Reading a post in another thread gave me cause to think. How many new cars available in Thailand have genuine leather seats?

Many advertize leather seats, but when you look closer they are not. For example Mercedes offer "artico leather". In fact this is man made or vinyl.

Just a thought. Does anyone have any actual knowledge?

Most have real leather, on the seat facings at least. Base model Benz's are pretty famous for having the fake stuff though.

My wife wanted leather in her vios and went to the dealership and asked if they could do it .YES we can... Picked it up a few days later with vinyl and the sale lady said that is what we call leather . It was vinyl looking like leather

Kevvy, the Dealership Out Sourced the Re Trim.You have to place an order with Toyo and Honda to get O.E.

I got me these from Italy

Sure they are real leather. installed them myself

My wife wanted leather in her vios and went to the dealership and asked if they could do it .YES we can... Picked it up a few days later with vinyl and the sale lady said that is what we call leather . It was vinyl looking like leather

A friend got their swift done in vinyl for about 5K baht. it looks very good actually. I couldn't immediately tell the difference and was quite comfortable.

I wanted to get my sofa recovered in real leather. I asked him how much - "depends on how many cows", he said. . The previous 'leather' we got was not real leather - it had some coating on top of vinyl, that actually came off.

I got me these from Italy

Sure they are real leather. installed them myself

They do look nice, what vehicle are they in?

The ones on the 3 series are nice.

The ones on the 3 series are nice.

3 series what? BMW I assume.

mine's a Chevy Captiva. originals are vinyl

more pics here http://fotoalbum.virgilio.it/raffo77/chevroletcaptiva/montaggiosediliinpelle

full price for these was 40,000 (private) or 80,000 (sold to Chevrolet Europe for limited edition model)

got them for 4,000 as a factory write off

Range Rover, Jaguar and B.M.W use Roccaro Seats as O.E.. good quality.

The ones on the 3 series are nice.

3 series what? BMW I assume.

Yes its a BMW

The ones on the 3 series are nice.

3 series what? BMW I assume.

Yes its a BMW

That brown matches well with the black interior. I may get something like that for my swift.

Culicine, Honda dealers generally use good re trimmers, if that helps You. .They put White leather in a friends black Swift and its stunning with heavy black stitching and piping..

Culicine, Honda dealers generally use good re trimmers, if that helps You. .They put White leather in a friends black Swift and its stunning with heavy black stitching and piping..

The Tak dealer my daughter used had good leather fitting trimmers, she paid as an extra from new on the top model and 2 years on you get in the motor and smell that leather, nice.

Culicine, Honda dealers generally use good re trimmers, if that helps You. .They put White leather in a friends black Swift and its stunning with heavy black stitching and piping..

A friend had his swift done (Suzuki organized it pre-delivery) with what sounds exactly the same style. the result is fantastic (cost him 30k for all seats and door panels), looks like real leather, smells like real leather. He is smitten with the job done.

Culicine, Honda dealers generally use good re trimmers, if that helps You. .They put White leather in a friends black Swift and its stunning with heavy black stitching and piping..

A friend had his swift done (Suzuki organized it pre-delivery) with what sounds exactly the same style. the result is fantastic (cost him 30k for all seats and door panels), looks like real leather, smells like real leather. He is smitten with the job done.

Worth it in my opinion and for sure it's as good as leather you will get speaking from experience.

Can hardly compare vinyl to leather. Had both. Leather is something else.

Can hardly compare vinyl to leather. Had both. Leather is something else.

I had all the all the seats on my SUV re-done by a local trimmer, and he told me the Thai leather is crap and will crack very quickly. I ended up using a mixture of leather and vinyl, some of the decent thicker vinyl is not that bad, all the people that use him have changed to vinyl after the short life of the leather on Thai made vehicles.

I also have a BMW 3 series and the leather on this one is the real deal.

I expect the leather you obtained from Europe is a quality grade compared to what is available here.

Can hardly compare vinyl to leather. Had both. Leather is something else.

