GTI interior - Is leather the easier everyday choice?

[Mag_Pie]

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...

[mcmaddy]

Save your money on the pleather and leave the standard GTi seats in.

[davyk31]

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.

[Arnold_Lane]

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.

[SRGTD]

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.

[fredgroves]

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.

[2007GTI]

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.

[I wanted a GTi]

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.

[Mag_Pie]

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.

[Splashalot]

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.