Is there such a thing as a mat that doesn't make the car look like an '80s pickup? All I can seem to find is awful carpet covers. I'd like to find something that's leather or vinyl, since I don't want to pay to fix Jaguar's cheapo leather solution.

 

No such thing as a good looking dash mat.

People that buy dash mats just aren't going to spend big money for a nice one, so they don't make any nice ones.

The dashmat company does make a suede one. I bought one for my daughter's Range Rover because she's not very reliable with putting up a sun shade. It's much better than carpet, but it's nothing to brag about.

SuedeMat® - Covercraft

 

I researched XF moulded dash mats a couple of years ago, looking for a RHD one for my car.
I found dozens of LHD ones, none of them leather or vinyl, and not a single RHD one anywhere on the planet.
Then about a year ago I found a Chinese seller who makes them in RHD, so I bought one. Black carpet-like material, relatively cheap, 99% perfect fit, very happy with it.
I don't think it looks all that out of place on the dash of the R, although I have taken it off for the winter down here in Oz.
If you really want a leather or vinyl one then a custom upholstery shop will probably make you one (there are two or three even here in li'l ol' Adelaide South Oz that will do it!), but it'll cost a bomb, especially if you want it in leather and/or to perfectly match the existing dash colour.

 

No matter what, it's going to look like Anthony Hopkins wearing a skin mask.

 

Pull the dash and have a local shop fix it for a few hundred. It isn't nearly as hard as you would think. You can have the dash out in less than an hour. Snap a picture of each bolt as you remove and then install in reverse order.

 

Thanks! I'll give it a look.

Actually, that makes me wonder about getting a vinyl wrap or something. Maybe I should look into that and see what they can do.

As opposed to carpet, which would look like he used the leather from their shoes instead.

I went to a couple different upholstery shops and they said they wouldn't touch it, unfortunately.

 

By wouldn't touch it, do you mean they wouldn't do the work to take the dash out of the car, or they wouldn't try to re-glue it even if you pulled it out of the car?

 

I asked them if they'd redo it if I removed it for them, and they both said it wasn't something they'd be willing to do.

 

It sounds like they have a poor business model. That's what they do for a living so why would they turn you down? Keep calling around until you find one. All they have to do is pull the leather up and re-glue it. An upholstery shop should know how to apply leather to a dash/panel.