I am trying to decide whether its worth going with Leather seats (which is an added extra). From what I have read, Leather seats are bit high maintenance compared to Cloth seats. 

 

I have tried the Alcantara seats and did not like the look & feel. 

 

For those that have the leather seats, what are your opinions? (maintenance, longevity, comfort) 

I like leather seats (though I realise that some people don’t).

 

For me, the decider was that we have a white dog - and it used to take me an hour and a half, every three or four months, to vacuum the trapped white hairs from the cloth seats in the Roomster!  The leather, in the Superb and now the Kodiaq, I just wipe.

 

The downsides of leather, as I see them, are that they’re slightly less comfortable (you tend to slide down a bit), and can be hot or cold on the back of your legs at first entering the car.

 

The upsides are that they look good, feel good, and are virtually maintenance free - I used a leather cleaner and leather feed twice in three years on the Superb (black leather), and so far twice in two years on the Kodiaq (beige seats).  The beige seats pick up a blue tinge from jeans, but that comes straight off.  In fact, cleaning and then refeeding* the seats takes about half an hour - way less time than it would take to vacuum, shampoo and dry cloth seats.

 

*Some people say feeding doesn’t work because of the sealed surface on modern leather.  I still do it because it does somehow make the leather noticeably more supple again, it smells great, and it helps keep out the next lot of dirt.

I’ve gone with cloth (black micro suede) on my Kodiaq. Dogs go in the boot and they’re not cold when you first get in on a cold morning.

Having had leather seats in my previous 2 Yetis, and now have the alcantara in my current Kodiaq, I would certainly go for the alcantara over leather any day.

The alcantara is more grippy and you don’t tend to slide around as you do on the leather, they’re not freezing cold in the winter, or burning hot in the summer, and have proved grandkid proof over the last 2 years.

2 hours ago, HiroK said:

I am trying to decide whether its worth going with Leather seats (which is an added extra). From what I have read, Leather seats are bit high maintenance compared to Cloth seats. 

 

I have tried the Alcantara seats and did not like the look & feel. 

 

For those that have the leather seats, what are your opinions? (maintenance, longevity, comfort) 

Alcantara is what i would pick as well but you mentioned that you did not like it. In my passat it is super. My Kodiaq will have it too.

 

 

 

Another vote for Alcantara, we've had it in the last three Skoda's (MkII Superb, MkIII Octavia and current Kodiaq Scout), it wears really well.

 

Skoda leather never seems to wear well at all, too many complaints about early bolster wear etc. across all Skoda model forums over recent years.

Cream leather black car, dogs dangles for me. 

Easy to clean looks expensive. 

...just don't wear jeans...

Alcantara all the way.

Leather is sometimes too slippery and you have to take care of it constantly. Without vented seats butt gets hot.

Cloth - one spilled tomato juice and you are done.

Personally I hate leather seats, when buying my focus st one of the main requirements was a cloth interior. My wife on the other hand preferres leather seats, thankfully with our octavia a compromise was available with half leather and half alcantar a. 

1 hour ago, caprixpack said:

Personally I hate leather seats, when buying my focus st one of the main requirements was a cloth interior. My wife on the other hand preferres leather seats, thankfully with our octavia a compromise was available with half leather and half alcantar a. 

OK.   But it tells us nothing if you don’t say why! 😄

31 minutes ago, DaveMiller said:

OK.   But it tells us nothing if you don’t say why! 😄

 

Yeah I missed that bit. It's the way leather seats feel when you sit on them, the sliding around, the cold when you sit In them in the winter and the way they almost burn you during the summer. But most of all if you're driving any sort of distance you get out with a wet back. 

 

My old v6 calibra had leather (it was standard) i went to great lengths and expense to obtain a cloth (cost reducing option that not many went for) interior I had to get the rear seats from Germany the door cards came from Scotland and the fronts luckily I found locally. 

Edited 3 March, 20206 yr by caprixpack

As said, leather looks good and is practical to wipe down, but alcantara  never too hot or cold and not slippy.

 

I’ve had both in many Skoda’s and wouldn’t pay extra for leather.

 

The bolsters are ‘leather’ anyhow so wear issues would remain.

 

You pay your money you make your choice!

I have the leather seats in mine cos they came as standard,  Would much prefer the alcantara I had in my last car. I can live with them but tbh I don't particularly like leather seats in cars - or houses come to that. Leather is for shoes/belts/bags/coats/wallets and steering wheels 🙃

37 minutes ago, Blakey092 said:

I have the leather seats in mine cos they came as standard,  Would much prefer the alcantara I had in my last car. I can live with them but tbh I don't particularly like leather seats in cars - or houses come to that. Leather is for shoes/belts/bags/coats/wallets and steering wheels 🙃

You wouldn't like my car or my house then! 

Love Alcantara which was in both of my previous Octavia Scouts, but i have to say that the micro fibre cloth in my new Kodiaq SE-L seems just as nice. Whether it will wear as well, only time will tell but it looks almost indistiguishable.

My last Kodiaq had heated and ventilated leather seats and I love them, and still prefer them to the leather/alcantara mix in my RS. They do feel much more premium than alcantara imo and is easier to keep clean and tidy. 

 

Do I miss them every day? Not really, but my next family car will have them. 

Went to look at a used Mercedes-Benz recently that had the very rare ventilated seat option, with lots of small holes in the lower squab...

 

...which were full of skin, crumbs and god only knows what else 🤢

 

My arse never gets sweaty when I'm in the car so it's an option I'll actively avoid in the future!

Leather for me. Paid the then £300 option on my SE L, which the dealer somehow left off the final bill!!   Just love the feel, easy to get in and out, and have never felt like I was sliding about.  Easier to keep clean as well.

I would much prefer non-leather for all the reasons discussed, but SWMBO has a slight mobility problem and just luuurrrves the way our current car's leather seats allow easier 'slide-in and rotate'

always leather, much less agro to clean than cloth

On 03/03/2020 at 21:16, bigiainw said:

Love Alcantara which was in both of my previous Octavia Scouts, but i have to say that the micro fibre cloth in my new Kodiaq SE-L seems just as nice. Whether it will wear as well, only time will tell but it looks almost indistiguishable.

 

Do the SEL's not come with Alcantara anymore?

 

Anyway another vote for Alcantara here.

 

Leather is too hot and sweaty for me in summer.

 

 

This “hot and sweaty” theme is a surprise to me.  I understand the “hot” feel of leather seats, when first getting into a car on a hot day, but once that’s gone, I’ve never found leather seats to be “sweaty”.  Perhaps that’s me - but if someone does suffer a sweaty back, is it better to have that in the easily changed and washed shirt, or to disguise the problem by soaking it into cloth seats ...

 

Ugh!

the hot and sweaty / too cold comments are nonsense - a problem solved in 2 mins with some basic climate control.  

 

cloth is and feels cheap  

I think people are getting a bit confused with preference and cost, in my experience the majority of people who choose cloth seats don't give an arse about the cost. They choose them because they don't like leather seats.