GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Mag_Pie on 31 October 2017, 21:19
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Can't seem to find many pics of the facelift GTI with leather interior, how does it look with the red piping? For those that have it do you forever live in fear of what your passengers have in their back pockets or do you feel relieved that child vomit can be wiped up instead of soaking into the tartan cloth! I'm debating my options, stay put with the GTD or chuck my lot in for a GTI and go all out for leather. I like the tartan seats in the GTD but never warmed to the GTI tartan plus it could feel too similar.
Discuss away...
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Save your money on the pleather and leave the standard GTi seats in.
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I had leather in my GTD which I have just sold at nearly 4 years old. It still looked in top condition, sure it isn’t a soft luxurious leather and therefore ultimately too expensive for what it is. It was however a very attractive selling feature when I advertised the car for sale.
Going for a Gti now and stuck with the tartan seats. Couldn’t justify the cost again and fancied a change in interior.
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The leather option in the Golf is very expensive in my view, especially when compared to what it costs in an Audi. £1750.00 FFS!!
We have the standard Milano leather in our A6 Allroad which we've had from new (2013) and despite the amount of abuse it gets (almost daily trips to the stables and being sat in riding clothes and waxed coats etc., etc. (not mine I hasten to add, it's the wife's and daughter's pastime!)) the seats look like new with a quick wipe clean. Once a year I clean them with proper leather cleaner and treat them with a leather conditoner and that's it. Even the bolsters don't show signs of wear and we have the optional sports seats.
I decided to spend the money on other options I wanted (DCC, Dynaudio, etc.) instead of going for leather, in part because I like the tartan option in the GTi.
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Save your money on the pleather and leave the standard GTi seats in.
+1. IMO VW leather isn’t the best quality and can get quite loose and saggy after a relatively short time, and I don’t like the ‘lived in’ look for my seats. Only the seat facings in the Golf are leather - the rest is vinyl, so it’s expensive for what you get. Although you’ve got heated seats for those cold winter days, it can get uncomfortably hot in summer. Yes, it’s easier to clean than cloth seats, but you can get fabric upholstery protection treatments to make cleaning up spills much easier.
Tartan cloth is part of the GTI’s heritage. I’d ditch the leather and spend the money upgrading from the standard GTI to the Performance model and keep the £390 change, or put it towards other options.
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Pretty much the most expensive option to tick on a Golf.
Seem to remember its about 20% of the vehicles sold have it though.
Definitely not something I'd pay that sort of money for, nor something I'd choose on a 2nd hand car either.
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My Mk5 had leather, and it was still in good nick after 8 years, But as people have said, things have moved on and VW are cost cutting. However I went for leather again in my second hand MK7, as much as I like the Tartan, when you spend £20k on a car, you want it feel a bit special. Also I was thinking when i go to sell, it makes it more attractive, if its been looked after. But each to their own.
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I've had leather for 3.5 years and it's a little saggy on the drivers seat now, and the side bolster is scuffed from entry / exit. Compared to my 66 plate GTD which has cloth, the leather seats take an absolute age to heat up - like 10 to 15 minutes compared to 2-3. Ok, you can wipe clean, except for the crevasses which are a pita.
For me, I won't buy them again. I'll spend the money elsewhere
Can you check if they are set right if you have vcds or OBDeleven. My last CC came from the factory with the seat heating set to low and I had to change them to high myself. Basically what it is is if set to low then the settings 1-2-3 are lower than when set to high with setting 2&3 being the same as 1&2 when set to high and when set to high then settings 1&2 are like 2&3 when set to low if you follow me.
The leather in a golf looks really cheap compared to the leather in my old CC's and Tiguan's.
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What about the art velour option, will the fabric pile look a bit flat and washed out after a while? In my mind the leather option I pictured was from the MK5 days but it seems a little different now, ideally I'd prefer to not have the red piping either.
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I had leather seats in my Mk5 GTI and after 10 years they were holding up well with the only wear being the driver's side bolster. They were super easy to wipe clean and twice yearly conditioning seemed to keep them in good knick.
However, I wouldn't spec leather again. IMO cloth is more comfortable, holds the driver/passengers better in corners, more quickly achieves a comfortable temperature in Winter and is way more comfortable in Summer. And like Damianmkv the leather seats took forever to heat up in Winter - maybe that is a mk5 GTI thing? Even if there was no cost penalty I don't think I'd go for leather again. I much prefer the feel and comfort of cloth.
