Leather seats a good idea as an optional extra when buying new 318 se?
Cheers
Buck
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I think so. When I've been looking at cars like that 2nd hand, I instantly dismiss any without leather. For a car like that, there's a certain expectation of luxury for many buyers.
But then it depends on how long you intend to keep the car, how bothered about resale value you are and whether or not you prefer leather yourself! ;)
Apart from being cheapskates, I never understood why BMW don't make leather as standard for cars as expensive as they are, same goes for Mercedes and Audi too. Yes, make an option to delete the leather if you're that why inclined, but no way should it be a cost option, IMHO.
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I think so. When I've been looking at cars like that 2nd hand, I instantly dismiss any without leather.
I cannot, for the life of me, fathom out why you think that leather equates to luxury! They are cold in the winter and hot in the summer, mark easily, shine suits, make your legs and bum feel sweaty and after a relatively short period of time the, actual seats usually show signs of 'puddling' from which they don't recover.
I avoid leather seats like the plague and heaven help us if manufactureres foist them upon us as a standard fit.
Many moons ago, of course leather and/or wooden dashes were conceived as the pinnacle of luxury but surely nowadays we're better informed and realise which materials are suited to the environment of the modern motor car?
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Buy a used 325i Sport with leather instead. Then you'll have a nicer car, for less money, and lose less on depreciation.
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That's not my experience. As long as the leather is treated and protected regularly with creams it will age very well indeed.
Heated (and more commonly) chilled front seats solves the extreme of winter/summer coldness and stickyness.
On all my cars I've never has leather that ever marked a suit either.
Not quite sure about the cars you've seen with leather, but I've seen Volvos with 100,000 miles plus that have not been cared for much and the leather didn't look too bad at all, no worse than cloth cars at the same age. As for cloth, I've seen no end of fraying, material wear, stains and marks too on various cars.
Different symptoms of aging, but not a big deal either way.
I did also make the point that the manufacturers should offer the option of deleting the leather seats on the new cars if you were so inclined too... :)
Back to the original point, BMWs with leather *are* worth more second hand, so it stands to reason that it's an option that people do seek out. Options that people don't often want rarely add any value, e.g. reflective windscreens or rain sensing wipers etc.
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Not to my taste and a nightmare with dogs.
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I would always have leather if I cd afford it. Natural substance that smells good, is easy to clean and ages gracefully. Children will soon mess up fabric with sticky drinks and so on. Stained, torn fabric seats are unpleasant, although alas almost universal these days.
Bring back mellowly thrumming leather-seated Austin 18 station taxis!
By the way the only recent car that makes that particular noise is a Skoda Estelle being driven gently.
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IMHO there is a perception that one must have certain 'extras' in an upmarket car. If you are buying for yourself and keep for a long time get what suits you. If you want to move it on after 2 or 3 years a Merc/BMW/Jag is not going to be easy to shift without metallic, alloys, leather, and air con or climate as a minimum, they don't affect the price that much but they do affect the saleability.
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Especially for a 3 Series, I would consider leather an option worth having .
Its a case of inverse logic - leather may not add much to the resale value, but not having it gives many buyers the impression that the 3 Series in question was a low-spec alternative to a Mondeo or Vectra. Emotion being stronger than logic among many car buyers, this puts them off so your car becomes harder to sell.
But, if you don't particularly like the feel of leather seats, is there an option of half leather/half suede? Saw it on a new Passat Highline at the weekend and looked very smart, not to mention comfortable to spend a few hours sitting on. And it will still look more 'premium' than cloth when you come to sell on.
BTW, most car specs I've read for standard cars with cloth seats say something along the lines of "Interior: cloth trim with extra cloth". Skoda, VW, Fiat, GM and Ford certainly say exactly that. Can someone explain how a cloth-covered seat has "extra cloth" on it?
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Leather looks lovely, and is easier to clean that fabric, especially if you stuff your face with pies and pastries and a flask while driving and drop crumbs between your legs. Drips can be wiped straight up witha napkin as they just bead on the surface, The crumbs fall slide into the crumb gullies provided by the ruching from where they are easily sweaped (sp?)
Even better IMO is Alcantara where the bolsters, headrests, backs etc.. are leather, and the bit you sit on is a matching synthetic suede.
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That reminds me of the time when my baby boy threw up all over the seats in my old V70 (with leather). I won't say it was pleasant, but I was chuffed with how easily the vomit wiped straight off the leather, no worries. No residual after smell or anything.
In contrast, when the poor lad chucked up in his mothers Astra (one of the ones from a couple of years ago with the particularly nasty velour that sticks cat hair to the surface as if it were glued on), the seats were drenched and continue to stink of sick to this day...
Given that comparison, I know which material I prefer to specify!! :)
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