sauceman

While going to my friends' shop, where they repair shoes and also work with leather in general, I had to show him the interior of the car for him to know what kind of leather to use to fabricate a small cushion to add height to my center armrest. The car being clean, I want to have something that matches well.

When he sees the interior, he says, "Well we don't have this here, it's leatherette (translated from French "cuirette"). I says, " What do you mean?", and he answered, "It's fake leather".

And part of my world of ilusions came crashing down. Is that true? If so, why do they call it leather if it's not genuine?:'(

James

it has to be leather!

fdl

The TSX has a "leather trimmed" interior.

All the perforated parts are real leather. So the middle of the seats....small part of doors...steering wheel wrap, shift knob wrap. All real leather.

The rest of the seats ... (the non-perforated part) ...sides...headrest, back...are not real leather. They are leatherette...aka...vynol.


The bottom line...your friend is right..the center armrest is NOT real leather.

tehCOW

tehCOW says they are leather seats...

EDIT: nevermind, i'm wrong, not full leather... makes me sad

sauceman

Well I'll be damned!

tehCOW

damn times 2

MrChad

Welll the leather in the TSX is also not dyed (spelling?) leather as those found in other German cars.

The leather interiors used my the Japanesse and the Americans is painted leather for color. German leather is dyed in. If you snag any Honda leather seat the color will remove. In your bimmer it usually will not.

Point being -- if you want full dyed leather interior, you will have to pay for a full re-stitch. And don't use Katskinz that is just painted leather too.

provench

Personally ... I could care less if the backs of my seats are real leather or not .... I think we discussed this one a while ago.

Ultimately, I thank Acura for saving cost in this area ... would be nice to see an option for full leather on the TL/RL but options are not really how Acura works ... so :P

fdl

Of course Acura had to cut costs here and there to be able to offer the TSX at this price. There had to be comprimises. Yes, the leather isnt the absolute finest quality and it isnt full leather. Yes the xenons are not auto-levling...yes the "premium" audio leaves alot to be desired..yes we dont have power passenger seats...one touch sunroof, etc, etc. But to me I;ve got more than I need and I am glad that these comprimises were made so that I could get such a great car at such a great price. Its got just enough of everything I want which makes it such a well rounded car at a reasonable price..and thats why I bought it.


By the way ..Sauceman..I am very impressed by your 20,000km. You're my hero

Dookie_RENAMED

Does anyone know why we have four plastic dots stamped into the back seat? Take a look they are right on the back just toward the bottom...

BarryH

I know you guys aren't Volvo fans, but the entire interior is leather including the insides of the armrests, complete door panel including storage areas, and every piece of the seats exposed or not. Smells good too. Mine's untreated so it turns from Orange to Blue when it gets wet. Freaked me out the first time it happened. Big change from the MDX and TL-S which, like someone said earlier, is coated leather vs. died leather.

fdl

The TSX will attract more vegetarians.

James

that's for sure.

majormojo

They mark where the lower anchors for the child seat LATCH system are between the cushions. It's in the manual... :P

darth62

BTW, Audi has the same set-up in the A4. The base leather model comes with leather inserts. You can get an upgrade leather that covers the full seat but you really can't tell the difference.

Colin

I'm 90% sure the armrest pad is leather. Too many problems with the non-leather MDX armrest.... Acura has improved this for 2003 and I think the '04 TSX should benefit from this learning experience. FWIW, the center console in the Integra was real leather. (if the armrest is truly vinyl, it could be recovered with real leather)

sauceman

Haha, well, thanks, I guess.

Two reasons, I'm a road freak, and I use my car for work. And actually, as of today, my mileage is at 22,100km. I just update it at every 5000km.

Back to topic, I'm just deceived, I know the dealer wouldn't have gone through explaining all this to me, but I assumed it was a full leather finish. I guess it's not that bad as long as the leatherette holds up for as long as the genuine leather does, and is as durable and resistant to tear.

chrisalberts

The way to tell if a part of the seat is leather or not is to pinch it between two fingernails. A leather seat will "remember" the crease and if you work it the crease will disappear. If it's vinyl the crease will disappear almost immediately.

