that a/c! We'll see how cold it gets in the coming months. Wait...I have heated seats

 

ahh yes, forgot about that, you need cloth covers for the summer, a must with a leatherette car!

 

Black leatherette, 15k miles, 4 kids, convertible top down most of time, exposed to the elements, and looks as good as the day it rolled off the showroom floor. This stuff really is indestructable. Its so much better than leather, that MINI should include the leather at no-charge and charge the extra $1500 for leathertte!

 

I've had leather in two other cars and the MA talked me out of getting the leather and going for the leatherette. I am thrilled that he did. I agree it is a little more stiff than real leather, but still has a nice feel and looks great.

 

No probs with it being sticky for me, Tampa sun! Love it!

 

I have leather, needs extra care, but the feel is priceless, next one leather too. Rather have cloth than leatherette

 

We went leatherette because we couldn't afford the D&R Katzkin aftermarket leather and had been warned here about the "thin" factory leather.

Someday we may get custom Katzkins with the MINICCI logo and or the MIB logo.

 

We have been happy with the leatherette in our 2002 coupe. But we have been considering getting the cloth for the convertible we are thinking of ordering bercause the leathette does not breath and is a bit hot when the sun shines on it. But it is really tough and looks pretty good.


Tom

 

I agree with everything positive said about the leatherette material, but with leatherette, you don't get lumbar support. I had it in my Jetta and I miss it (it's the ONLY thing I miss about my Jetta.)

 

Not true at all. With sport seats in non-leather they DO have lumbar, it's just non-adjustable - yet far more supportive than the non-sport seats. Leather sport seats mearly add a bit of adjustability to it. The sport fixed lumbar is luckily PERFECT for my taste - an adjuster in my care would be 100% useless.

 

I had adjustable lumbar support in the Stratus. I enjoyed it on long drives 4-6 hours at the wheel but left it place for shorter ones.

 

I didn't like it enough to keep it for free. I've had leather in my cars for too long now that I just enjoy it. That and I need the adjustable lumbar--I need it but the wife doesn't.

 

I ordered the grey leatherette. That's a pretty neat way to market vinyle. Who'd want vinyle? Not me, I said give me the leatherette! While I like leather I just couldn't justify the cost for a set of dead cow covers. Cloth seemed like it would be nice too, but that space cloth looked like a sharkskin suit. Great thing with the MINI is the fact that you can pick & chose to suit yourself. The leatherette seems like a nice compromise for me. Looks like cow wears like vinyle. Plus there's no addition cost.

Chuck

 

We had Leatheretter in our 02'. Over 60K miles - seats looked good as new. We opted for Leather in our current MINIs only because we wanted color options that were only available in the leather.

Donna

 

Wow! This has all been very helpful. I'm coming around the corner, so to speak, on the leatherette. It doesn't seem quite so odd anymore.

I tend to not think of them as vinyl seats, mainly because they are NOTHING at all like my parents 1976 Dodge Magnum. Now that was a fun car. Half a bottle of armor all on those seats and it was like having a slip and slide inside the car.

Leatherette seems to be much smoother, more supple than a traditional vinyl. While leather can be nice, and I do tend to prefer fabric, I also live in my car for a 20 mile commute, so food can be a problem for me.

I cleaned up my old car last night, and I spent about an hour removing food spill stains from the seats. I even had a spill in the back seat, which I can't figure out since I never sit back there. hmmmm....

 

lyrics

Bit twisted, but you should hear the song.....

Matt

 

 

and have never changed it since...

Matt

 

All of the different materials (leatherette, leather and cloth) have their advantages and disadvantages. Leatherette looks good, wears great, and cleans easily. Leather breathes better, feels ... well, like leather, but is harder to clean and maintain. Cloth won't burn you in the summer.

I'm happy with my leatherette, but I probably would have been happy with leather or cloth, too. But in 5 years, my leatherette should still look like it looks today. Can't say the same about leather or cloth.

 

There are very distinct differences between leatherette and vinyl. Primarily, however, these differences lie in the texture and the 2,000 (microscopic) holes per square inch. I don't believe that leatherette "breathes" much less than leather - I just don't think it absorbs moisture like leather does.

I agree that it has a slightly less soft/supple feel than real leather, but neither does it stretch and get "baggy" like I've seen the MINI leather do.

I have ordered leatherette in both MINIs and am a very happy with it overall. The first car had over 40k miles and the driver's seat still looked brand new. My only real complaint is not being able to get the ADJUSTABLE lumbar. After being on the road for over 6 hours yesterday, I was reminded just how much I really wished I had it. Regardless, the negligible amount of maintenance required and the excellent durability combined with no extra cost have kept me very happy with it.

 

Comparing non-sport to sport seats, you're right on...but sitting on the leathers and adjusting the lumbar to max, to me there was a noticeable difference.

Hopefully your luck will hold until YOU reach 63 But just in case, start saving now for that extra $1300...unless MINI takes pity on us geriatrics and includes adjustable lumbar on future models.

Anyone in doubt...try before you buy.

 

my MA talked me into the leatherette, and said the leather wasnt worth it. Having the S for over a year now, i am total happy with it. It cleans up very well. And ya, the hot tampa summers give me a sweaty back too.

 

That was the main draw for me. I keep my cars for years and years - and my other car, with leather...well, they are in horrible shape after years of Florida sun, Salt water from the beach, 120,000 miles of use - and maintaining them is a PITA after a certain point. Not that I have anything against leather - I do like the feel, but it just wasn't worth $1200 - it's just not that big of a difference, at least not the Mini leather.