are the leather seats real or fake

Real leather. Legally, you can't call it leather if it is synthetic.

 

Remember, it's only leather seating areas. The sides, backs, tops and headrests are vinyl.

 

Ok, with a mixture of materials on the seats how does one condition and clean them. I normally use a leather conditioner on leather, but on vinyl. Any sugggestions?

 

mooo!

 

Most of the "leather conditioners" also work for the vinyl parts. Generally you would use a cleaner first, then the "conditioner". For example, Zaino makes a set of two bottles, one cleaner and one "conditioner".

If you read the listing carefully, most car brochures call it "leather seating areas". That is, the seat bottom centre panel and seat back centre panel are leather.

 

Ok, few observations here: cow skin is leather, depending on the breed (Taurus vs indicus origin), and how good it is treated after removal, it can be optmized to really nice quality.

I'm sure the new Prius leather is real, but the poor qualty is probably due to inadequate or poor treatment. The better the qualty of the leather the more hydration it needs, does Toyota manual ask to hydrate it frequently? When you hydrate a good quality leather with a good product, you feel a huge difference, I suspect you won't feel any difference in the Prius though.

 

The leather is coated, as most automotive leather is. Actually leather conditioners will have no effect because they can't soak in.

I would clean the leather regularly with a mixture of woolite & water 1:6 dillution, thats all it needs.

 

Is this why people still report "new car smell" even if Toyota made efforts to minimize [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound]Volatile organic compound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]? What plasticizer is used for this vinyl? Usually, it's [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phtalates]Phthalate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame], recently forbiden for use in toys as it probably have hormonal effects on humans (as seen in mice).

As much as you love your car, I guess it's a safe thing to avoid licking it!

I'll save money and keep the cloth.

 

That's simple not true. Some luxury car brands have leather just like a nice sofa set and they recomend adequate hydration. Most, if most all, nom-luxury brands have coated leathers like you said, but the coating fades away with time, which requires proper hydration.

 

This is the biggest line of BS I've ever read here.

Although leather is coated (with dye, for example), it still is a porous material. I've seen many vehicles where owners had done nothing to maintain or condition the leather and eventually it loses its' soft texture and becomes stiff with many small cracks. There are many cleaning and conditioning products available which extend the durability of leather. Personally I have used Lexol products on my cars and airplane for many years.

Keith

 

agree 100%

 

Ask your vehicle manufacturer. If you look in the manual for my Lexus it specifies that a solution of a natural detergent for wool (Woolite) be used to clean the leather when neccisary at a dillution of 6:1 with water. No mention of conditioning whatsoever.

Some luxury cars have uncoated leather you are 100% correct, but most do not and the Prius certainly does not. Been detailing cars for over a decade...I've done all of them at one point or another. European cars tend to have uncoated leather. Most Mercedes (E class and below) do not have leather at all, its a vinyl product called "MB-tex" and leather is a very rare special order option. BMW also has a product called "Leatherette" which is similar and is standard on the 3 & 5 series. Even well optioned models.

I have had several cars well over 10 years with this maintenance routine and the leather looks perfect. You can condition if you want, bear in mind over conditioning can degrade the seams of the leather. I wouldn't do it more than 2x a year. However conditioning isn't going to do a whole lot for you if the leather is coated, its just not going to soak into the leather very well. If the coating wears away...you'll know because the leather's dye is a part of that coating unless the leather is fully analine.

Its a plastic-vinyl coating. To see if your leather is coated simply place a drop of water on the seat and see if it soaks in...if it does its uncoated. If not, its coated.

And Tech-Guy "biggest line of BS"? Man there are some incredible egos here. If you disagree with me then post your reasoning for your viewpoint. Any opinions I post are only to help others, and this is a topic I know a lot about. Why be nasty?

Sheesh...if everybody here is going to attack me whenever I try and help someone I wonder why I bother?

 

> BMW also has a product called "Leatherette" which is similar and is standard on the 3 & 5 series. Even well optioned models

Not ture. My 1998 540iA had standard leather interior (not leather-trimmed interior).
The keyword is "trimmed" here. In most vehicles, only the pieces that your body touches are made of true lather, others that look like leather are leatherette.
In my 540iA, all that looked like leather are true leather. I should know because I ordered that car specifically as I wanted it. I did not pay for any special package for "leather".
Leather interior is standard on 540 (with V8 engine) back in 1998.

Most (if not all) 3rd row leather seat in SUV/CUV are fully leatherette. Not a single piece of leather can be found on 3rd row seat.

I love leather interior for the sake of
- easiness to clean
- lack of statics (in dry climate such as CA)

 

Some high end cars (Porsche, for example) offer optional leather interiors that are drum dyed (meaning the color penetrates all the way through the hide), but most modern automotive leather is in fact coated with a water based top coat (after the pigment is applied to the surface), which protects it from stains, wear & fading.

You can easily tell the difference by feel. Drum dyed leather feels soft like a glove, has a natural matte finish, and is porous--when you apply conditioner you can see it being absorbed. Coated leather (which the Prius has) is more shiny and less soft--feels almost plasticky--and the conditioner would sit on the surface (on the surfaces with the pin holes, some might be absorbed, but it would be minimal).

 

Good description and info above!

Yes you hit the Prius leather on the head. I've had that buttery-soft leather interiors in luxo cars, but my experience with those; shows wear and dirt quite easily and more importantly wrinkles esp on the seat bottom. My last car Lexus RX, although cared for very well, showed the wrinkles and creases on the driver's seat. When getting the Prius I wished for softer leather, but happy to see the textures, vent holes and pattern, and the apparent thickness of the grade. I would believe this will show far less, if any, wrinkles or creases over its life. But it does look more like naugahyde. Overall I'm OK with that, knowing it's not a Jaguar.

 

For those of you too young to remember, "naugahyde" is the hide of the nauga:

[IMGLINK]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/261687800_6d2c6c6709_o.jpg[/IMGLINK]

[imglink]http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif[/imglink]

[IMGLINK]http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif[/IMGLINK]

 

Stream,

How should I take care of coated leather? (Because it's not indestructible and does wear.)

 

On the topic of incredible ego's - you must be one of them. You state that your posts "are only to help others" as if though you are right all the time. That is a perfect example of as you say "incredible ego".

My experience with leather vehicle interiors is clearly different than yours (Porsche, BMW, and an airplane). My experience over the years has clearly been that leather needs to be cleaned and conditioned regularly for maximum durability.

You are right about one thing - I did come on a little too strong in my previous posting. Sorry,,,

Keith