hi everyone,
ok so i'm new to the forum and have a new (to me ) s type.
here's my silly question - is the top (nearest to the driver) half of the dash leather or vinyl ? i honestly can't tell on my car and the same goes for the top section of the doors ?
yep i know it's a silly question, go gentle with me :-)

 

Tis not a silly qestion. I'd like to know myself. Any interior dudes here?

 

Usually, in most newer cars, the only part that is real leather is the part your body touches in the seat bottom and backs. "Leather seating surfaces" is how it is phrased.

That being said, I don't know the answer to your question but I suspect that it is vinyl, not leather.
Vector

 

I'm also going to suspect its vinyl as well...

 

Not a silly question at all.

But there is a very silly test involving a lit cigarette.

(without seeing one, I'd say Vinyl).

 

Not silly... The "inserts" on the doors, like the arm rest are leather. The tops of the door and dash are not. I have never seen any wrapped dash in the S Type. I know they started doing that on the XF on higher level trim. But they didn't on the S Type.

 

sorry can't run the test as i gave up smoking 3 years ago

 

hey jeff, thanks. i've been conditioning all the leather as the previous owner obviously never did so it was not that easy to tell the difference in some spots. i'll be honest apart from the door tops the whole rest of the door looks leather to me, a thinner grade than the armrest insert section but still soft and leathery. the top section above the door handle does feel rough and vinyl like in comparison - same as the dash top and some of the dash front.

while we are on this subject anyone know the best stuff to clean the aluminium with ? i'm pretty it's never been polished properly as it looks very dull in places. i realise not many aluminium dashes are out there but was hoping someone might have experience with this

thanks guys

 

Might wanna check out the detailing section oakstar, or even detailing world............for all the info.

 

oops forgot about that, thanks

 

ok, i've looked - not a mention of it i can find.
guess i'll just have to try my best - let you know how i get on

 

Ok, now I hope somebody doesn't tell me the wood is fake too...

 

No worries... If it was wood grain, in a Jaguar, it is real wood.

I don't know if there is any kind of sensitive clear coat over the aluminum on the trim of your car. To play it safe, use a microfiber cloth and vinegar and water as a cleaning agent. Then, use the same preservative that you use on the leather. If it looks hazy then just clean it off with the vinegar and water again. I used the leather cleaner and preservative on all the trim in my car including the dash. It always looked good.

Just remember: No Silicone based stuff.... Dries plastics out in the long term (example Armour All)

 

Here we go again................

FWIW, I have used Armor all on all my vehicles since new for the past 20+ years or so and have NEVER seen any detrimental effects. I was told by my boat dealer not to use it on my new boat, but to buy the 303 protectant from him for $16+ per bottle instead, 5 years later, using only Armor all, my boat looks like new and the only threads that rotted were the ones on the mooring cover that did not get Armor All.

Here is a quote from another board:
As many of your know, I work for Meguiar's. Of course we test and compare all the competitors products, even to the point of having our chemists literally take the stuff apart.

Armor All is, without a doubt, the single most maligned product in the automotive finish care world. Back in the day it was just about the ONLY product of it's kind on the market, and it was being used on plastics and vinyls of the time (think back to the great quality of domestic car interiors back in 1975 - yeah, junk). Now consider that most people did NOTHING to the dash in their cars and over time the material would just dry out horribly. So Armor All hit the market and people jumped on it. Spray some on that badly weathered dash and the material would often swell and split, so everyone blamed Armor All - after all, the dash appeared fine before applying the stuff. Truth is, if the dash is that badly dried out it will have a tendancy to swell and split if you appy almost anything to it - even plain water. But since Armor All had virtually no competition at the time, it took the blame.

Armor All was reforumlated several years ago, mostly due to changing VOC regulations that they, us and all of our competitors face on an ongoing basis, and it's now basically just a water based dressing not terribly unlike 303, or several of our own dressings. It does tend to impart a pretty high shine still, which I personally don't care for (but then again we make a product or two who's appearance I don't care for, but some folks like that look so we make 'em). Of course, just because many of these are water based doesn't mean their all identical - far from it. 303 is an excellent product, but I'd put our M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner or Hyper Dressing up against it any day.

Otherwise Armor All is fine to use on the interior, tires, etc. If you don't mind the look .

 

Armor-All may not be nearly as damaging as some folks believe, but there are better products and better choices. I am one of those guys that does not like the sheen that Armor-All or similar "protectants" leave behind, so I haven't used it in many years. My preference for the past decade or so has been nothing but a clean, 35-year-old cotton diaper dampened with water, and then buffing with another dry 35-year-old cotton diaper. Use your shop-vac on your interior parts regularly, especially during the current heavy pollen season here in our neck of the woods. This system has worked well on all of our current vehicles' interiors - they all still look new....

 

Back as a kid, I once got the dispenser bottles mixed up in the body shop where I worked part time and used Industrial Rubber Cleaner on a Vinyl dash.

The dash became all sticky and squidgy and my cloth turned black.

It had melted.

The boss was not too happy, but it turned out that someone else had incorrectly filled the bottles.

Even now, I am wary about using chemicals on vinyl and tend to follow Jon's method, although finding a 35 year old that will lend me a diaper is sometimes difficult.

 

Richard,

It may be easier to swipe that diaper from an 85-year-old. They're usually too busy drooling and napping to notice....

 

LOL Jon.

You could be onto something, I run a computer class for OAPs.

Sniff test, maybe on the cards. Uhg

 

 

ok, it is real aluminium with a clear lacquer coat on top of that is the jaguar logo decal. there is a cross hatching pattern in the aluminium but its very hard to tell if it's a decal under the lacquer or genuine etched pattern. anyhow it looks cool and catches the light in the pattern somehow.
being very wary of a) destroying the lacquer and b) polishing in the dirt i decided to just try out 2 things as it was very dull. 1 i cleaned it with a mild kitchen wipe which got loads of grime off (hopefully i won't have to do that again) and then i polished it with a kitchen worktop shine i have (that is mild) wow what a difference !! it's great i'll try and take a picture or two to show you.
thanks for all the advice guys.