On my 2004 XJR, which parts of the interior are leather and which are vinyl?
I guess the parts your bum and back touch are leather, but it looks like the outer panels on the bolster are vinyl? How much of the back rest is vinyl then, sides and back, or just the back?
All the headrest, or just the panel that touches your head?
The centre console top? The sides of the console and up over the hifi/navigation etc?
How much on the doors, any, all, or just the arm rest/handle?
On the rear seats, is it all the bits you might sit on, or just the center panels of each seat, and then the arm rest, any/all?

I do not want to be wasting my Connolly hide food on vinyl panels after all :-)

The other question is what can I do for tatty leather on the steering wheel, can it be replaced, or should I just be looking for a good secondhand one?

 

All the borchures don't tell you where the leather vs lethertte (man made material) is (must be a closely garded secret) but the Jaguar Dealer told me when I bought the car that only the seat bottom and seat backs are leather. Maybe the armrest and thats all. All the rest is letherette I was told.

 

I have found myself wondering the same thing. But after looking and touching I always end up at "near enough it makes no difference."

 

I was thinking that would be the case, oh well, less leather products required.

 

If you have a strong leather cleaner you may see some color on the cloth. On leatherette not.

Guus

 

"when I bought the car that only the seat bottom and seat backs are leather."

Sounds right to me-pretty sure central armrest is not leather.

 

Do a sample for each as area (seat, steering wheel, gear shift, etc). I cleaned the gear shift and wrecked the leather gear shift. Had to buy another. I used Lexol.
On my Bentley, I used Connolly on the top front fascia. It discolored somewhat with a slight white film.
Be careful.

 

It depends on the spec of the car. Cars with upgraded interiors should have leather armrests.

That doesn't appear to have been an option on 04 XJR's but it was on the non sport models.

 

Leatherette on a $70k sticker priced car? Cannot be true.
I thought the whole car was leather, except for door panels and dash. Even the sown trim around the nav screen feels like leather.

 

I am sure my console arm rest is leather and the sown trim around the nav screen is not. I do feel that enough of the interior is real leather and what's not is a very good imitation and I love the look and feel.


I get to drive a lot of high end clients around and the cars interior usually gets a positive comment like, "very refine or elegant". One said he felt like he was in an up town old English pub with all the leather and wood and the understated elegance.

 

[QUOTE=CasinoRoyale;1028577]Leatherette on a $70k sticker priced car? Cannot be true.

Sad but yes. Wife has a 2010 Mercedes E class and interior is entirely leatherette. Keep them profit margins coming!!!

 

I think there is a lot of miss-information / wasted speculation given in this thread.

On a spec'd leather Jaguar XJ, all of the seat surfaces and headrests would be genuine leather. The door panel inserts would also be leather as well as the pull handles located above each door.

Oftentimes leather in certain places can feel or seem as though it is vinyl, especially when it is stretched over surfaces and has a very smooth finish. I believe this might be the case with the armrest.

I would say that the one part that might very well be vinyl with stamped finish could be the dash (but not totally sure).

Regarding the above mentioned Mercedes-Benz E-Class, you can spec MB interiors as either MB-Tex (which is faux leather) or real Leather. It's not that all MB come with fake leather, it's just how you spec it out. For a C-Class, I believe the spec'd leather option is something like $3000 - $4000 more than the baseline MB-Tex option.

 

