Mine is trimmed in leather pretty much everywhere. What made you state "there is very little leather in a Jaguar?" Which Jag gave you this impression?

 

XJ350 did not have that much leather, even in the Super v8 or VDP trims.

 

Leather care is a big subject with lots of differing opinions and leather production has changed a great deal over the years. After a lot of research on line I have come to understand that newer car leathers do NOT benefit from conditioners, apparently they can trap dirt and cause it to be ground into the finish creating wear and the undesired cracking of the outer surface, apparently the best way to treat leather is just to clean it but not moisturise it. I use the wipes from these guys which seem very good and have a really nice smell, also everything you could want to know about the leather process is documented here (nice and simply!), have a read;- Dr Leather - Innovative Leather Technologies - Leather Consultancy - Today's Leather Manufacture
I then seal the seat with Gtechniq L1 Leather Guard, which also has a nice smell and protects the leather and stitching from any spillage/dye transfer, so far it seems to have done really well, but then again my seats are black so it doesn't show much dirt!

 

]XJ350 did not have that much leather, even in the Super v8 or VDP trims.[/QUOTE]

Your 2004 XJ8 must have been quite different from mine, which had acres of leather - even the folding grab handles above the doors...

The leather in modern Jaguars, by the way, is Italian leather.

For those who have accepted the idea that modern coated leathers in automobiles need no conditioning, I propose a long-term challenge, say a 10 year challenge: your "wiped-with-a-damp-cloth" leather vs. my leather regularly treated with Lexol.
I am more than certain (from my experience) that mine will be soft, uncracked and clean. Yours? Not so much, I suspect. The coating on modern leathers needs to be kept soft or it cracks, resulting in the same unsightly appearance as older untreated leather with lacquer colour coatings. A good conditioner (that is, without silicones) will penetrate the coating on modern leather (if it has no had silicone on it) - you can try this yourself. Use a good conditioner on one panel regularly and no conditioner on a similar panel that gets similar use (or abuse). You will be quite surprised at the result after several months.

 

Your 2004 XJ8 must have been quite different from mine, which had acres of leather - even the folding grab handles above the doors...

This is it



It was well appointed, don't get me wrong and a big step up in leather from the standard XJ8.

 

I've been using Autoglym as directed on the bottle - not that impressed really, has a very mild sheen after application but a few days in warm weather and the leather (mainly the dash and doors) looks dry and patchy. I use a sunshade on the windshield.