Leather or Tartan seats?

[master_hayabusa]

I ordered leather on my GTI, but I'm having second thoughts now. Leather does feel more up market but the pictures of the Tartan cloth GTI look all right too. Just wondering what you guys have chosen or would choose and why?

[Exonian]

My mk6 has leather.
It's ok but I wouldn't have paid for it (ok I technically did but you get my drift).
I prefer the tartan that I had in my last mk6 and in my mk5.
It's just a bit less glum and suits the other retro character touches of the car.

[Gryzor]

I am not a fan of leather chairs in general to be honest, either at home or in the car.  As for the GTI, I think it looks far better with the tartan anyway.

Edit: As to why I'm not keen on leather - it's cold in the winter (heated seats remedy that I guess), sticky in summer, and generally a bit slippy, plus they can lose their form.  As Jimble also said, it looks boring.  Fine for some cars, but not the GTI/GTD.

[Jimble]

Cloth here too, i have it in my mk6 and it's one of my favorite things about the car, VW leather isn't the greatest tbh and starts to sag on the seat bottoms quite quick, there has been plenty of discussion on the mk6 thread if you fancy a search, plus it just looks boring!!

[ROO1]

Cloth here too, i have it in my mk6 and it's one of my favorite things about the car, VW leather isn't the greatest tbh and starts to sag on the seat bottoms quite quick, there has been plenty of discussion on the mk6 thread if you fancy a search, plus it just looks boring!!

Totally agree

[dubber36]

I had leather in my previous Passat. My new one is a Sport with cloth and I much prefer it.

[Hawaii-Five-O]

Personally I can't wait for the tartan look and feel. I think it looks super retro on the GTI (and now GTD). It's unique to VW too - couldn't imagine Ford or Vauxhall or Audi or Bimmers having to same sense of humour could you. Leather seems quite expensive to spec and as Jimble says it not the highest quality on Volkswagen's in general.

I think the tartan seats give the car a real sense of identity (read character). However, if you've had other GTI's in the oast then leather might be just the ticket.

[sam67GTD]

I'm getting leather on my GTD, mainly because I'm not keen on the grey tartan. However, if I were ordering the GTI, then I'd definitely get the red tartan as it's more in keeping with the original GTI. I've got leather on my Focus ST and it's stood up to the wear well. I do know what others are saying about the VW leather getting a bit saggy as I've seen a few cars with leather. Oh well, time will tell 

[Sootchucker]

I'm going in today to order my GTD and I'm also opting for leather for 2 reasons. One, the wife doesn't like the tartan cloth and two, I regretted not specifying it on my Scirocco. Whilst the cloth is good and hard wearing, it is susceptible to staining, dog hair (yes the dog goes in the car with the seats covered !), and mainly when 2 months after taking delivery of my Scirocco leather became standard on the GT models, I looked at a few and they looked ever so classy.

Yes it's expensive and I can't really justify the £1,675.00, but at least it saves me about £250 on the Winter pack (as the seats are already heated) - yes I know I'm trying to justify it to myself 

Also, previous to the Rocco I had a MK5 Golf for 6 years (2.0TDI GT) and that had full leather interior. I looked after it with the proper Swissvax cream, and after 6 years and 70,000 miles, whilst it obviously didn't look as good as new, it wasn't far off, with just the slightest hint of sagging and a nice matt finish. I just hope the MK7 leather (or pleather) is as good or better ?

[matchboy]

I had leather on both my mk 5 & mk 6 GTI's. I found for £1,700 it's simply not worth it and doesn't effect the resale.  It's not the best quality either and does sag after a year or so.  Plus it's the same dull dark grey colour they've had for years, maybe if they'd offered different colours eg. cream I may have specced it but am happy with the tartan cloth this time round.  All personal choice of course, if you've never had leather before then it's a tempter but for me after having various cars with leather I find that the additional cost is not worth it IMO.