Hello all!

I was wondering if anyone knows with certainly what panels are actual leather (if any) on a base X type. I am aware that several and probably most panels are synthetic, but I wanted to get a confirmation on what is actual leather.

Thanks!

 

The only parts that are real leather are the two pieces that your butt touches. So you have about 12 inches on the bottom near the hinge and the 12 inches going up the back.

 

Thanks Chris. It's the "pleated" area then. That's what I imagined.

Thanks!

 

Interesting. Is this the norm for leather interiors on cars? All the descriptions/reviews I've read of the X-Type have simply described it has having leather seats, which I assumed meant all leather.

 

No modern cars have real full leather interiors, except for very expensive cars, and even then, sometimes they don't. At best they have the faces your body touches in leather, and more typically even less than that. I just had no idea which little bits if any where leather on the X type.

 

Does synthetic leather require the same care as real leather to prevent cracking?

 

Nope. That was precisely the reason for my question. My other cars have a "real" full Connolly leather interior all over, and I have been giving the X type the same interior care, which makes no sense because I have been wasting lots of very expensive products needlessly. Just a damp cloth should do on the synthetic area.

 

Note that a lot of advertisements advertise "leather seating surfaces", not "full leather interior". The seating surface is merely where your butt touches the seat. It is all a play on words to make you think that you are getting more than you really are. I believe the XJ, XK, and XF come with a true full leather interior (even the dash is leather), but like was mentioned, this is only true on higher end cars.

 

Gents: with respect, you are wrong. The ENTIRE seating surface, both of the seat bottom and the seat backrest, NOT just the pleated area, is leather. The back and sides of the seat (which your body does not touch) are vinyl. The headrest surfaces are also leather where your head might touch but the sides are vinyl - a comparison of the headrest surfaces, the front/ top/back piece and the side pieces side will give you a better idea of the difference between the leather and the vinyl. They are close, but not identical.

To clarify: the bolster areas on the seat backrest, the pleated portions of both seat bottom and backrest, AND the portion of the seat bottom at the front of the seat where your thighs rest ARE leather. A careful look will confirm this: you will see creasing in these areas - which is a characteristic of leather, not vinyl, and the grain is different from the grain of the vinyl on the seat sides the rear (backside) of the seat. Jaguar does NOT use vinyl on the seating surfaces. The more expensive Jaguar models can and definitely DO have full leather interiors (my XK, for example) where the entire seat, every bit of the seat, the centre console, the entire dashboard surface and the door panels are leather.
But in the X-Type the entire seating surface, that is, any part of the seat that your body touches, is leather. It was Connolly leather until the 2002 model year and Italian leather afterwards (Connolly went out of business). And the entire seating area (which is leather) does need leather conditioner used regularly (my history on this model: 3 X-Types).

 

Hi there! Thanks for your reply.

Jaguar does and has been using vinyl on the seating surfaces for quite some time, I am afraid. The only way to know is if you remove the seat skins and turn them around. My 1974 E type does have a complete Connolly Vaumol leather seating interior with no synthetics anywhere. But my 1995 XJS did not originaly. I have since recovered the seats in 100% leather that I had made, and when the old covers came of, only 1 or 2 small panels where leather. Everything else was ambla (Jaguar synthetic). And then my grandfather fished out the original stickers and literature from when he bought the cars, and sure enough it says "part Ambla interior" for the 95 and mentions full Connolly leather on the 74. The 1980's XJ's did not even have full leather interiors. Except for the v12 VDP's

There are many owners that are convinced that their synthetic seats have more leather than they actually do because the synthetic is so well made. But it is to be expected that entry cars like the X type have very little if any leather. The base BMW3 series has no leather at all.

I do hope you are right though! It would be nice if there was more. I bought the X type used, and I don't have any literature for it, so I won't say you are wrong, but I would find it very unlikely that the entire seating surfaces are leather on a X type

 

A little off topic, but what about the wood dash, trim, etc? I assumed it was fake wood, but one of the descriptions for an X-Type that I read said it had African something or other wood trim. (the description also claimed it was Coach leather)

 

It is a real wood veneer.

 

JMG, the wood trim inside the car is "wood". But, it is only like a 1/16" thick over a plastic/metal frame. So, to call it wood trim is again a deception as I see it. If you are going to give me wood trim, I would expect to see screws holding a 1/2" thick piece in place. But, that is cost and the X-Type was not a car with the intention of putting something like what i am wanting into it.