BrownRobin,

Regarding the US market, we are unaware of what a "spec'd leather Jaguar XJ" is. While Mercedes offers a leather upgrade option for $3K - $4K, which is true, I am not aware that Jaguar did unless there is something special about the super V8 portfolio "Special Edition" we don't know about that made a special upgrade to leather just for the special edition but it is not in the Jaguar book, so best to contact the Jaguar Dealer and let us know what you find out. Most of us here are referring to the XJ350 and XJ358 standard/long/VDP vs special editions. To set the true facts, the dealer told me when I took delivery of my XJ8 VDP, and I still have the brochure she pointed to, that says, "Soft-grain leather seating "surfaces" with piping". "Wood and leather-trimmed steering wheel." So thats all the leather there is. Even my 1988 XJ40 only had leather on the seats and steering wheel and back than armrest (many people were surprised to find that out back then). And, by the way, on the seats it is only on the surface that touches you that is leather. But lets admit it, the leatherette in all these cars is done exceptionally well and will last much longer. Jaguar did not offer a leather upgrade package like Mercedes does, well maybe there is for the Queen but that car would be armored as well. Unless there is something special about the super V8 portfolio Special Edition we don't know about, so best to contact the Jaguar Dealer and let us know what you find out so we have all the facts.

 

Not wasted speculation, just stating fact and replying to one particular comment about leatherette on a $70k sticker priced car and noting that it is stock on the Mercedes E. Yes you can upgrade but stock is vinyl.

 

"....the Jaguar Dealer told me when I bought the car that only the seat bottom and seat backs are leather. Maybe the armrest and thats all. All the rest is letherette I was told."

Examples of above quoted dealer miss-information or incomplete information includes: front headrests and rear headrests -- these would also be leather (not leatherette). Steering Wheel -- would also be leather wrapped (with wood if included).

The original owner of the thread had inquired about these specific areas.... the above quoted information was incomplete. Just trying to ensure accuracy.

Regarding the above MB discussion, the jist of my reply was also ensuring completeness of information. A person not that familiar with MB spec'd options might get the perception that all E-Class models only come with leatherette.

I guess I am just a stickler for accuracy and completeness of information.

 

Maybe the dealer goes by what is in the parts manual (see picture). The XJR rear seats are described as leather/ambla as are the headrest and console arm rests.

There is an Autolux option which is full leather and would have been used on your Super V8 but 'normal' X350's had a mixture unless they were upgraded.

One of the guys on another forum takes great pride in telling everyone that he made Jaguar replace the interior of his X308 with a full Autolux leather because when he bought it new their advertising and brochures described it having a leather interior and those included pictures of parts of the car that turned out to actually be ambla. After that they changed the description in the brochures to seating surfaces, i.e. the bits your body touches.

 

Careful when the word "Ambla" is next to the word leather as Ambla is vinyl with an expandable knit backing. It is a man made material and not leather. Actualy, Ambla was introduced by Jaguar in 1968. It was primarily used on seats, i.e back covers and cushion skirts, where a material with stretch was needed. Ambla was also specified by Jaguar for door panels which had embossed heat weld lines for a certain look, i.e XJ/XJS.

Ambla is inherently flame retardant. Ambla is resistant to most mild acids, alkalis, drinks and household stains. Clean with a damp soapy cloth and rinse well with clean water. Do not use solvents, bleaches, abrasives, synthetic detergents, wax polishes or aerosol sprays.

 

Yup, and that is the whole point, the items listed are a mixture of leather and ambla.

Leather on the bits you are most likely to touch and ambla elsewhere.

BrownRobin seems to think otherwise so it would be interesting to find out if he has some info that contradicts what the parts system and dealers are saying?

 

Below is the link where member "LUC" talks about Jaguar's miss advertising regarding leather and him getting a whole new interior on his X308 as "u102768" mentioned. It is an interesting read. I think in conclusion is that Jaguar like other companies finds ways to keep costs down and at the same time is not exactly clear (intentinally so) on what is leather and what is not so as to not dissapoint expectations. Anyways, I love the total interior package irregardless. But to "Cooldood" origional question of what is leather and what is not, clear information would be nice for proper care or replacement information.

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

 

Interesting read, like you say would be good to know exactly which panel is which. I also have the 2009 XJ Portfolio and think i will be having a good look tonight.

Does the same apply to Daimler.... have the x308 Daimler and wonder if this is the same or is it full leather....saying that based on whats been said above it seems that there may be no such think as full leather... grrrrr..

But still looks the part..... Talking of leather, the left side panel on the drivers seat is excessively worn, is there any products that may revive this or is it into the professionals for a new patch.