2002 GTS with leather

I have my eye on a black 2002 GT-S 6-speed. There is one at the Toyota dealership in my city and it has leather interior and a moonroof. Initially, I was set on cloth interior and no moonroof. I have to say that I like the moonroof a lot -- I've never had one on a car but I'm not sure about the leather. I'm not crazy about the light grey dash colour to start out with and the leather is the same colour. Of course, I could quickly get used to it! And the car is simply amazing!

I'd just like to ask a few questions about the leather interior since I've also never had leather. Those of you with the leather interior, do you like it? Is there any reasons you can offer why I might come to prefer leather to cloth? Are there definite reasons why leather might not be a good choice? Is leather a lot harder to care for? I'm not even sure about what kind of questions to ask so if you felt inclined to just write anything you can think of I would greatly appreciate it.

I have to say that I am growing more and more attached to the idea of the leather interior as I write this but I'd like your feedback. I don't intend to do any racing so slipping is not a major concern for me.

Thanks a lot everyone.

[Humza]

i have leather. its quite comfortable and looks tight. the only downside is that it gets really hot in the summer. leather is easier to clean in my opinion. me and my bro play soccer and about 1 year ago he had a rav4 and i was 15 and carless. all that sweat after the game would just accumulate into the cloth seats and would start to stink. the leather you can just wipe anything off of it. leather looks more classy too.

[migs]

At first I didnt want leather but now, im so glad I got them.
after a few coffee spills, coke, some ashes, ect.....still spotless.
Looks and feels classy , they get hot on summer days but its not that hot. That celi is top of the line, and 6 speed....let us know if you get it.

[caz]

I've got leather... too bad they're going to be replaced with some sparco's :)

[bme107]

That gray must be dealer installed leather, factory leather (which I have) is black.

Leather is easy to care for. Vacuum/brush out seams to remove dirt and every month or so apply some sort of conditioner (lexol, search in wash and wax forum) to keep them soft. Seat backs and back seats are vinyl/pleather.

Here's a pic of the factory leather compared to the dash.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid17/pa14783182586183e9a3efeee5ba6d5b5/fdf6d9a0.jpg
Not the greatest pic for what we are talking about, but you can see the top of the seat leather compared to the sill, which matches the rest of the interior.

I went back to the dealership to finalize the plan and spent some time admiring the car and I have to say now ... I am so glad it's leather! Last night I was thinking that I didn't like the grey leather -- I thought it was too light in colour but when I saw the car again today, I noticed that it's actually a darker grey and it looks awesome! Thanks a lot for telling me some positive points about leather. I did a lot of reading about leather on the internet and I know I will need some coaching w.r.t to care down the road.

BTW, I was really concerned about coffee spills but I feel a bit better after reading some of your posts. Still, I'll try to be very careful about that but I do need my coffee.

The total cost for the car was starting to get a bit obscene (don't want to quote prices) but came home and called insurance with my VIN and it's $50 less per month than I initially thought so I'm pretty pleased.

I pick up the car on June 28 (need a bit more time to get the cash together), that's 16 days and counting...

Thanks a lot all.

[kabal57]

leather is a good thing. Looks classy except for the butt prints youre gonna leave after sitting in the car awhile :D
It does get hot in the summer, but its no worse than vinyl seats, I'm sure everyone has dealt with those at one time or another.
very easy to clean up and looks great

[twanmoney]

I got the leather on my '02 GTS.
I saw the cloth.....blah~!
If memory serves me right i dont think you can select the leather interior and the moonroof independantly. I think if you want one you have to get the other. I was told this by several dealers in the NJ/NJ area. Then i saw an '01 GTS at Etown a few weeks ago.
Moonroof and no leather! go figure!

My review of the seats:

It sucks that the back of the seats is in vinyl (as well as the back seat). So basically the option which i think costs over 700$ gets you only leather faced front seats. When you see how little leather this affords you, you maybe shocked. I was.

The actual grade of the leather is "oK"
A friend of mine just got the 1.8t 2002 GTI with leather.
Much better feel and look (makes the toyota look cheap)

About staining etc, i wouldnt know. I dont eat or drink or smoke in my car. :p

Bottom line the leather > the cloth available to us for this car. Compared to other cars in the same price range, the leather is sub par. This is my opinion only. If you ever plan to change the seats to sparco's or something similar dont waste the money on the leather. If ya plan to leave the seats alone or are worried about staining (and have the xtra cash) and want a lil added class then go for the leather.



p.s. this is only one ****tards opinion

Originally posted by Humza
i have leather. its quite comfortable and looks tight. the only downside is that it gets really hot in the summer. leather is easier to clean in my opinion. me and my bro play soccer and about 1 year ago he had a rav4 and i was 15 and carless. all that sweat after the game would just accumulate into the cloth seats and would start to stink. the leather you can just wipe anything off of it. leather looks more classy too.

I definitely agree.

When I was first looking around at Celicas, I knew for a fact that I wanted to have leather. All I did was go get some large black bath towels to put on top of the seats on hot days 'cause they sure can burn you! Everyone that sees my 00 GT-S says, damn you're loaded you got leather! :thumbup: Always a good compliment. :D

Go for the LEATHER! Definitely won't be disappointed.

-Carla

Thanks everyone for offering your thoughts. I'm darn glad I'm getting leather. My dad has a Maxima with leather and he only treats it once a year. A friend has a Hyundai Santa Fe and his owner's manual suggests against any kind of leather treatment. Different kind of leather?