Never get leather in Arizona. Vinyl isn't much better. The heat will rip and tear both. It's always been cloth seats for our cars.
It's been leather for both our cars for years living in Florida. No issues at all and much easier to clean than cloth,. . Probably in the car market by year end, hope prices keep sliding. Have never leased, would consider it now but haven't seen any good lease deals in a long time.
My 98 4Runner has over 240,000 miles with just regular maintenance. Most trouble free car we have owned. Our son’s 1999 4Runner has over 350,000 miles. Just excellent vehicles.
Cars parked outside in heat like today can reach 150 degrees in the interior. Vinyl rips after a few years in the heat. Leather at this temps burn and also eventually rip. Was forced to buy something this past Feb when an idiot ran a light and totaled my 2012 Civic Hybrid. Lucky to find a 2015 Camry Hybrid with only 62,000 miles. Nice car, but I miss my Civic. February wasn't the best time to buy, but had no choice.
Perfect timing. We're just starting to think about replacing our SUV (it's a 2017). But I don't want to make any moves until prices normalize. We bought the Porsche in my avatar at the end of Feb 2020, and it's still worth a little more than what we paid.
Well not 150 in Fla yet but getting closer. Still, never had leather seats rip. Have had a dash crack tho. I do recall some cloth/vinyl car seats from my youth and they were nasty.
I can't imagine keeping leather from cracking in a dry hot climate like Arizona would be easy without lots of conditioning and garaged parking. Florida should handle leather seats much easier even with the heat here.
Picked up an R1S last month (my own photos too large to upload). Best vehicle I’ve ever owned and it’s not even close.
The vast majority of leather used in the automotive industry is coated leather...the leather has a layer of vinyl bonded to it. You don't really treat and condition it like leather, you care for it as you would vinyl. Vacuum it regularly to remove dirt to prevent it from getting ground into the coating, clean it with a gentle cleaner and coat it with a coating specifically designed for coated leather that reduces friction and prevents dye transfer. https://www.prodetailingsupplies.ca/post/how-to-care-for-automotive-leather
Maybe I should have written care instead of conditioning which was my intention. General care rather than specifically leather conditioner. Good info regardless
The nice thing about the Neoprene seat covers is that you can take them out and wash them. They eventually fade, of course, and they can thin and tear with excessive use. We just replaced our front seat covers after eight years (the back ones are still good).
I get it, but have a good friend in Tucson who we visited awhile back and he has leather seats in both cars. Of course he gets a new car every 3/4 years so maybe heat is not a factor for him.
Vinyl lasts about 5 years in this heat before splitting. Leather, depending on quality, about 8 max. We tend to keep our cars about 15 years in average.
That would help lol. I drive my cars until the wheels come off. Rather invest that money or have a little more on hand to spread around on motorcycles here and there. Ideally I'd make enough to do all three comfortably...
Sure, long term will be telling. That being said, I’ve had my EV6 for a year and it was already the best overall vehicle I’ve ever owned spanning US, Japanese, Korean and German manufacturers. Maybe the R1S will turn into a lemon but so far the build quality, fit and finish, and performance are top notch.
