Sunroof or Leather Seats

murpheous81

I am importing a 406 coupe from the Uk and my price range dictates that its either having leather seats or a sun roof. All opinions welcome, can't decide?

Eoin

Leather seats for me. Only because the velour-like seats in the coupe look very dated.

david

Leather no question.

tw0nk

leather seats all the way, if it as air-con theres no real need for a sunroof unless you want a burnt head

Anan1

OP - be sure to sit in cars both with and without a sunroof - the difference in headroom can be quite noticeable. I'd prefer leather, as long as the car has a/c. Heated seats would be nice too.

homer90

OR

Sunroof and source a leather interior ??

Be nice, for the one day you can use it in the summer

Biro

What good are leather seats? They look crap in used cars, all shiney and cracked. Don't get the Irish mentality when it comes to leather seats. Only look good in about 30% of brand new cars.
Go for the sunroof, quickest way to dispell heat on a hot day before the aircon comes into its own!

Owen

Leather, definitely!

Owen

Bear in mind also, your budget may stretch to both if you negotiate discount. If you're going to the UK, you're probably buying without part exchanging, at which stage the Dealer will drop his price for you.

mcwhirter

Has to be leather, sunroofs leak over time.

shawnee

Have you driven or owned a car with leather seats ? I like the appearance of them , however imagine them on a morning like this morning , would freeze the arse off you. Having sat in a few of them on these cold days cured me. Now I like the look of them but don't want them in my car.
Sunroof are nice , but given the choice I would definitely go for air-con, much more controllable, no possible leaks etc.
However these are merely my choices, its up to you, but would suggest that you try before you choose !;)

Stevie Dakota

Leather 100%. And modern leather is not so cold to the touch and is quick to warm.

riverstick

i would be the opposite to the above post. i wouldnt mind when there cold but i would hate when the very hot. you would be sweating and the leather then makes it feel worse and sticky

Jack Bauer999

mcwhirter wrote: »

Has to be leather, sunroofs leak over time.

Sun roof,
Dont like leather seats,
on cold days they are freezing when first get into car and on summer days you have to peel yourself off them!

EPM

Biro wrote: »

What good are leather seats? They look crap in used cars, all shiney and cracked. Don't get the Irish mentality when it comes to leather seats. Only look good in about 30% of brand new cars.
Go for the sunroof, quickest way to dispell heat on a hot day before the aircon comes into its own!

But the leather seats on the 406 Coupe are one of the better looking ones. Nice stitching and design, really lifts the interior because otherwise its a bit of a let down

RobAMerc

Leather - I am of the opinion a sun roof is the most pointless thing ever in a car ( and I am a big convertible fan ), and I think when it comes to re-sale the leather is going to be a plus while the sunroof is gonna mean zip.

Anan1

riverstick wrote: »

i would be the opposite to the above post. i wouldnt mind when there cold but i would hate when the very hot. you would be sweating and the leather then makes it feel worse and sticky

Jack Bauer999 wrote: »

Sun roof,
Dont like leather seats,
on cold days they are freezing when first get into car and on summer days you have to peel yourself off them!

You really need a/c and heated seats with leather, otherwise the above is true. And make sure both actually work. FWIW, the 406 has a really good air-conditioning system, it's among the coldest i've used.

Biro

EPM wrote: »

But the leather seats on the 406 Coupe are one of the better looking ones. Nice stitching and design, really lifts the interior because otherwise its a bit of a let down

What I hate more than anything is the shiney old look that leather gives after time. Makes a used car look an awful lot older and more worn. I hate that. Nearly all cars have fake leather anyway. BMW offer fake leather as an option at around €400 or there abouts, and real leather at a much higher price. It's fair enough, as most plebs don't know the difference and get the cheap crap which looks terrible after 2 years.

Anan1

Mercedes MB-tex seems to be tougher than real leather. Doesn't feel as nice, though.

Stevie Dakota

I had leather for 8 years (not heated), never found cold a problem, ditto heat, when it was really hot on went the AC and that was that. It looks good, is so much easier to keep clean and makes the car more desirable (to most people!) come re-sale.

Have the people bad mouthing it actually lived with it?

Voodoomelon

Biro wrote: »

What good are leather seats? They look crap in used cars, all shiney and cracked. Don't get the Irish mentality when it comes to leather seats. Only look good in about 30% of brand new cars.
Go for the sunroof, quickest way to dispell heat on a hot day before the aircon comes into its own!

