Looking for a bit of help with regards to cream interior. I've ordered a metal grey estate with black leather/alcantara seats. At the time of ordering I was quite tempted by the cream interior but thought it would be hard to keep clean with 2 kids etc so went with the black but I'm beginning to think it might all be a bit dark(don't have the sunroof). Does anyone have cream leather/alcantara seats and how do you find them in terms of keeping them clean?

This has been discussed a few times, and I think the consensus is that full leather is easier to keep clean than the alcantara, but they are also pretty chilly unless you have the heated seats.

The younger the children, the greater the risk....

Ok cheers, I'll have a look back through the forum. Kids are 1 and 6 so a lot of potential there for making a mess! I went with the leather/alcantara for the reason you mention above of them being chilly in cold weather although I've have gone for heated seats as well which should help in that regard! I've also found though that leather seats can get very hot in the summer, particularly when wearing shorts, at least that's my recollection, it's been 8 years since I've had a car with leather seats..

It's been 8 years since we had hot weather!

I have the beige leather in mine, and no issues with them being too warm.

Just get some Gtechniq l1 Smart Fabric and treat the seats and stick with the nice black ones - they look great, we have them in our Metal Grey Octavia.

 

I think the cream seats are a bit "old man" looking imho.

I have a Metal Grey Octavia with black interior (partial fake leather on the vRS) & I have no complains that its too dark inside (even with the rear tinted windows).

 

Personally I would never take a car with light interior because even when driving on your own, you will be forever cleaning scuff & dirt marks off the doors, carpets, mats etc

Even with adult passengers in the winter you will have to clean the backs of the seats and mats.

 

Having said that, I've never actually owned one   so it may not be the nightmare I imagine...

 

Having said that, I've never actually owned one   so it may not be the nightmare I imagine...

 

It's not. I've treated the seats three times in my first year with some clean and feed stuff and that's it.

I've wiped muddy marks off the door surround a few times, but brown shows up just as badly on black trim.

Yep, your both probably right, think I will just stick with my original choice. Your vRS has the black headlining I assume Gabbo? If you don't find it too dark mine should be okay with the lighter headlining! Also apart from the kids getting in and out with dirty shoes I do a lot of mountain biking and in Ireland that usually means getting back to the car covered in mud head to toe so while maybe you can keep the cream clean I don't think I want to spend all my doing doing so...

Yep, your both probably right, think I will just stick with my original choice. Your vRS has the black headlining I assume Gabbo?

 

yes, I have the dark grey headliner I think in the vRS but have never found it a problem (never thought about it until I read your post).

Are you close to a Skoda dealer because its always worth to take 5 minutes just to sit in one to see how you feel.

It's been 8 years since we had hot weather!

I have the beige leather in mine, and no issues with them being too warm.

I've had leather for nearly 10 years now, and my back is covered in sweat after sitting in the drivers seat for more than 15 mins on a hot day. Even though the AC cools the cars interior pretty quickly the leather seat really retains the heat and moisture. (Which is why I picked the alcantara for the Octy.)

The dealer I ordered the car from is about half an hour awayy(although the there is another 5 mins from me) so not too far away. I went there to buy a 2nd hand Superb and came out having ordered a new Octavia!! When I ordered the car I sat in a metal grey hatch with black cloth seats so not quite the same as my combi with black leather /alcantara, it was inside on the showroom floor at the time but thinking about it even then it didn't seem too dark, although the metal grey looked very dark, have yet to see a metal grey Octavia outside yet!! Also took a black vRS hatch for test drive with the dark headliner, was definitly a bIt darker inside it although not oppressively so, very nice car to drive!!

Id go black personally, cream isnt really me TBH but it also arguably shows dirt/marks more quickly and will involve more maintenance to continue to look good.

The alcantara is proving to be hard wearing and is generally fairly wipe clean being partially water resistive and synthetic, the leather parts (leatherette more appropriately) are frankly showing signs of ageing already.

Leather is definitely more wipe clean though, but from what ive seen of it starts to bag quite quickly (Skoda dont do the best leather interior in both quality or fitment). Front seat heating is a pre-requisite for leather, dont think you can have leather on one without choosing front seat heating as a minimum.

I haven't been in too many Octavia's with leather or leather/alcantara but I spent a lot of time looking at 3/4 year old Superb's as that was what I was going to buy initially and certainly the seats in them with leather/alcantara were standing up very well and seemed to be of pretty good quality, no signs of bagging or wear on the ones I looked at anyway. Would the Superb seats be better quality or similar to the Octavia's?

The seats in most superbs are very similar to the sports seats found in early Audi A6's...their general build and quality of the foam used within them is therefore pretty good.

I just dont think the quality of the leather (or mostly faux leather as it stands) on Skodas is generally all that brilliant though.

I had full leather on a Mk2 vRS (a 2013 car) looked great when brand new but within a few months the leather where there was surface to surface contact had started to bag and also went quite shiny (whereas the original finish was matt). Leather conditioner briefly brought it back and helped to taughten it a little but it soon went back to normal.

Im contemplating changing my Elegance in time perhaps for a vRS but as comfort is really high on my list of priorities Id like to get Electric seats for the 4 way lumbar supports. However you have to have the leather upholstery with electric seats (as well as front seat heating and folding mirrors) which I am not so happy about as I wouldnt really want leather.