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Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: James Gould on 12 November 2009, 12:10
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what works better - 2, 7 and 11 yr olds, baby chair, school/sports bags, less than considerate passengers etc on leather or on cloth?
Thnx
J
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Leather is definitely easier to wipe clean, cloth will suffer more from spills and is more tme-consuming to clean up. But I usually have cloth and in 8 years with kids haven't had any stains which I couldn't remove. Unfortunately kids + car = wear and tear, regardless of interior finish.
I've always used a padded protector mat under child seats, which helps prevent marking and catches some of the spills. Our Passat has integrated pop-up child seats, which are really convenient and I'm surprised aren't offered as an option on all cars.
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thanks - I hear that one has to spend time with leather...conditioning and treating...that's just not me - yes, spillages are easy to clean if got leather but it's a question of how creased and maybe ripped the leather gets with kids - cloth doesn't sag nor crease like leather...
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Our beemer has leather and the leather has some identations (over five years) from the seats. I haven't conditioned the leather since we had the car.
The Fiesta (which has cloth) has not suffered from the identations, but there are more dirt marks (stains, etc...). The Fiesta is going once we get the Golf and we've gone for leather.
I am hoping the leather is better that in the Mk5. I did see a lot of Mk5 R32's where the leather has sagged, especially on the bolster near the door. HTH
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thanks - I hear that one has to spend time with leather...conditioning and treating...that's just not me - yes, spillages are easy to clean if got leather but it's a question of how creased and maybe ripped the leather gets with kids - cloth doesn't sag nor crease like leather...
You only have to condition your leather once a year - if you choose to at all. I'm sure most people don't.
It's the big heavy bums you have to worry about creasing seats, not the small ones. Accidental tears are the biggest issue but they can be repaired. VW leather is often fairly low quality though.
I did see a lot of Mk5 R32's where the leather has sagged, especially on the bolster near the door.
The optional Recaros are bound to get creasing and wear on the side bolster because its so high. Having said that, I've not seen many of the similar Audi Recaros suffer like the VW's do - again, the low quality leather I think.
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Leather is by far the better option because it is more hard-wearing. The Recaros in the R32 and R are best avoided. The side bolsters soon get damaged. But the leather in the Golf is excellent and lasts well.
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Judging by the state of some of the leather trimmed Mk5's I've seen, I would have to go for cloth.
My 5 year old Passat which has leather and alacantara is shown signs of wear on the drivers seat outer base bolster, and the rear seats have indents from the kids booster seats. They do "pop" back out if left for a couple of weeks though.
On the other hand, my 20 year old 150k mile Mk2 GTI has no wear what so ever on it's rainbow cloth seats. :smiley:
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Kids toys and shoe buckles etc can easily scratch leather, plus it's very slippy. No so obvious to an adult but kids slide around more on leather and the back seats don't have the shaping like the fronts to keep you in situ.
Cloth can stain if you don't wipe spills off quickly.
I prefer cloth, but I put a folded sheet on the cushion part you actually sit on. This can be whipped out quickly if it get stuff spilt on it (very seldom) before it reaches the seat covering. The sheet is also cloth obviously so the friction of it means it doesn't slide around when you're cornering either, it just needs tidying and re-folding once in a while.
Then when it gets grubby it just goes in the washing machine and I shove another on the back seat. The rear part of the cushion doesn't seem to get dirty very often if ever and I don't let my kids eat in the car unsupervised anyway.
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but you could put the cover on leather back seats??
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And it'd slide about all over the place. No friction (unless you get a tailored cover = more expense).
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that obvious (except, apparently, to me!) - so, cloth is getting the vote so far....I thought it would...
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I think the resilience of cloth is often underestimated.
My first Fiesta's seats got in an awful mess - even through velour seat covers. The cat was sick on the passenger seat several times, and the driver's seat - well you could hardly see the colour for pony scurf. I had a habit of riding without a saddle (saved cleaning the saddle), then getting in the car with my jeans and jacket absolutely filthy.
I tried to clean the seats with some aerosol foam stuff I bought in a car accesories shop, but it wasn't a great success. In fact it might have made it worse. I have to say, they were fairly indescribable.
Then I decided to have a car valet done. The guy came to my house and gave it a real going over, cleaned the engine, the entire works. He steam-cleaned those seats, and frankly I've never seen anything like it. It was as if he'd pressed the reset button. They were like new. It wasn't even all that expensive. I have to say, if these seats could recover like that from that mess, I'd have no worries about letting children loose on them.
Rolfe.
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Absolutely - once the leather sags and is creased and tired, can't get it back as easily as can with cloth - I know leather can increase in character as it ages but lots of people say Golf leather ain't great - I think cloth makes sense
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The answer to this is very simple! Train your kids to be careful and not make a mess!
Yes it can be done if you teach children properly!
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Hi, child psychology professor,
my kids are very well behaved and respectful but they are kids - kids and their toys, bags etc etc, getting in and out of the car....it's called family use and that kind of use is going to be more telling than a single guy with no kids using the car - what's going to look more used after a while - an exec car driven only by a company director or a car used by family with kids?
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Our kids are very good in our cars, and even though the interiors are showing signs of a bit more wear than pampered cars, they are still alot cleaner than the average motor out there.
I just accept that while are kids are still small, our cars wont be as clean as I would like. However, the time will come when they wont travel everywhere with us, and I'll be able to look after my car like I used to.
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I always keep an old £1k runabout for ferrying kids about and supermarket trips etc.
I save the Golf for best.
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The cloth in the MK5 GTI is excellent and from what I've found kid proof, even after 4 years of spills from everything including baby milk left on over June\July in a long term car partk (hols). Everything wipes off fine, or comes out very easy with carpet cleaner machine (we've got a VAX) and that's cleaned the seats, even ground in chocolate after about a month. Mud \ water \ snow etc etc from walks in the lakes all comes out fine no probs. We've got leather in another car and that's not done as well (and in summer months can burn legs etc if car left out on a very hot day). Also IMO cloth looked better, and also cornering etc the cloth seats holds you better.
In summary cloth seats after 4 years of serious use, no stains, pulls or problems of any kind. Cloth was a no brainer for out Mk6 order. You can then use the cash saved for other options (check out sunroof if you've got kids and the RCD510 = funky screen)
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Thanks, JC, very helpful - would you be happy with rear side airbags with kids - critics point out that they can explode into kids dangerously...?
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With all due respect James, does it really matter what others think about airbags and their kids. It is your kids, why judge their safety on forum members say so.
I would do anything for my 3 kids but I certainly wouldn't base their safety on things stated in here. If you are so concerned and in such a dilemma have a look at the evidence both for and against and then make your mind up.
I'm puzzled to how you decide what clothes to wear in the morning :grin:
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Of course, p3asa, about the airbags - got to read what the experts say and I've been doing that - funny remark about picking clothes in the morning - you should hear me banging on about the X Factor!
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NOOOOO :laugh:
Seriously though, I know the pain you are going through and it will get worse between ordering it and then waiting for a confirmed order, which means you then can't alter the order.
Just give yourself a date to make your mind up and go for it.
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p3asa
I think I'm going to order it on Monday - ironic thing is that whatever spec I decide on, when I get the car, I won't think about the choice again - whether I get this or that, I'll love the car and the addition of this option or the lack of that option won't make a difference
ok, X Factor....starting late (Sky+)