Also if you scratch leather slightly, you can rub your finger on it (natural oils) and it will look better - once vinyl is damaged it's damaged for ever.

And yes, I do get funny looks in dealerships when they see me scratching and pinching the seats.

C.

falco

See my post here dated August 13th
http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...&threadid=1581
According to the Honda Japan internet sight, the Accord Euro (aka TSX) has "synthetic Leather" interior.
Does it smell like leather. NO

Colin

Don't feel so bad, what do you think MB Tex is on the cheap Mercedes'? That's right Vinyl!

kenbiddulph

Fake leather in BMW's is "leatherette"

Personally, I prefer the old school Honda cloth (late 80's Accords and Preludes) that stuff lasts forever and feels great.

darth62

I think the leater seating surfaces thing is actually quite common. That is the setup in VWs and Audi A4. I believe it may be that way in Infiniti as well. Personally, I don't see it as an issue. The parts of the car I sit on and touch regularly are leather. I really couldn't care less if the backs of the seat are "leatherette."

sauceman

Yeah, I'm slowly getting used to the idea. I just was disillusionned.

Brad

Hmmm. I'm confused. The perforated part is REAL animal carcas leather, but the surrounding parts of the seat is some sort of plastic/vinyl/artificial material?

Therefore, leather care should apply only to the perforated part and plastic care should apply to the rest of the seat???

kenbiddulph

Bingo.

Crazytree

My gf has an Accord and the both of us have been applying Leather Protectant to VINYL. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Junkster

Sorry, but I had to throw my 2 cents in on the leather thing.
My father was a leather import/exporter for the european market when he was younger, and I've seen good leather in my lifetime.

To be perfectly honest, there is not much of a difference between real leather and leatherette used in autos such as audi A4 or BMW 3 series or Hondas. The euros tend to use thicker hides of leather then do other countries, but the quality isn't much better at the lower end of the draw.

Off topic though, leather found in Bentleys and Jags are English leather and raised in wire free farms. What that means is that the hides are never scratched on barbwires which can leave unsightly marks. Plus english leather is primo, with most used for jackets and coats only marketed to the high end market.

Italian leather is also used in many Italian exotics as well as some of the older Alfas. The good leather from Italy ( not the cheap Wilson's leather, God awful leather) is very well weathered and last two or three generations if well taken care of.
Personally, I don't like leather in cars, although they look classy. I actually prefer the pleather stuff used in the IS.

Junkster, who thinks the Bentley Continental GT is the most beautiful Brit ride ever.

tehCOW

i guess since only a few parts in the car are leather, i guess i'll try 303 protectant like fdl. I guess it's a whole lot easier to clean/protect the interior with 1 product than 2.

Brad

Well, the good news is that we can save money on not using so much leather protectants on the Vinyl parts of seats.

So what's the proper care and feeding of Vinyl? I hope the vinyl is durable! Can't get enough of that Naugahyde. Chryzler pulled a leather scam by calling their plastic/vinyl leather "Corinthean Leather". I wonder how many buyers of Chryzlers thought they had a leather interior!

Knowing that it's vinyl, I would prefer some quality cloth upholstry. The upholstry on my '90 Accord looks like new and barely shows any sign of wear and shows <knock on wood> no sign of tear.

tehCOW

Vinyl isn't all that hard to take care of, its like taking care of your dash. However, i haven't had any vinyl seats before, so i have no idea about the reliablity.

Anyways, i have been using vinylex by Lexol for my car dash. I guess i'll start using Vinylex on my seats too. I've read a couple magazines that rave about Vinylex and 303 Protectant. I haven't used 303 protectant yet, but will soon after my vinylex is empty. As far as what not to use on vinyl, keep away from armor all.

And for the actual leather parts of my car, i guess i'll stick with the lexol cleaner/conditioner that i purchased for now...

Crazytree

Corinth is a region of Greece that has been renowned for the quality of its leather. Not sure how they can call vinyl "leather" though.

