Half leather retrim.

[Sootchucker]

Was thinking over the weekend again about the leather option, but came to the conclusion that as most of you have said, the cheque cloth looks cool, and at £1600 the leather just wasn't worth it, plus it's cold in winter and hot and sticker in summer (if we ever get one  ).

As you may know before signing for the GTD, I was very close to signing for the new Audi A3 sportback S-Line. Now these come with very nice chairs which are cloth on the centre panels and leather on the side bolsters etc and headrests. I was then wondering, if it would be cost prohibitive to look into getting a half leather re-trim that keeps the cheque cloth in the centres and retains the character of the car. Has anyone ever doe this before and can comment ? I know VW leather isn't that great (well not £1600 worth), and also thought that going after market might result in better leather quality as well ? 

[CraigW]

I'm not convinced that leather on the side bolsters against the tartan cloth would look that good. Alcantara would be my preferred option but you never know, you might like the full cloth when you see it

[monkeyhanger]

I'm sure you'll be able to buy replacement seat coverings in the Alcantara with Tartan Cloth centres as seen on other European configurators. If it's a standard fit somewhere you've got to be able to get the coverings as spares for the case of warranty work. I had a seat split in the back of my first Golf, noticed while I was scotchgarding the seats about a week after I picked it up (no-one had even sat in the back - like that from the factory and PDI had missed it). The coverings come off quite easily and are underwired to maintain their integrity when refitted. Unless this cover type is only available in LHD markets and there are unique cut outs for driver and passenger seats I can't see why we couldn't add it (at some considerable cost I would imagine).

[Gryzor]

I'm not convinced that leather on the side bolsters against the tartan cloth would look that good. Alcantara would be my preferred option but you never know, you might like the full cloth when you see it

Completely agree, even without seeing it I think leather with the tartan wouldn't look good.  If I could have chosen it, I'd have gone for half Alcantara, but I've got cloth in my current Mk5 and it looks perfectly OK, wearing very well.

[mcmaddy]

Had the heated cloth seats in my mk4 and they were really good. Had the non heated cloth in my mk5 and they were really good too. The leather I had in my jetta was good and appeared hard wearing as does the leather in the tiguan. The leather in VW's isn't as bad as some people are making out, It's not the highest quality but its not the worst either. I would have loved the half cloth/alcantara option but if the full cloth seats are as good as the mk4 and 5 then we won't have anything to worry about.

[dubber36]

Custom re trims may not be as costly as you might imagine. http://www.mjinteriors.com/prices.php Micheal is a top bloke and highly regarded amongst the builders of the top show winning cars.

[monkeyhanger]

Custom re trims may not be as costly as you might imagine. http://www.mjinteriors.com/prices.php Micheal is a top bloke and highly regarded amongst the builders of the top show winning cars.

Unless you're after something far from the standard look, i'd probably pay the extra £400ish for the VW Leather, getting heated seats and electric adjustment as well as the 3 year warranty in on that price. The custom route might have better materials and less pleather though.

[dubber36]

Custom doesn't have to mean different. If a trimmer can do anything with any material, there's no reason why he can't do something that looks factory, only better

[Gene Hunt.]

I'm not convinced that leather on the side bolsters against the tartan cloth would look that good. Alcantara would be my preferred option but you never know, you might like the full cloth when you see it

Completely agree, even without seeing it I think leather with the tartan wouldn't look good.  If I could have chosen it, I'd have gone for half Alcantara, but I've got cloth in my current Mk5 and it looks perfectly OK, wearing very well.

.....you have never seen the seats in an ED30 then!!.

[AAddict]

I'm not convinced that leather on the side bolsters against the tartan cloth would look that good. Alcantara would be my preferred option but you never know, you might like the full cloth when you see it

Completely agree, even without seeing it I think leather with the tartan wouldn't look good.  If I could have chosen it, I'd have gone for half Alcantara, but I've got cloth in my current Mk5 and it looks perfectly OK, wearing very well.

.....you have never seen the seats in an ED30 then!!.