Hi everyone.

As you all know I'm all about the leather.
Growing up, it was a feature found only in higher trims and luxury cars.

So much money and tech has been invested in synthetic leathers and some say it can be luxurious.

Does luxury = leather?

Please make your case and bring your best ideas & thoughts.

I'm open to new ideas. 😀

 

I, like you, am also all about the leather.

NuLuxe does not appeal to me.

I say this now, and hope it will ring true for me for years to come -- but I will NEVER go back "down" and will ALWAYS choose leather going forward and for however long I'm on this earth.

 

I never cared about leather until I sat in my buddy's Ford F150 King Ranch with that cow hide thick baseball glove-like leather.
That was awesome and made me think the leather in my SC/GSs was cheap feeling.

 

Full leather only, better be matched grain and full aniline as well if it's in my real car(s).

Cheap synthetic crap is cheap synthetic crap. No rarity, no smell, no craftsmanship, no long term performance, shitload of VOCs, and just horrible feel on the skin. Anything less than actual leather is just cost cutting, same deal as linoleum/other plastic crap vs real hardwood floor or marble. Once you own a true Ultra Lux tier car and experience real leatherwork you can't go back, even my beater Jetta I had to get the leather version.

Cloth is also just gross AF and hell to truly get clean, the ONLY exception I will make is the Century.

 

Some leathers are nice(r) than others. I don't like Lexus' Nuluxe either. But not too bad. MB's is worse. The best synthetic one, of course IMO (), is BMW's latest Sensafin.

 

If it is the Nuluxe from my GX460, I will take it over leather. It feels like leather and looks brand new after 4yrs.

 

Leather + ventilated/AC seats

no ventilated seats = swamp butt🥴

 

Lexus Nuluxe is quite nice for what it is, the MB stuff is like a plastic sheet and tends to crack

 

I have to think about this one before I vote.

I have always been a big leather guy, but some of these synthetic leathers are getting so good its really hard to tell them apart from real leather, and they are much nicer than lower end leather found in cars. BMW's Sensafin is one, Tesla's synthetic leather feels great, Cadillac's in their EQs feels great...so...I'm conflicted.

I think if its a serious luxury car like my S580 I want the real thing, but in a family car I'd rather have synthetic leather...even MBTex...

 

as time goes on i'm less and less concerned by leather being real or not, if a synthetic can get to >99% identically feeling and looking i'd prefer that

back in the luxobarge heyday they actually took the time and attention to really do fine leather properly and that's a big aspect of it, exclusivity doesn't have the same quiet allure i feel it once did and just the concept of a luxury car itself has shifted... fine materials have been replaced with attention grabbing gimmicks so i'm ok with interiors not having such a subdued refinement anymore

 

I would classify myself as pretty impartial, really.

I had NuLuxe in my IS350 and I absolutely loved it. Super soft, with no maintenance and super easy care. It was just as soft and new looking as the day I bought it when I sold it. Literally zero wear. My only complaint was that I didn't love the scent.

My current cars all have leather, and it's great, but it is showing some level of wear in all 3 cars. I could easily go back to a faux leather.

 

Given the choice (which one does not always have), I'll take cloth over either true leather or synthetic...particularly the soft velour cloth.

 

that's not cloth in the century it's wool

 

I pulled out the seats of my RX330 a few years ago and redyed the leather but they look cracked again and need redone.

Looks terrible.

The vinyl seats in my old Ford Ranger that I bought new still looked mint when I sold it many years later.

I know leather may cost more but it's more work too.
Except the raw hide in that King Ranch above, so nice.

 

As long as we still eat real cows, I prefer real leather. They are mass produced through artificial insemination anyway, why waste the hides.
When the day arrive when the whole world or vast majority of it eat Frankenmeat, i.e.grown from cell tissues in the lab, then high quality fake leather would be fine with me.