Thanks for your reply.

I have posted two separate links where two different people shared their stories and repeated my own experience several times:: I have a 1995 XJS purchased new by my grandfather in 1994 that had only real leather headrests panels, everything else in the face of the seats was AMBLA which I discovered when I was given the car a few years ago and had new leather seats installed and flipped the old ones inside out....The links I shared have similar stories. I don't know what else I can supply to you as proof. I don't know what I would have to gain from concocting a false story. Jaguar sticks synthetics on the faces of the seats. It's a reality. I doubt they deliberately do it, but there must be a disconnect between marketing and production.

 

I will give you guys the truth to what you seek as I am the Dr. And the Doc is almost always correct. I have an old seat out of a 2004 jaguar x type. I am taking it apart tonight with pictures tomorrow. I will send them to Chris, as my computer has been acting up and cant post pictures at this time. tune in to what might be another interesting and well put out lie by Jaguar! we will see.




The Dr!

 

Well I hope it's completely leather faced in the X . I am not debating that since I have not taken mine apart. I am arguing that Jaguar does and has done that in the past

 

For all those following this, Dr Dome is tearing apart a seat for us and he is going to take some pictures of the back side of the skin so we can all see what is leather and what is not. So, give me a little longer and if he doesn't post the pics (he's having computer issues), then I will be.

 

Ok, I have the pics and while this may not be quite the "definitive proof" that some may want, this is what I have found out. Dr Dome tore apart a seat from an 04 X-Type and looked at the material making up the seat (both the seat cushion and the back rest). Here are the pics:







Taking what Dr Dome saw, he says that the entire back of the seat is faux leather. There is no real leather there at any place in the covering.

As for the bottom of the seat, he initially thought it too was all faux leather due to the covering on the center section. But, with some deeper inspection, jaguar put a covering over this and that the center portion is real leather. But, the surrounding material is faux leather.

I know the pics may not be enough proof for some. Maybe I will need to make a run up to the Dr's place again and get some better images with my DSLR. I am just taking what he has told me.

 

Thanks For taking the time Dr Dome and Chris!!!!!!

It really does not get more definitive than this.

Once you get more information could you explain what is what in terms of just the faces?

At this point I am understanding that no part of the seat back cushion is leather. Not the face or the back. Just 100 percent synthetic faces and all.

As for the bottom, I am understanding the only part "of the face" that is leather is the pleated area, with the surrounding bolsters and other parts of the face in synthetics

If this is correct it would be very similar to what I found in my XJS: only one very small panel of the entire face, seat and bottom was in leather.

 

OK..this is getting interesting, because if I understand the photo-postings correctly, on THIS car the seat bottom piece has real leather in the pleated section and faux-leather on the bolster areas.
Hmmmm.....well, I can tell you, based on wear, creasing, and surface dye loss, that all the X-Types I have seen absolutely, definitely have leather on the bolsters. This is very easy to verify by looking at the surface texture and condition - vinyl does not deteriorate in the same way that leather does.
Now I am wondering if the faux panels are randomly found, in other words, could the explanation be a periodic lack of leather supplies? Jaguar has a very long-standing history of part substitution when necessary, but I did not think it extended into the modern era (that is, post 2000). I am not willing to take my seats apart but clearly the advertised construction - which suggests a consistency in the use of leather - is not exactly true (assuming that is, that no post-build repairs have been made to the seat covers examined).

 

Like I said before:

It may look like it and feel like it (to some) but it isn't .

But we should wait until the final veredict is in. Maybe they will find more than originally thought.

 

Ok this is my findings.
Bottom of seat is 100% leather.
Back of seat is leather on the whole face, The air bag in the seat side is leather. all else is faux. Back side of the whole seat is faux. If any other questions let me know. I will keep the seat for future use and pictures as needed.


Thanks to all who posted,


The Dr!

 

Well I am glad Gregory was right. All the faces are indeed leather. I was certain that they where not.

I suppose I better get the Letherique back out for the X type and start on it again.