I had all the all the seats on my SUV re-done by a local trimmer, and he told me the Thai leather is crap and will crack very quickly. I ended up using a mixture of leather and vinyl, some of the decent thicker vinyl is not that bad, all the people that use him have changed to vinyl after the short life of the leather on Thai made vehicles.

I also have a BMW 3 series and the leather on this one is the real deal.

I expect the leather you obtained from Europe is a quality grade compared to what is available here.

Only time will tell

PS: how do they get a "leather smell" from vinyl? spray on?

Can hardly compare vinyl to leather. Had both. Leather is something else.

I had all the all the seats on my SUV re-done by a local trimmer, and he told me the Thai leather is crap and will crack very quickly. I ended up using a mixture of leather and vinyl, some of the decent thicker vinyl is not that bad, all the people that use him have changed to vinyl after the short life of the leather on Thai made vehicles.

I also have a BMW 3 series and the leather on this one is the real deal.

I expect the leather you obtained from Europe is a quality grade compared to what is available here.

I think it's not all that bad, if one looks after it. The leather in my honda still looks pretty good after nearly 11 years. I do use conditioner on it though. The only part that is worn is the arm rest - from wear and tear and my sweaty elbow:)

I've seen newer cars with leather in much worse condition. I assume, like the rest of the car, folks just forget about it until something goes wrong.

Can hardly compare vinyl to leather. Had both. Leather is something else.

I had all the all the seats on my SUV re-done by a local trimmer, and he told me the Thai leather is crap and will crack very quickly. I ended up using a mixture of leather and vinyl, some of the decent thicker vinyl is not that bad, all the people that use him have changed to vinyl after the short life of the leather on Thai made vehicles.

I also have a BMW 3 series and the leather on this one is the real deal.

I expect the leather you obtained from Europe is a quality grade compared to what is available here.

I think it's not all that bad, if one looks after it. The leather in my honda still looks pretty good after nearly 11 years. I do use conditioner on it though. The only part that is worn is the arm rest - from wear and tear and my sweaty elbow:)

I've seen newer cars with leather in much worse condition. I assume, like the rest of the car, folks just forget about it until something goes wrong.

yes, care is everything. Can i ask what conditioner you use? and what cleaning agent?

I use this, its Free. Only Prob the Handbags that come with it start fro 6500 Bht.Its realy good though.

I use this, its Free. Only Prob the Handbags that come with it start fro 6500 Bht.Its realy good though.100_4004.JPG

mine's also free, Jaguar leather cleaner. unfortunately it is now about 8000 km from here, so must find a paid alternative

Buy the Mrs a few handbags then !!!. Did you know Connolly has closed its factory Raffo. Now all Jag seats are German.

My wife wanted leather in her vios and went to the dealership and asked if they could do it .YES we can... Picked it up a few days later with vinyl and the sale lady said that is what we call leather . It was vinyl looking like leather

So did she have to still pay the dealership for the plastic seats ? Surely not.

I have asked a shop near me and they work with Australian leather. 2000 to cover up my steering wheel (they have a color to match mine)

Showed them my interior and they were amazed at the workmanship

Probably can't post anything about their business so if needed please PM

I have asked a shop near me and they work with Australian leather. 2000 to cover up my steering wheel (they have a color to match mine)

Showed them my interior and they were amazed at the workmanship

Probably can't post anything about their business so if needed please PM

I believe you can post about the business, please post and share!

I have asked a shop near me and they work with Australian leather. 2000 to cover up my steering wheel (they have a color to match mine)

Showed them my interior and they were amazed at the workmanship

Probably can't post anything about their business so if needed please PM

I believe you can post about the business, please post and share!

ok, here goes:

http://www.captiva-club.com/cctforum/index.php?topic=30900.0

I have asked a shop near me and they work with Australian leather. 2000 to cover up my steering wheel (they have a color to match mine)

Showed them my interior and they were amazed at the workmanship

Probably can't post anything about their business so if needed please PM

I believe you can post about the business, please post and share!

ok, here goes:

http://www.captiva-club.com/cctforum/index.php?topic=30900.0

thanks for sharing!