 

The ultimate (?) test of leather v vinyl is the soldering iron!! Use a part of the material that is out of sight and you'll find that Sov211 is correct!

The one 'leather' trim that seems to be extensive as opposed to the basic seating faces is the Ivory option. This was usually about a £750 extra, but that gives not only seat facings (still not backs/map pockets!) but also the centre console and some of the door covering.

That's certainly the case in my XK8, but at the price, I declined the option on my X Type. It would be interesting if any X Type owners with Ivory leather - not Champagne, Barley etc! - care to confirm or deny all that?

 

I have to say I am surprised.

I called Jaguar North America and gave them my VIN. The girl claims that its a leather interior. She said all the faces of the seats are real leather. Like you guys claim. I am still not convinced being the cynic that I am, and because compared the the Connolly Vaumol and Connolly Autolux leathers in my other cars this just feels plasticky. I guess it could be a low grade leather but I won't be 100 percent convinced until I take the covers of the seats and flip it around, since I know for a fact that Jaguar called some of their interiors "leather" in late 80's and 90's XJ's when in reality only a few panels on the faces of the seats where "leather"
. And considering I need to redye the drivers side, that may not be a bad idea.

 

Mark:
Let's go over this again: first, the interior selection for Jaguars marketed in Britain and those for Canada and the US are different. The cars for Canada and the US have a higher specification; while in Britain you could get X-Types with a "half-leather" interior - meaning leather and cloth, for North America there was no such interior. All the X-Types for Canada and the US had leather seats - no cloth. And more items are standard equipment on the North American models. The Canadian cars generally have more items as standard equipment than the US cars.
Moving on: Jaguar has always used leather for ALL seating surfaces that the body touches, NEVER vinyl and leather - you say that you "know for a fact" that Jaguar used a combination of leather and vinyl. This is untrue; vinyl was reserved for the sides and back surface of the seats, but the seating surfaces were completely leather. The Vanden Plas and Daimler models used full leather on every part of the seat including the seat sides and the back surface - that is the surface facing the rear seats. Other Jaguar models had and have "full leather" as an option - the XK being an example. The old Vaumol leather used in the 60's and the lovely Connolly leather used in the 70's and 80's and 90's (including the "Autolux" leather which was the highest grade) does indeed feel different than the leather used in Jaguars made since 2002 - why? because the leather in these cars is NOT Connoly - it is Italian leather (and there are different grades; the leather used in the XJ and XK is of a higher grade, and softer than the leather used in the X-Type, for obvious reasons). And if the seats in your 1974 E-Type are original, then the entire seating surface is also leather (yup...I had one of those in my care for 6 months...)
So, to repeat, the seating surface - the entire seating surface of the seats in the X-Type is leather.
The X-Type door panels, door armrests and centre console armrest are first quality vinyl. On the more upscale Jaguars the door armrests are always leather as are the console armrests, and on the XJ and XK, the entire centre console and dash are often leather.
Because it is always good policy to know one's qualifications for comment, here are mines: I am a Jaguar Clubs of North America Chief Judge; I have closely examined hundreds of Jaguars of all models and years over more than 20 years. I have restored to concours-winning condition 21 Jaguars, including the interiors. I have restored the leather, replaced some leather, redyed the leather.
There is no "plastic wood" in a Jaguar. No two Jaguars have identical wood; the wood used now in Jaguars is prepared exactly as it is prepared in every high-end car: Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Rolls Royce, Bentley...except that it is most often better. It is indeed a veneer over a metal substrate. Jaguar used to and probably still does, do the wood for Aston Martin as well as for its own cars. The wood is selected for each car by one person to make sure the grain and colour match. On the more expensive Jaguars the wood is mirror-matched - so that the wood on one door matches the grain of the wood on the opposite door - and if the design permits the wood for the dash is split in the middle with mirror-matched veneers from successive cuts. How do I know? I have been to the factory (as many others have) and I have watched the wood being finished. That is where I learned that they were doing the Aston Martin wood.
With respect to the wood and leather in a Jaguar (every Jaguar) it is always first quality. If you buy a Mercedes, however, you may well find that it has what MB calls "Artico leather" - translation: Vinyl. Very god vinyl, excellent vinyl, but vinyl. You pay extra for leather in most Mercedes. Jaguar is known for its interiors and has been since the 1930's. Jaguar, better than any other marque, knows about the "feel good" factor of a luxury interior.

