Cloth or leather?

ExplorerTom · Apr 17, 2015

On a 1st or 2nd gen, what would you go for:
Cloth or leather?

Based on how old any vehicle from these generations are, they are going to have some wear and years of sun exposure.

I'm guessing the cloth interior is going to hold up better to these harsh conditions. A lot of the leather interiors I'm seeing have tears in the driver seat. Are there replacements covers available at reasonable costs?

Heated seats. I like heated seats. My Mariner and Escape have heated seats- both are leather and both are ridiculously cold when it's cold outside. Has anyone ever installed heating pads in cloth seats? I've installed heating pads in the rear seats of my Mariner and Escape. Very cool feature.

How are the cloth seats for comfort? Short drives and road trips?

2004XLT · Apr 19, 2015

I have grey cloth in mine and don't have any fading. However the side of the driver seat will eventually wear at the seam the same way as a leather seat would, just won't crack or split like leather can. You can check sites like auto anything for seat covers but to replace with OEM covers can get expensive. Seat foam and structure is the same for leather and cloth seats so comfort will be comparable.

ExplorerTom · Apr 19, 2015

I ended up finding a 2000 without a ripped driver's seat. So I bought it.

The seats (all of them) were/are super dirty. That's one nice thing about leather is that it cleans up a little easier than cloth. I've made significant headway towards cleaning them up, but there's more to come.

kmh1596 · Apr 22, 2015

I bought my 04 with s blown out EB interior in it, and transplanted a King Ranch interior. Love it!

http://www.expeditionforum.com/f43/interior-swap-04-eddie-bauer-05-king-ranch-17952/

GAINMOB · Apr 25, 2015

for any car period I go for leather...don't worry bout exposure from the son...tint ur windows...my truck is 11 yrs old and my seats are pretty darn good...the seats aren't leather anyways...the only leather used are on the front seats...where your but sits and against ur back...the rest of the vehicle is all vinyl...and that goes for all cars unless ur buying high-end foreign cars

ExplorerTom · Apr 25, 2015

What kind of windshield shade do you use? I have a Covercraft in my Mariner. It's nice but because it's rigid, it's a pain to store.

cheapjeep · Apr 25, 2015

Kids=leather(or case hardened steel)
Construction work=leather

k9education · Jun 12, 2015

6K-Watts said:
for any car period I go for leather...don't worry bout exposure from the son...tint ur windows...my truck is 11 yrs old and my seats are pretty darn good

+1. My windows are tinted and the seats in my 2000 Mountaineer are in great shape for a 15 year old car. No rips, no noticeable fading (I'm sure they are faded, but it's not noticeable.). Heck, they're not even cracking.

black 4x4 · Jun 12, 2015

I'm pretty sure any car glass after 2000 model year is built with UV protection. That's why you no longer see cracked dashboards or rear panels under the rear glass (passenger cars) or faded seats and stuff. Tinting will cut the light and cool the interior but doesn't do much for UV protection since you already have it to begin with.

If you look at the glass you'll see "solar tint" above the ford logo.

montecarlo31 · Jun 12, 2015

Interesting some here are saying "leather" yet the only leather available was the king ranch. The "leather" seats are not quite that, most of the seat is vinyl with maybe one 12" square of leather that is a sealed leather. The rears are going to be vinyl too. If I were looking 2nd generation I would find a king ranch if possible, even leather that looks worn and tattered can be worked into good shape with a little elbow grease and cleaner / conditioner treatment.

The vinyl seats in the the Eddie Bauer are easy to take care of I remember having one as a company car (in the construction business) and it was as quick as wiping it out with a wet cloth and slapping some armorall on it.

Cloth or leather?

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