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What about the art velour option, will the fabric pile look a bit flat and washed out after a while? In my mind the leather option I pictured was from the MK5 days but it seems a little different now, ideally I'd prefer to not have the red piping either.
The oldest Mk7.5 GTI’s with Art Velours trim will only be a few months old, so it’s probably too soon to know how well this trim option will stand up to everyday use. Is it worth paying £750 for? Very much a personal thing, but to my eyes it’s not worth £750 more for manmade suede and vinyl seat coverings over the ‘free’ standard tartan seats.
........do you feel relieved that child vomit can be wiped up instead of soaking into the tartan cloth!
I don’t think the alcantara fabric will be too easy to clean if it gets subjected to child vomit though!
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I don’t think the alcantara fabric will be too easy to clean if it gets subjected to child vomit though!
I did start to think that after I posted. Part of me feels that going from GTD tartan to GTI tartan could feel very samey, but then again the money saved from dropping leather could be put towards DCC or just in my pocket. Brescias feel essential at the moment from the pictures, rear view camera and possible 95% tints although the standard tints are subtle enough, all depends on the colour choice I suppose.
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Hard to say about art velour, it's only been available for about 5 months...
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I specced it on mine due to a hatred of the standard check material and glad I did. It's got 20k miles of wear on it mostly from short journeys and is still perfect apart from one small crease on the bolster where I get in and out. Would spec it again in a heartbeat.
As an aside, a while ago I spotted a neighbours Seat Leon Cupra where the windows had been left open in reasonably heavy rain. It had leather and the water had pooled on the seats. I mopped it up and it was fine, whereas if it had been cloth, I reckon it would have been a mass of watermarks.
If you're worried about spillage, would it be worth thinking about getting the fabric coated to repel liquids at all?
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The only time i've ever felt like I wanted leather was when VW did their free giveaways on runout models. It includes the heated seats, so that saved you from having to order the winter pack to get them. However now the heated seats are standard, I can't really see the appeal in paying nearly £2k for it. Especially as others have pointed out the leather isn't of particularly high quality.
Do people still bother putting scotchgard on their upholstery? I often thought about paying for it but in the end didn't bother.
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I bought some stuff but never got round to using it lol
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I have it in my R.
TBH, I'd agree with the overall sentiment that it's too expensive for what you get. Mine is wearing very well though in fairness. The driver's seat is a little "baggy" but only a little. I find a bit of leather conditioner once in a while restores the nice matt finish.
I'm sorry cloth lovers, but I think the standard cloth in the MK7 is very very poor. Especially around the door cards, armrests and sides of the seats. Naff, cheap scratchy material that stains and ages badly imo.
The ideal for me is what I had in my MK7 GTI. I don't think it was ever offered as an option in the UK, but it was half tartan / half pleather / alcantara. So the aforementioned really nasty bits get a far nicer finish. I don't think that new "Art velours" is anywhere as nice personally.
(https://preview.ibb.co/dx2tvw/null_zps365b6001.jpg) (https://ibb.co/iUpHNb)
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I'm more than happy with GTi tartan as it's part of the heritage. As others have said spend the money on the PP and DCC instead.
IMHO VW Leather will be a fairly low grade plus it's only available in black. I used to have a Mk1 Audi TT and that had very nice silver/cream leather which went well with the Moro Blue exterior colour, I then bought a new Mk2 Audi TT in Silver which had dark red leather and that was a great combination. My 7 year old 911's interior is still spot on but then I'm sure Porsche leather comes from a better quality cow than a VW one :laugh:
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The leather seats in my GTD heated up very quickly and needed pushed back to setting 2 after just a few minutes. If yours are taking 15 mins to heat there is a problem.
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When is that mk8 GTi coming ?
Announced probably November 2019, released for production maybe June 2020, actually with UK owners October 2020?
Maybe not a GTI as you know it though :)
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My seat heaters would toast yer arse after a 5-6 mins on the 3 bars. I could only leave it on 2 bars for any length of time.
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We just sold our Edition 30, which had excellent seats which were tartan with half leather. After 10 years, it still looked great. It's a shame that option isn't available anymore.
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Have leather in my mk7, to be honest i wasnt prepared to have cloth on a car that costs £26k. If they did a half leather with the check , then that would have been the choice, but it wasnt avaliable so i went full leather. To be honest i really like it, had it 12 months now and just gave it a clean with Dr Leather and sealed with Gtechniq. Seat warmers toast you after about 5 minutes. Car gets used daily and so far so good.