Buying a van...which is best, leather or fabric seats?

[4kids4me]

Which will last longer and wear better?

 

Fabric will eventually stain, but will leather get old and crack?

[shalom22]

We prefer leather. The main problem with fabric is the fact that over time they start to smell like a boys locker room. The fabric absorbs body oils along with anything spilled on it. Leather is so much easier to clean up. Leather will dry out and crack over time, but if you can wipe it down with a conditioner, say once a month or so, it will stay looking nice longer than the fabric will.

[Unicorn.]

We prefer fabric. I hate sitting on cold seats in the winter, and being wet from sweating so much the rest of the year! If our car starts to smell, we just spray the fabric down w/ Febreeze. I think it just depends on what is more important to you. It's personal preference. hth

[newbie]

We have leather, and holds up well. No cracks or splits. But, burns in summer and cold in winter.

[TraceyS/FL]

Depends on how often you want to clean it....

 

I've owned ONE car with cloth & kids. NEVER. AGAIN.

[DarlaS]

I notice you live in Canada. If you get leather, spring for heated seats. Other than that I think it's a matter of personal preference.

 

I prefer fabric as I live in Michigan, do not have a garage and we rarely eat in the car. When we take drinks on the road, it's almost always bottled water. I also am sensitive to sounds (I cannot tune anything out.) so any squeaking would be highly irritating to me.

 

It gets messy and loose dirt does accumulate, but I rarely have stains.

 

ETA: I've never had a problem with smells in any car I've ever owned--unless something got left in by mistake (like if a grocery item rolled under the seat). Then it would not matter what kind of seats you had though.

Edited May 1, 2009 by darlasowders

[AndyJoy]

With blistering summer temps of 113+ degrees, we opted for fabric in our latest purchase.

[HappyCrazyMama]

After having leather, I never want cloth again. I can deal with a cold bum for a few minutes (it does get -0 here) but cleaning cloth is impossible. The leather seats on my 1996 van look new.:D We are looking for a new van and I desperately want leather again, but we are on a low budget and I might not get it and I know I am going to regret getting cloth. :crying:

[kdeno]

I love my heated leather seats. I have back problems and I almost always have the heat on. They are so easy to clean.

[sassenach]

For durability- leather. For comfort- cloth. Durability won.

[Ria]

I much prefer fabric. It's warm in winter, cool in summer. Leather is cold in winter, hot/sticky in summer. We've had no trouble keeping our seats clean, and we have 6 children. All our cars have fabric.

 

Ria

[MIch elle]

nt

[Amy loves Bud]

Leather. Always.

[fivetails]

leather seats + lovely winter days of -48C = BRRRRRRR!!! :tongue_smilie:

 

(never seems to matter how long I run the van. The engine warms up, the air IN the van warms up - kinda - but the seats stay penguin.)

[LaxMom]

I prefer fabric. We have leather. Apparently, heated seats and cruise control are inexplicably linked to leather. (Although our Volvo has heated fabric seats, so...)

 

We also have a '97 Suburban with leather seats. No cracking or obnoxious signs of wear - in fact, the seats may be the only thing that is not wrong with a '97 Suburban. :glare: Not a good year for them.

[Brindee]

We had fabirc seats on our Toyota Sienna we bought new in '98. We just got a "new" (2007) Sienna. But, for the 11 years we had that Sienna, we never had problems with smell or stains! I can't stand leather seats because of the cold, and because of sticking to leather in the summer and getting sticky, sweaty on leather! I detest peeling my legs off of leather seats! Our kids were 1, 4 and 6 when we got the van, and 12, 15 and 17 when we got the other van, and though well used with little ones growing up, with a vacuuming the seats looked fine!

 

We opted for cloth seats on our new van since we liked them so much in our old van!

[elise1mds]

I had cloth in my car and now have leather in my van. I'm loving the leather. I throw towels over them on hot days and they don't burn my derriere, and we do have the heated feature, though I've rarely used it (most of the time I forget I have it). Mind you, I don't live in Canada. Leather is also sooo much easier to clean, you can condition it to make it last longer, and I have discovered that car seats don't seem to leave the lasting impressions in leather that they do in cloth (of course, the towel underneath them for prevention is still more than desirable).

