Was looking to an SE but with the events of the day might now lean towards Elegance. (Muscovado DSG Petrol)

Main reason.......Elegance can be had with electric folding mirrors which I use every time I park. See other post.

I appreciate the better headlights, electric seats and lumbar support that it would have with the Elegance + seat/mirror option too.

Need to decide very soon.

Never had leather though. Assumed, rightly or wrongly, the following -

Cold and hard in winter

Hot and sticky in summer

Might damage it with back pocket zips/buttons/ umbrella/ careless passengers

Might crease and look aged...(THE SEATS, NOT ME)

No kids or animals to consider

I say all this without owning leather (unless you count a Rover 2000 in the early 70's)

Am willing to listen and learn

It would be black, I think.......prefer that to beige.

Would value any thoughts as always.

Thanks in advance.

Hi

I have red leather seats in the bmw and after 20k they look like new. I clean them once a month with autoglym leather spray and every 3 months I use turtle wax cream leather cleaner (which is so good I also use it on our sofa!). Leather seats in any other colour than black do require cleaning on a regular basis but you will find that effort worthwhile. Lets be honest if you want to keep anything in good condition it needs looking after!

Michael.

Edited 19 November, 201015 yr by Micky H

Very pleased with the black leather seats on mine. I would have preferred the Gobi but this car will get dirty due to fishing and cross country/marathons/trail running (that's shmbo vice, mine's the fishing) I am going to have my work cut out keeping the Candy white - white so didn't fancy the extra hassle of more frequent seat cleaning. I must point out that the Gobi colour is one of the better 'non black' options for keeping clean though.

We are now on our second smart fortwo with heated leather seats - two stage jobbies, volcanic and Kellogs pop tart levels of heat, nevertheless still very welcome. My faithful Alfa GTA had lovely leather seats but just an on/off heating function, very gentle. Obviously the Italians don't do cold.

I would hate to go back to cloth, have had no problems slipping around - actually the extra movement as has been so ably pointed out by Freshacre is a bonus. I would also be very reluctant to foregoe the heating - I love it. A case of not knowing you want it till you've had it.

I did have one person in the Alfa exclaim in horror that they thought they had wet themselves due to a warm sensation down under - they were most relieved (no pun intended) when I informed them that derriere heating was on

I have had leather on each of my last 3 cars and wouldn't go back to cloth

- it looks classy

- it wears better than cloth & when it does wear it looks better

- it is actually easier to clean

- it evens out heat / cold

I've had both black and light grey seats and both work for me... this time I have gone for the Onyx because I think it suits the Yeti better.

My Yeti is the first car I have had with Leather seats, after over 35 years of driving. I too had many of the above concerns before specifying them.

However I concur that the black seats are easy to wipe clean, more resiliant to damage than I thought and you can easily move on them to adjust your position. They were fine in the summer, the Yeti came at the end of July, and there were some hot periods after that.

On cold mornings I start the car and put on the seat warmer first, then go round to clean the windows, and the seats are starting to warm when you get in. Even without this you can feel the warmth within a couple of minutes.

Only bad side that no one else has mentioned is that they are very hard to start with, like a new pair of shoes, and take time to wear in. At 7000 miles now they are becoming more comfortable, when new I thought I had made a mistake with hard corners rubbing the back of my thighs in places, these have now softened considerably, and the leather is adopting a more use look.

Edited 20 November, 201015 yr by kenfowler3966

My Yeti is the first car I have had with Leather seats, after over 35 years of driving. I too had many of the above concerns before specifying them.

However I concur that the black seats are easy to wipe clean, more resiliant to damage than I thought and you can easily move on them to adjust your position. They were fine in the summer, the Yeti came at the end of July, and there were some hot periods after that.

On cold mornings I start the car and put on the seat warmer first, then go round to clean the windows, and the seats are starting to warm when you get in. Even without this you can feel the warmth within a couple of minutes.

Only bad side that no one else has mentioned is that they are very hard to start with, like a new pair of shoes, and take time to wear in. At 7000 miles now they are becoming more comfortable, when new I thought I had made a mistake with hard corners rubbing the back of my thighs in places, these have now softened considerably, and the leather is adopting a more use look.

Thanks for that....as you say, no-one has mentioned the 'hardness' that you refer to.. Trouble for me is, it takes me nearly 18 months to do 7000 miles. When you say 'used' look do you mean a few creases, and is it developing a 'hollow' in the base where your backside presses in?

Thanks for that....as you say, no-one has mentioned the 'hardness' that you refer to.. Trouble for me is, it takes me nearly 18 months to do 7000 miles. When you say 'used' look do you mean a few creases, and is it developing a 'hollow' in the base where your backside presses in?

There is no hollow evident and the seat is still on the firm side compared to other cars I have had, and as I would be embarrased to say how much I weigh, it is doing ok.

However the covering now feels softer and lots of mico creases are developing as the leather is developing a used look. The surface is less taunt as well as the leather has stretched in use. I suppose I should try some leather treatment!

It will be interesting to see how they wear, this is a company car and I will have it for a minimum of 4 years. My previous Superb, with normal seats had almost worn through on the side bolster of the seat back where it rubs as you get in and out, in only 55k. I seem to be doing a lot more miles now and am expecting the Yeti to do 80 to 90k in the time I have it.

Edited 20 November, 201015 yr by kenfowler3966