TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

Hey Guys
Im wondering if the trans am seats are real leather or not?

blackbird0230

I think I recall them being PLEATHER with exception of the inserts. So I'd say no. It doesnt even feel like real leather so I wouldnt be suprised.....

1quickTransAm

iTrader: (4)

I know for a fact they are pleather in my '96.

FastRidesOnly

i have some trans am seats in my z. the part u sit on feels like vinyl but the sides are real soft like they're leather. i'd prefer mine to be vinyl, less cracking.

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

When you say pleather do you mean vinyl?

Snake_Skinner

iTrader: (12)

What... My seats gotta be leather, they feel like leather and definitely smell like leather.

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

Have you ever sat in decent leather seats? That alone will lead you to believe ours are pleather

Matt@adams

GM has been using urethane coated leather for a long time now, as have most manufactures. So even the portions of the seat that are leather (the seating surfaces, but not the sides, backs, etc) are under a coating of urethane, meaning in reality, unless your seat is starting to peel you're never actually touching any leather.

The only kinds of cars not getting coated leather anymore are the ones with high 6 figure price tags.

Snake_Skinner

iTrader: (12)

^ So does that mean I shouldn't even be using leather conditioner on my seats b/c I'm not really conditioning the leather im conditioning urethane, or does it seep throw the urethane?

BoricuaHec01

I don't know about you guys but when I bought my car a few months back I had the smell of fresh leather for more then a month.

Snake_Skinner

iTrader: (12)

^ Ya my car JUST broke 50,000 miles and I swear I can still smell it when I open the door.

LS14EVR

iTrader: (3)

What he said, if you dindn't have this coating, which GM usually tells it's suppliers not to put on as many coats as we recommend, your leather seats would wear out horribly fast in a DD. Conditioner still helps. It can make its way through. The coating still breathes as far as I know. Go look at a King Ranch edition Ford Truck. It's got saddle leather basically. It shows every single scratch and nick in minutes.

Matt@adams

Yes and no.... more over it should impact what type of conditioner you choose to use. A lot of leather products do the song and dance about "feeding" or "moisturizing" the leather, when in reality the product never penetrates the coating and thus never even touches leather. It sits on top... as such you want something that PROTECTS the seats.

Lexol for example contains lanolin (animal fat) great for conditioning raw leather, not so much for coated leather and doesn't do much in the way of protection.

Without making this into a sales pitch - these are the reasons our leather conditioner is not leather specific. It can be used on any interior surface like your door panels, dash, steering wheel, seats, etc. More importantly it has a UV inhibitor with SPF 65 making it like a good sunblock for you interior as the thing that destroys dashes and interior panels faster than anything is UV rays. Products with animal fat and oils aren't going to give you that... its like smearing bacon grease on your skin before you hit the beach and expecting it to prevent sunburn.


As for why most car makers use coated leather its largely for the reason LS14EVR posted above... raw leather does not wear well and 99% of people wouldn't take proper care of it anyways leading GM to have to replace a lot of interiors under warranty. Additionally high quality hides are not cheap! The leather for the seats in something like a Bentley or Rolls come from cows raised in pens without trees, bushes, or anything else that might scar their skins. The leather used in the rest of the worlds cars, GM included, comes from cows that have scars, cuts, burns, knicks, and scrapes in their skin. The coating used is almost like stucco or texture on house... it hides the uneven spots and makes the leather look uniform. It also provides a texture that can easily be blended with the vinyl 'non-leather' sections of the seat so it all appears to be the same material.

The reason you smell leather in your interior is probably for a couple of reasons. Most conditioners used today smell like leather, also the backside of the hides are still exposed (albeit smashed up against foam padding) so I'm sure theres room for the smell to escape. Theres also perforations in most leather seats as well.

Coppertone

Our seats are def not leather, in my experience. When I replaced the "leather" shift boot with a real leather shift boot, it was so blatantly obvious how fake it was.

theskitztikwon

iTrader: (18)

Really...your going to go off the fact that your shift boot was not real leather? The PART of the seat that you sit on IS real leather.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

This is a surprisingly informative thread when the intelligent people post. I have taken apart a lot of seats and I would say everything dylan@adams has said would be correct.

Coppertone

So the seating surfaces are urethane coated leather and the backs and sides are synthetic?

LS14EVR

iTrader: (3)

In most cases... correct..


Dylan, so the lexol I've been using isn't doing anything, is that what you are saying? I may be in the seating/testing business, but I don't know all the ins and outs of leather. I just test the stuff. All I know, is what sold me on Lexol was when I looked at a camaro before I had mine, I grabed the guys leather seats and was very impressed. I said, I'm around seats all day and I've never felt stock GM seats that felt like this. I asked if he had them recovered. He said he owned a detail shop and has always used Lexol on them.
Thanks for the info.

Coppertone

My seats just really don't feel like leather. They feel nothing like the real leather shift boot. I would think that even a urethane coated leather would feel remotely similar to real leather. My seats feel much more like vinyl. Then again, I've never pulled the seat covers off so I don't know for sure...

LT4vert

iTrader: (3)

To add to that, all OEM's do have a manufactued scent in their coating. Its one aspect of car interior design you rarely hear about but is a huge aspect of interior car design. The sweet and spicey scent of a Cadillac interior is not a result of Nappa or Nuance leather entirely, your smelling the clove, sage, terragon and the many other ingredients in their coating.

The cheaper manufactured leather hides like in the f-cars( and most higher volume cars and trucks) need more proper maintence to remain in good condition over time. Body oils and dirt with condition gooped on top dont allow the seat to breath. Most people just add leather condidtioner and dont even bother properly cleaning the seat first. Over time this will dry out the leather, it will get stiff, lose its scent, crack, rip ect. You'd be surpised how many wrinkles will disappear and how much natual scent will come back if the seats are properly cleaned before adding any type of protection.

The newest f-car is 9 years old now. It would probably be safe to say the leather in 2/3's of them was not even close to being properly cared for and have been bathed in horrible armor all most of their life. So of course the surface is not gonna seem like real leather at all anymore. Not all is lost though, do some homework on cleaning techniques, properly wash off all those years of oil and dirt build up and then add the conditioner.