9 years old mate! :pac:

EPM

Biro wrote: »

What I hate more than anything is the shiney old look that leather gives after time. Makes a used car look an awful lot older and more worn. I hate that. Nearly all cars have fake leather anyway. BMW offer fake leather as an option at around €400 or there abouts, and real leather at a much higher price. It's fair enough, as most plebs don't know the difference and get the cheap crap which looks terrible after 2 years.

True enough...even seen the crap they put in Celica's? The back seats are just vinyl:rolleyes:

EPM

Voodoomelon wrote: »

9 years old mate! :pac:

No pic of the drivers seat though:p

Voodoomelon

Just prefered the look of the seat when the thigh support is retracted, I have nothing to hide! :P

skibum

I had a black leather interior in my Corrado, it looked the mutts nutts, but it wasn't heated and on cold days the seats were cold, but what pissed me off the most was on hot days the leather was uncomfortable. (getting into the car the seats were hot enough to be felt through jeans)

The corrado had a sunroof which was handy, used the tilt function most days to help with the ventilation.

If I had the option I would go for both, as apparently newer leather is "different"?

Biro

Voodoomelon wrote: »

9 years old mate! :pac:

Great example - a hundred grand car! Go look at autotrader or carzone or whereever and find more true to life examples. Not many 728's out there!
As I said, proper stuff looks good when new and if looked after, but your car is an exception rather than the norm.

Voodoomelon

Lol, i know i know, I just saw a show and tell opportunity! Most 5 years+ leather does indeed look worn, most notabley old Volvo leather, expecially in black as the cracks show up as white. Actually when i was looking for mine it was hard to find one with decent leather in it, however the sport seats seem to be harder wearing than the standard 7 series seats.

Biro

EPM wrote: »

True enough...even seen the crap they put in Celica's? The back seats are just vinyl:rolleyes:

I know, it's chronic. When I was selling my Celica first 2 phone calls both asked the first question "has it got leather seats", neither proceeded with the phone call when I informed them it hadn't. Didn't matter if the thing had a million miles or was never serviced or was rough as crap - so long as it had terrible looking plastic covering the seats was all they wanted! I actually deliberately looked for one without leather!

Top Dog

Personal choice - sunroof.

If you're thinking ahead and factoring in saleability - leather.

Have both in our current car and if I had to give one up it would be the leather, as I simply like having a sunroof.

Eoin

Biro wrote: »

What good are leather seats? They look crap in used cars, all shiney and cracked. Don't get the Irish mentality when it comes to leather seats. Only look good in about 30% of brand new cars.
Go for the sunroof, quickest way to dispell heat on a hot day before the aircon comes into its own!

The standard seats:


The leather seats:


(sorry for crap picture quality).

Some cars looks OK with the non-leather alternative. I was initially disappointed that my car didn't have leather, but I've come to really like the alcantara. But some cars just don't look right with the non-leather interior.

I absolutely hate heated seats though.

Tabnabs

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I have a 4 year old Volvo and my leather seats look 5 years younger then yours... (i.e. no sagging, creasing or sinking). Heated for cold mornings, but rarely use it and hot day use is being way over hyped here. Nothing like the smell when you sit into the car on a warm/hot day. mmmmm nice :pac:

Anan1

I think the drivers seat on that BMW looks very inviting, maybe even more so than when it was new.

Voodoomelon

Dyflin wrote: »

I have a 4 year old Volvo and my leather seats look 5 years younger then yours... (i.e. no sagging, creasing or sinking). Heated for cold mornings, but rarely use it and hot day use is being way over hyped here. Nothing like the smell when you sit into the car on a warm/hot day. mmmmm nice :pac:

No doubt, for some reason Volvo seats sprung to mind, probably because most models from the last decade came with some kind of leather. It's much the same for all leather though, only thing that matters really is how much it was used and how much it was looked after.

Eoin

Anan1 wrote: »

I think the drivers seat on that BMW looks very inviting, maybe even more so than when it was new.

I test drove a few 7 series of about that age this time last year - incredibly comfortable place to be.

Voodoomelon

Anan1 wrote: »

I think the drivers seat on that BMW looks very inviting, maybe even more so than when it was new.

I slept on it once, reclined it all the way back nice and flat with a duvet an all, was like sleeping on a couch! No I wasn't kicked out of the house... :pac:

Biro

eoin wrote: »

The standard seats:


The leather seats:


(sorry for crap picture quality).

