Which Do You Prefer? Leather or Cloth Car Interiors

Choosing Cloth or Leather seats has nothing to do with an owner's wants or needs and has everything to do with their level of stupidity. There is a reason why automakers saddle the cheap cars with upholstery and the expensive cars with fine leather. Do you smoke in your car? Ever take your dog or your stinky Uncle Mel for Sunday rides? Well, if so, you had best pray that you optioned leather seats on your next new car.

There are some exceptions where the style of the fabric seats fits too perfectly with the entire vehicle for it to be left off. For example, the 2010 VW Golf GTI has tartan style 1970's seat fabrics that just makes the car look $10,000 more expensive. I would worry though about how much odor, dirt and smell those cloth seats would accumulate over the life of the car. Stuff like that can make you very sick.

There is, of course, the option of replacing your seats in the leather of your choice in an automotive hue of your choice at a repair facility but that can get pricey. And aftermarket leather never fits as good as the Original Equipment Manufacturer items. (And that can only be sometimes. Suzuki and Kia currently make terrible leather while Hyundai has finally upped its game to make some quality leather seats.)

And no matter how many cleaning solvent you scrub into that huge glass of Starbuck's coffee the smell of it will linger inside your car for the rest of your days. There are plenty of safe leather cleaning products like the ones made by Lexol. If you use Armor All you must use it on a continuing basis or your leather and plastic trim may chip. (Always check your owner's manual to check which cleaning methods are best for your leather or cloth.

Having had experience with cars that had leather, cloth and a leather/cloth mix I have to say it was always the leather clad models that cleaned up nicest after a detail. It is just a fact of life that detailers really can never get your seats wet enough to kill all the dust mites in your seats unless they drive it into Lake Eerie. Imagine how long that would take to dry out!

Either way, if you prefer the feel of cloth, don't smoke or have a dog get that fabric. But if you do occasionally leave bad messes in your car and wait a month to clean them you absolutely must have leather. Plain and simple.

(Note: This should not apply to vegetarians or people who believe in living a green lifestyle. The harvesting of leather (the flesh of cows)is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gasses.)