hey guys, i'm planning on buying a 99-00 4 runner in excellent condition. it would be my daily i plan on keeping for a VERY VERY long time (300k+ miles). what i'm wondering is do well maintained leather lasts as long as the cloth seats do?

I can only speak on behalf of cloth. I have a 97 and my interior is flawless minus the left hand sliding seat disease lol. Although i must say i would enjoy the leather and limited interior.

Overall the leather is more durable and easier to keep clean, but it requires a lot more maintenance to keep it looking good. If you use a quality leather conditioner about once a week, the leather should hold up fine. The left side of the driver's seat is prone to really bad wear if you have a habit of sliding in and out (I've swapped my seat cover with the passenger side to help counter this). It's one of the many reasons I keep my running boards on even though I'm over 6 feet tall. I also use the oh sh!t handles when climbing in and out. The one advantage with cloth seats that I like is that you can get some great fitting and even better looking seat covers put on when the cloth starts looking worn.

I also have a cloth interior and much prefer it over leather.As 004Gunner mentioned leather needs more upkeep since you want to make sure the leather does not dry out over time.Well maintained leather should outlast a cloth interior.
Yep starting to get that sliding seat disease too.

Id have to disagree that its more durable. Leather if not properly taken care of, cleaned and conditioned, will look like crap after 10+ years. Cloth is easier to take care of. I looked at some limiteds with seats that looked like hell, some that were ok. Cloth is easier to take care of and with the same care, it will last longer. I wanted leather, I ended up with cloth.

I like cloth because I prefer to not stick to my seat in the summer. Or freeze my cheeks in the winter.

x2. My '99 4Runner, my moms '95 Previa, my brother's '92 pickup, and our old '90 Supra all had cloth interiors... all of which look very good without tears after years of use and all parked outside.

My other car has leather, and be that it is only MB Tex (cheap variant offered as an alternative by Mercedes) it is easier to mess up, gets extremely hot in the summer when it's not in the garage (parked at the supermarket, etc), and gets cold in the winter. It also blows because it is more prone to scratches, etc. It's only an '05 and I already see wear marks and possible tears in the making for the future. It's garaged and tinted, that damage is from my butt alone (and I only weigh a very average 180 pounds)... MB Tex is more durable than leather, but less luxurious.

My old Mercedes had real leather, dear god!!! We owned that car since new. It was garaged for 10 years, then had to be put outside. It was condemned to outside parking for 10 years... condition as you will, I did all that shit, this became my interior (keep in mind I couldn't garage it when I owned it) Eventually I quit caring. :

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Its like the worst of both worlds, but it costs more??? Plus cloth is easier to clean and it doesnt crack.

+1 for no sweaty butts sticking to leather in the summer! I prefer cloth.

x2. Every limited I have ever seen had cracked and torn leather seats(except for fattirerider's) .

Apologies for the thread derail...

Is there a "how to" anywhere on the web to perform this swap? I see your writeup on the forum here from a couple years ago, but I was hoping for something with photos.

What are the "hog rings" you speak of in that post?

It's actually fairly common for the limiteds to have the diff lock. I had no idea it was an option when I got my limited and didn't realize it was there until I was driving off the dealer lot!

Yeah I wasn't a member of the forum when I did the swap so I didn't take any pictures. The hog ring is just a metal ring that can be crimped using hog ring pliers to close into a loop. It has sharp ends for piercing upholstery and holds seat covers to a cushion or a metal frame. The whole process was very easy imo. New hog rings and hog ring pliers are a must. Iirc I used wire cutters to cut off the old hog rings. I was pretty much flying blind when I started the process since I didn't have a write up and I haven't seen one either. Here's a pic of hog rings and the special pliers you would need

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Well its an easy choice for me being in AZ. Cloth is only way to go especially with lil ones. I really don't wanna stick my leg to leather when its 116 degrees outside. When I was in Cali, I would have the leather. Looks nicer but need to maintain more.

I'll stick with my leather. My 13 year old seats just started splitting at 12 years. I put in replacement leather myself from LeatherSeats.com. Very happy with it. They're almost an exact color match, although they look a bit different between the daytime shot and the nighttime shot here.

Before:


After:

i prefer my cloth, it doesnt look that bad, except the door handel things wear quick, but the seats are great as long as you dont spill anthing to stain them.