 

Gregory is glad to be right too, but he isn't always right. We have had some conflicting evidence presented. I stated that the entire seating surface, as claimed by Jaguar, was leather, with the sides and rear of the seat being Ambla. But others have submitted evidence to the contrary, The most recent evidence provided (thanks Dr Dome)supports the claim that the seating surface is entirely leather.
As a concrete contribution to this discussion, today I took a photo of the bolster of the driver's seat in my 2005 Sportwagon. The bolster takes virtually all the wear as drivers slide in and out of the seat - this is always the most damaged part of the leather interior and the damage is shown by cracking of the colour coating on the leather and in severe cases by the colour coating wearing away entirely in spots. Ambla (vinyl) does not suffer this sort of damage. So if we find damage as described, the panel is proven to be leather, not Ambla.
So I attach the photo. Look closely at the left hand panel: you will see very fine cracking in the colour coating of the bolster. Follow the cracking to the right, over the stitching and to the dividing line between the bolster piece and the side panel piece. The cracking, that is the wear/damage to the surface, ends exactly and cleanly where the bolster piece ends and abuts the Ambla of the side piece. The bolster piece and the side piece are very clearly made of different material because of the difference in wear pattern (none on the Ambla, fine cracking on the bolster. The bolster, ergo, is leather (as Jaguar claims) and the side piece is vinyl - excellent vinyl, but vinyl Ambla.
Now, given the contrary evidence provided earlier, I wonder if there may have been some instances in which there was a shortage of leather in certain colours and in which the Ambla was used instead (have to keep the lines moving! after all, they made almost 400,000 X-Types!) and/or if there was some variance in the percentage of leather used in cars for different markets? (Jaguar does alter the cars for different markets). I can only say that my experience is that the seat surfaces are all leather, as Jaguar claims. But I acknowledge that others may have other experiences.

 

Thanks for the photo. What do you use to condition the X type leather? As soon as I heard the good news about the seats I once again saturated the front seats with Leatherique rejuvenator and put trash bags over like I have done before. The front seats feel much harder than the rear seats. I am leaving the leatherique there for several days to see if it helps.

I send you a unrelated PM as well in regards to Autolux leather.

 

Here's something I did to help with this discussion:


I'm certain parts 1-6 are leather. Part 7 most certainly isn't.
I've no idea about the armrest, headrest nor the bits on the door cards, but I'd assume they are all vinyl.

Then again, even in a Bentley Mulsanne you have an extremely thin slice of veneer everywhere. Sure, they glue it to a block of wood rather than a metal frame, but no car manufacturer really uses anything but thin veneer. It's extremely precious, and a thicker piece is pointless as it adds nothing in terms of aesthetics, and might be more brittle than a thinner piece with thicker backing.

 

OK: I can tell you that you are correct about pieces 1-6: they are all leather and the headrest piece 8 is also leather. Pieces 7 and 9 and NOT leather because they are SIDE pieces (never claimed by Jaguar to be leather). Nothing on the door panel is leather despite the fact that the armrest is beautifully formed and stitched. The console armrest, likewise is not leather. But the seat facings and the headrest facings ARE leather.
And you are correct again about the wood: it is VENEER. Veneer has been used for centuries in very high quality furniture, and veneer is what Jaguar has ALWAYS used, but until the 1990's is was glued to a plywood substrate (as in the XJ sedans of the 70's and 80's and right to the very last Series III V12 car in 1992). Advances in technology as well as stiffer safety requirements med manufacturers (EVERY luxury manufacturer) to develop a process whereby the veneer could be fixed to metal and sometimes plastic substrates: lighter and safer. This is not evidence of a lack of quality - quite the opposite.

 

Mark:

On modern Jaguars such as the X-Type, I prefer Lexol. The Leatherique conditioner is excellent for the leather of the 70's and 80's but I find it less effective on the modern cars - probably because the tanning and colour coating techniques have changed, and the Italian leathers used now by Jaguar are softer and quite different.
Lexol works quite quickly, particularly if you use a soft toothbrush to loosen the dirt - it is the dirt that makes the leather feel hard and stiff. The sign of an effective conditioner is that after allowing it to penetrate (for hours if possible) the surface will feel sticky. That stickiness is mostly DIRT which has been brought to the surface by capillary action. To clean this away I find that dampening a cloth with a bit more Lexol works really well. I use a light-coloured cloth because it reveals just how much dirt is removed. It is quite amazing. If you use a conditioner that has silicone in it, the surface will feel temporarily smooth - yup....and the silicones seal the colour coating so that no further conditioning can be done.
Leatherique is superb at removing dirt and softening the leather, but it works most effectively on the older leathers (but not, in my experience on Vaumol leather form the 60's).

 

I have only found a couple leather products that didn't smell like puke or some other bizarre chemical. One is the Tannery leather cleaner and conditioner found at Ace hardware and the other is Surf City Voodoo Blend leather rejuvenator found at Walmart, Pep Boys etc. Both work very well and leave the car smelling like it has a LEATHER interior weather it is all leather or just the seating surfaces. Surf City Garage Voodoo Blend Leather Rejuvenator, 16 oz - Walmart.com


The surf city product is a liquid and a little more work to apply than the Tannery spray but without regular treatment the leather will absolutely crack and your Jag will look like an old POS..