 

Oh...one more thing: the wood: in the X-Type several different woods were used: Birds-eye Maple (in the early cars), then Sapele wood (which actually can look quite like the Birds-eye Maple, and some, labelled either Luxury or VDP depending on the market, in the 2006-7 period had Burl Walnut as on the more expensive Jaguars, some of the last cars could have a Piano Black finish and some of the very last cars could have as an option a metal panel instead of wood. Regardless of the wood, the finish is always impeccable. And because it is wood it should be kept waxed (primarily because this makes the finish absolutely gleam) and kept shaded from the sun to prevent fading. Using shades in the front screen will also help protect *all that leather* too. Heat and sun are the enemies of leather and wood (so why, you might ask, would you put leather and wood in a luxury car instead of vinyl and plastic? if you have to ask, then...).
The photo: this is the interior of my 2005 Sportwagon; the colour of the leather (the entire seat surface!) is Champagne; the wood is Sapele.

 

I am working on getting a few pics (hopefully) of the inside of an X-Type seat skin. Hopefully this can put a lot of the discussion to end give us a 100% answer to what answers we are seeking.

 

Thank you for your kind responses.

Being that my grandfather has been buying Jaguars since the 50's starting with an XK150, I am keenly aware of what the official line is in regards to what parts are leather and what parts are not. The 1974 E type and 95 XJS that are now mine where his from new.

While I don't have your impressive credentials, I can tell you as a fact that the 1995 XJS that was purchased new in 1994 had only the integral headrest and the map pocket in real leather. The remainder of the face was AMBLA. Not a thought or a suspicion. A SIMPLE FACT.

A quick search around the forums will yield results of both people who have a)turned their seat covers around and found that only a very small panel of the face was leather and b) who have had to go to Jaguar directly to compensate them for misrepresentation of what is leather. I will include links at the bottom of my post, lest you think I also concocted these vicious lies about Jaguar.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eather-129912/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ro-spec-50274/

So forgive me if this sounds curt, but your visits to the factory are about as pertinent as if you had a seance session with Sir William Lyons. You have not been personally present while every single Jaguar seat face was assembled, and the fact is that some of them have multiple synthetic panels, regardless of the "official story".

And except for the bits where your post turned what I percieved to be condescending, and suggesting I was creating stories, I very much enjoyed the information you conveyed.

As far as the X type seats, I do hope that you are correct and that they are indeed all leather-faced

 

I spent an hour or so researching and writing a note in response,....and then the session timed out so I lost that work..ah well..so here is the short form: I am sorry if anyone found my responses above to be offensive or "condescending". that was certainly not my intention.
But if an opinion is given it is very useful to know whether that is an *informed* opinion - and giving my bio was an attempt to explain why I think I know something about Jaguars. That said, I can be proven wrong. I can only say that in my experience the Jaguars I have owned and examined have all borne out what Jaguar claims in its brochures. My lost note went through the claims made in the X-Type brochures from 2002 to 2009 (I have all of them, Canadian, UK, and US): in every one there is a claim to "leather seating surfaces" (note, not "all leather" seats. The mention of "surfaces" clearly excludes the Ambla-covered portions: the sides and the rear of the backrest). Let me just quote a few of the brochures briefly here - and I will do it before this session times out again!: from the 2002 brochure: "Connolly leather-trimmed seats and steering wheel"; 2004: "Leather-trimmed seating comes standard on the X-Type"; from 2005: "Inside, the interior is trimmed in striking Bronze Sapele veneer, complementing the perforated leather seating surfaces (*this was from the Sport model page*) and "The leather seating surfaces in the rear cabin..."; from 2006: "The precisely-tailored leather upholstery of the seating surfaces..."; from 2007: "Exemplary interior comfort is assured by...the leather seating surfaces..." and "LEATHER SEATING SURFACES: The X-Type seating is covered in a lush, comfortable leather, precisely tailored as Jaguar has done for decades"...you get the idea.
Unless we can prove that Jaguar has intentionally, deliberately mis-lead its customers by fraudulently claiming that the seating surfaces were leather when they were really vinyl, I think we have to take these statements as indicators that the seats, that is the seating surface of the seat bottom and backrest (not the seat sides nor the back of the backrest) are indeed leather covered.