Went for a test drive today but didn't have a car with the Nuluxe? Any thoughts about the two? Will have to check out the Nuluxe. I tend to spill a lot of coffee on my morning drives so maybe 'pleather' might be better for me. Any thoughts from the ES owners?

 

I'm partial to leather but the Nuluxe really is very nice. Lexus did a good job with the company that provides the material. I don't drink coffee in the car but the Nuluxe would probably be better with a spill. Less money too.

 

Thanks I haven't seen Nuluxe but I realized that in my local area can't find Nuluxe unless it's a car without navigation. For im planning a purchase though I'm assuming resale would be better with navigation right?

 

You'll find that most members on this forum wouldn't consider buying a new Lexus without Nav. Resale much higher with Nav.

 

Thanks. Perforated leather I'm sure is nicer. Might have to take it easy on the coffee if I decide on this one

 

We have the NuLuxe on both cars and just came from an RX with leather. Aside from the smell, can't really say I can tell a difference. Both seem pretty easy to clean.

 

As Bob and Doug have said, the NuLuxe is a very nice fake leather.

Also note that an ES with real leather only has that leather on the actual seating surfaces. The edges of the seating surfaces, the sides of the seats, the headrests, the armrests, etc. are not real leather. I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe that those other surfaces are actually NuLuxe. At a minimum, they have the same feel that the NuLuxe has.

While the NuLuxe is a very nice fake leather, my major concern with it would be how it held up in the long term with regard to cracking, splitting, etc., which has been a problem with other fake leathers. It may be the case that, with NuLuxe, that won't be a problem, but, since NuLuxe has only been used for a few years, I think that the jury is still out.

 

Thanks! You guys are more knowledge than some of these salespeople...today on the test drive I asked if it was leather since I saw the perforated seats. Then she touches the sides and says I don't think it's leather...

 

Nuluxe is pretty good and I was going to finally go with it on my 2016 until I realized that the nuluxe seats are different in appearance than the leather seats with the luxury package and also the console trim is piano black rather than the chosen wood trim. That ended it for me.

And I probably would not buy a Lexus without navigation if for nothing more just the resale value. And there are functions that can only be addressed through the nav screen.

Dave Mac

 

My Lexus cars both have the perforated/ventilated seats so that isn't unique to leather. Also, leather can develop cracks, some very superficial and some pretty deep along the stretch marks of the animal hide. I saw a good deal of discussion regarding this on the RX forum and our RX had minor blemishes. It sounds like the general consensus was that the care and cleaning methods make a lot of difference, but you can't fight nature and animal hides have stretch marks. Synthetic fabrics do not. However, lesz is absolutely right, these materials have not been in use long enough to evaluate their longevity and past synthetic products have been lacking. One more reason perhaps to tint the windows with at least a light tint, to reduce UV light hitting the seats?

I also agree with Dave Mac regarding the piano black center console trim. Not my favorite. Just waiting for it to get the inevitable scratch(s). Likewise with the Nav. Personally, I wouldn't buy a car today without it.

 

In our family's garage (which seems to have recently become a Lexus showroom haha), the ES350 and NX 200t F-sport both have Nuluxe, and many people who have riden in them can't tell that it's synthetic. My mother's ES350 has Nuluxe and Nav, so it's possible to find them...it would be a car with Premium package. They are also perforated like the leather, and optioned with heating/ventilation. Definitely get Nav since many other features are bundled with it.

 

I'd go for the Nuluxe. I had an Acura with parchment leather and yes, I also spilled coffee and tea on it, ended up with some permanent stains. Nuluxe is much easier to clean, just use warm water and a microfiber cloth.

The perforated leather feels softer to the touch but I doubt your bottom or back can tell the difference. Mine couldn't. Nuluxe could also be cooler in hot weather, especially if your seats are dark.

As for the piano black trim, that stuff is impossible to keep scratch-free because it's so reflective whereas wood veneer can hide a lot of scratches. You can either live with those scratches or apply a thin vinyl film to protect the surface. I'd just live with it.

 

At some point after getting my 2013 ES, I picked up a fairly nasty 1" scratch on the piano black trim. I lived with it for a while, but it really annoyed me to the point where I thought I'd try something to remove the scratch.

I gently worked the area of the scratch with a mildly abrasive polish intended for use on the exterior paint surfaces, and, to my delight, I found that the scratch disappeared completely. Since that time, I've used the same technique to remove a few other scratches from the piano black surface.

I'm sure that any mildly abrasive polish would work, but I use the same 3M products that are used by most paint shops. I start with the 3M Hand Glaze, which is a very mild polish. If the scratches are a bit deeper, I'll first use the 3M Machine Glaze, which is still a mild polish but a bit more aggressive than the Hand Glaze. If I need to use the Machine Glaze, I'll finish with the Hand Glaze to end up with maximum shine.

Just like with scratches on the exterior paint surfaces, I would guess that this technique won't work for deep scratches, but for shallower scratches it works great.

Once I figured out that I could get the scratches out of the piano black, I've come to really like it. To me, it provides an attractive contrast to the other interior finishes in the ES.

 

I'd personally pony up the extra money and go with leather for seating surface. The rest will be NuLuxe anyhow.

 

I was originally against Nuluxe in GX460 that I recently got but comparing it to a real leather, I discovered that at least in GX, seats with a real leather were uncomfortable, I felt like I am sitting on the chair instead of in it. In the GX with Nuluxe, seats were absolutely awesome, soft (but not too soft) and most important for me, comfortable like a well broken-in pair of your favorite leather shoes.
Some may say, get a real leather and just try to adjust to the seat and leather will stretch and adjust. I can tell you that it would take very long time for leather to soften up to the same point where Nuluxe is. My wife ES seats with a real leather feel exactly the same as the day when we bought it long time ago (meaning, not too comfortable for me at least).
I had a very good experience with another artificial leather from MB (called MB-Tex) and I can report that in 5 years that I owned the car, MB-Tex held up perfectly, no cracks, no marks, nothing and it was very easy to clean.