Lorne Miller

...hey guys, "leather" trimmed interiors have only been common in lower line Honda products for several years, before that they all came with velour cloth interiors, the only stuff that came with leather were things like the NSX and the Legend. I was driving a long time before velour became all the rage, and everything came with vinyl that was colored in a virtual rainbow choice of colors. I've had burgundy, tan, black, blue, gray, and my dad's cars had gold, green, beige, and red, all vinyl...and all virtually never touched with anything except the odd wet cloth to clean a spill and occasionally vacuumed, the stuff is about as maintenance free as anything you can get in a car interior material, which is why they use it on all the TSX interior surfaces except the seat bottoms and backs or perforated parts. After having a "leather" interior on my Acura for the last number of years, I will go along with what kenbiddulph and the junkster said, I prefer the stuff they used several years back, it felt nice in all temperatures, and was a snap to maintain as well. I wouldn't let myself get all bent out of shape by finding out the leather is just on the seating surfaces, in the long run it wil be much easier to maintain and will look better longer than if the entire interior was completely done in genuine leather, forget the snob appeal and enjoy how sharp the thing looks, inside and out...

Lorne Miller

fdl

If/when you try it, let me know how it compares to the other stuff you have been using.

ecsw

Sad :'(

Does TL-S (01~03) has the genuine leather?

chrisalberts

There are three variations.

1. Full leather interior - usually includes seat surfaces, door trims, and the back of the seats too. Not incredibly common - most people don't want to pay extra for this.

2. Leather seat surfaces or "facings". This generally means that what you sit on is leather, but the seatback and the base of the seat is imitation.

3. Leather "inserts" where just a portion of the seat facing is leather.

Here in Texas you can tell the difference between leather and leatherette very easily - you sweat more with leatherette. That's why I prefer leather, as it gives a measure of breathing. Leatherette is more hardwearing and takes less maintenance than leather though, if you scuff it or scratch it, often you can make leather look good again (think of how you can polish leather shoes) while leatherette will be scuffed for ever.

C.

legendguy

I think a problem with leatherette (vinyl) is under sunlight. My '92 legend has badly cracked vinyl on the back of the rear headrests. The leather in similarly exposed areas is just fine. Wish I had known about the vinyl in this location (or that Acura had seen fit to put real leather there) as I may have been able to protect with anti-UV cream, tinted window, or blanket.

CDR

Updating an old but potentially important thread ...

I had a vinyl/leather/plastic interior magician work on my TSX dashboard today to repair screwdriver marks the dealer tech had put into the console area while replacing the audio unit for the "console lights out" problem. (Amazing -- looked like new when he finished.)

When he was done he was giving me interior care advice -- and the BIG surprise was his assertion that virtually all of the "facings" in the seats are real leather, not just the perforated center sections.

In his opinion and detailed inspection -- with his 25 years of experience repairing vinyl and leather in cars -- not only are the center perforated sections leather, but also the seat and side bolster facings, all of the front headrest material, and the main facings of the rear seat. The rear headrests are part leather, and the top of the console cover is real leather. The backs and skirts of the seats are vinyl, as are the inserts in the doors.

I know this is different from the accepted wisdom on the board -- which I accepted. Because I was skeptical, he carefully went through each part of the seats and showed me why each part was "real" or vinyl, like the way it pulls and gives, the texture patterns and variations, etc. He even looked inside thread holes to see whether there was leather or fabric inside. He works on new-ish cars for dealers (when they botch something!), so he has plenty of current experience on all makes, common and luxury, and it seems unlikely he would be fooled by even the latest vinyl.

For me, the implication is how I take care of the "previously vinyl -- now believed to be leather" sections -- I'm getting out the Lexol!

Max

It's a shame to find this out - but I've enjoyed the seats a lot before and I still will now. Of course if anybody asks - they're all leather .

ks112

people if you wanna know what part is real leather just smell it, take a wiff and you'll know. I've worked at footlocker before and sold shoes, so i am pretty good at telling the difference between synthetic and real leather. Armrest= synthetic. However its good quality synthetic and it should last just if not longer then the actual leather part providing its properly treated.

sauceman

Thanks for the post CDR. It's pretty interesting to know. I hope you're right.