Some cars looks OK with the non-leather alternative. I was initially disappointed that my car didn't have leather, but I've come to really like the alcantara. But some cars just don't look right with the non-leather interior.

I absolutely hate heated seats though.

Much prefer the non-leather in that option there.

cjt156

Biro wrote: »

Much prefer the non-leather in that option there.

Yep, nothing says coupe like pi$s-stained velour...

Leather, every time.

Owen

Again, just to reiterate, if the OP is buying in the UK without a trade in, he should haggle for discount to get both included in his budget. No deciding necessary then!

Eoin

Biro wrote: »

Much prefer the non-leather in that option there.

To each their own. As I said, there are some nice alternatives to leather out there, but that isn't one of them for me.

Zube

I like worn, cracked leather better than stained velour.

I'd also pay more for a car without a sunroof: closed they rob headroom, they're noisy and they leak, and open they do nothing except make it impossible to drive above 20 mph, and then they break down. Stupid inventions, even before aircon came along.

Dazzy

Has to be leather but I would advise getting heated leather seats. My current car has leather which looks great but the seats are absolutely freezing in Winter. Its takes ages to get to a comfortable temp. Take yesterday as an example, I knew I would be in the car for a long time with the traffic so took off my jacket and it was a long time before I got comfortable. Leather is also great if like me you have a couple of kids.

Biro

cjt156 wrote: »

Yep, nothing says coupe like pi$s-stained velour...

Leather, every time.

:rolleyes:

Biro

eoin wrote: »

To each their own. As I said, there are some nice alternatives to leather out there, but that isn't one of them for me.

Neither of those are nice, both look worn and dirty.

Holsten

Biro wrote: »

What good are leather seats? They look crap in used cars, all shiney and cracked. Don't get the Irish mentality when it comes to leather seats. Only look good in about 30% of brand new cars.
Go for the sunroof, quickest way to dispell heat on a hot day before the aircon comes into its own!

I'm the same, I don't really like leather seats, even on a brand new car, but on a used car? Forget about it.

rebel.ranter

I'd go for leather, I don't know where the comments about cold seats on a cold morning comes from. Unless of course you are driving in the nip!!:D

I think in this depressed economy (I think its officially a depression now, moved on from a recession) & similarly in the UK you should be able to land both the sunroof and the leather.

Are you looking at two particular cars that has you at this conundrum?

leeroybrown

Once the car has aircon then I'd take leather over a sunroof any day. As was pointed out above you do need to consider the seat fabrics and the quality of the leather. I haven't seen the leather in the 406 coupe but the standard seat fabrics weren't peasant when the car was brought out and I doubt that they've aged well. If I wasn't getting leather I'd probably prefer to keep some cash in my wallet and have no sunroof.

My last car had aircon, half leather seats and a sunroof and I found that the sunroof didn't really add anything and reduced the headroom. The car had great aircon so I rarely ever opened the sunroof and I generally had the interior cover for it closed too. On top of that I ran into an electrical problem where a relay shorted causing it to open of it's own accord and get stuck in the roof. I had to partially remove the headlining to fix the problem.

tossy

Leather all day everyday,if you treat it regularly with a reputable leather cleaner and conditioner like gliptone you will be fine,here's a pic of my leather seats almost 6 years old and treat from new with gliptone.(heated seats are nice but A/C is a must)

galwaytt

Biro wrote: »

What I hate more than anything is the shiney old look that leather gives after time. ..

...in which case you're not minding them or caring for them, properly. That's not the seats - or the cow's - fault, it's yours.


OP - leather 1st, sunroof wouldn even be 2nd. Old sunroofs just give grief.

In general, leather wears better, and is easier to keep looking well, than cloth.

murpheous81

OP here. Cheers for opinions folks. Test drove a 406 coupe yesterday with sunroof and velour seats. Decided to go for the leather seats. Again folks cheers.

biko

Def sunroof. Seats are for sitting, doesn't matter if they are cloth to me.

Biro

galwaytt wrote: »

...in which case you're not minding them or caring for them, properly. That's not the seats - or the cow's - fault, it's yours.


OP - leather 1st, sunroof wouldn even be 2nd. Old sunroofs just give grief.

In general, leather wears better, and is easier to keep looking well, than cloth.

How could I possibly mind the leather seats in a car that I might buy in 4 years time? My point is that probably only 2% of Irish car owners actually mind their leather seats. Usually those that do own cars that were expensive and came with decent leather seats in the first place. The rest have either gone to sh!t or had plasticy seats from day one.