[Ibbygirl]

Leather is easier to clean for sure, but requires regular maintenance. Cloth seats are not impossible to clean and can be cleaned easily with a wet/dry shop vac or if you have one of those steam vac/carpet cleaners like Bissel or Hoover, they have an upholstery attachement that you can use on the car as well. Kid's N Pets will get rid of any smells and Folex sprayed, rubbed in with your fingertips and then blotted dry with a clean towel will get rid of stains. :) Like the other posters said it's all a matter of personal preference. I hope this is helpful. :)

Edited May 2, 2009 by Ibbygirl

[Tammyla]

The only thing I miss about my van, is the leather seats. They were comfy and looked like new with little to no effort. A baby wipe and they were good as new no matter what we spilled on them. Although, they were icy cold in the winter and sticky in the summer so my new fabric is much more comfy year round.

[RebeccaS]

My oldest dd get horribly, awful carsick. Need I say more?:glare:

[Denisemomof4]

all my cars have had leather and my living room sets were all leather. I loved the ease of it but now I won't buy ANYTHING leather. I hate that body oils change the color of leather. The darker leather is nice, but make sure it's not painted on. The painted on leather will wear. I now believe that we'll never again buy leather furniture. Microfibre is my new favorite and I've had this sectional for 4 years now.

 

Now about cars: I've had nothing but issues with leather. I have four kids, so there may be more wear, but we are NOT hard on things. My Suburban's leather absorbed oils and looked dirty all the time. Also, many jeans have dyes that bleed onto leather.

 

My Honda Pilot is 2 years old and BOTH front seats have tears in them. I have to mention again that I really take care of my stuff so this shocked and disgusted me. My friend has a Honda Odyssey, also 2 years old, and her leather is splitting at the seams. The leather is as thin as a sheet of paper, if not thinner.

 

If cars made microfiber seats, that would be my first choice. I don't know if they do.

 

After 15 years of nothing but leather in cars and home, I can honestly say that I'll never again buy leather.

 

I also hate the kids burning their legs on the leather!

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Leather, especially with kids. Heated leather seats are the best! :)

 

Dh had cloth in a previous car. While driving a friend's 3yo, said 3yo puked orange something-or-other all over the back seat. Tried everything to get it out, but it was still orange years later.

 

When we had our own kiddos, we got leather seats. Countless thing have been spilled, squished, and up-chucked onto those seats, but you'd never know it. They still clean beautifully, even 11 years later.

 

I carry a handtowel in the car in the summer to sit on when I'm wearing shorts. The front seats are heated, so cold isn't a problem in the winter time.

[4kids4me]

Thanks for all the replies and it seems that y'all are divided!

 

Fabric won! It was just the right price, kwim? :)

[KidsHappen]

I notice you live in Canada. If you get leather, spring for heated seats. Other than that I think it's a matter of personal preference.

 

I prefer fabric as I live in Michigan, do not have a garage and we rarely eat in the car. When we take drinks on the road, it's almost always bottled water. I also am sensitive to sounds (I cannot tune anything out.) so any squeaking would be highly irritating to me.

 

It gets messy and loose dirt does accumulate, but I rarely have stains.

 

ETA: I've never had a problem with smells in any car I've ever owned--unless something got left in by mistake (like if a grocery item rolled under the seat). Then it would not matter what kind of seats you had though.

 

My dh left frozen fish in the back of a station wagon in the TX summer once. That car never did smell the same again. I told him he should have just told me he didn't want fish for dinner. :tongue_smilie:

[KidsHappen]

We have six kids and I have had both. I prefer the cloth. It is easy to clean with a portable bissell if necessary and then spray with Frebreeze if you want. I have never needed to. The leather was too hot/cold, always uncomfortable and it doesn't wear as well in a car. We currently have heated fabric seats and they are great. Butt warmers we call them. :tongue_smilie:

[lynn]

Depends on what make of vehicle you purchase. We have a 2000 Sienna LE and the seats still look great. We just spot cleaned as necessary and nothing ever stained permanently. I think leather seats will wear and crack and look worn faster than a good cloth seat.