Leather vs vinyl?

[DocData757]

Got a new 2003 Limited and need to know where the leather stops and the vinyl begins. I'll be using Meguiar's products for the most part and their protectant says to keep it off the leather.

So, it looks like the seating surfaces, seat backs, door arm rests and the section of soft material just above the door arm rests appear to be leather but I need to confirm it. Also, is the center arm rest covered in leather or vinyl?

Thanks,
Dave Seay

 

[juandixon]

i would like to know this info too...anyone please help!

 

[tkr128]

I don't have leather in my 4Runner, but for the Accord, I test it out. Use your fingernail and dig into the leather/vinyl. Don't dig in too hard, just enough to make a small imprint. If it goes away really fast, then it's vinyl. If the imprint stays for a while, it's leather. This has worked for me so far.

 

[ToolmanJohn]

good question

I know I am replying to this old post, but I have a partial solution. Use a product for leather that is also OK for vinyl. You don't have to worry about hurting the leather then. I have been using a couple of brands of leather wipes that don't contain silicones for this. Except for being a bit slippery immediately after use, they are ok.

I also wonder is only the seating surfaces are leather (seatpan, seatback). Is the rear seating area also leather?

I think Toyota uses surface dyed leather in their vehicle. The color doesn't go all the way through.

 

[Guest]

Almost all leather in any car made today is a mixture of both leather and vinyl. This adds the comfort, feel, looks, and smell of leather with the durability, plyability, and repair capabilities of vinyl.

So in other words, if it looks like leather, it probably is, but it's also vinyl. Confused yet?

On most cars the entire seat should be treated with leather conditioner except for the seat back. Seat backs are rarely ever actually made of leather even if they look like it.

However, a good solution has already been mention:

There are plenty of vinyl conditioners that are not good to use on leather, and plenty more that won't hurt anything but they just aren't very effective. However, almost all leather conditioner works great on vinyl as well as leather.

Solution? Just use a good leather cleaner and a good leather conditioner (remember, always use seperates... 2 in 1 doesn't work very well) on your entire seat - anywhere that looks even the least bit like leather, condition it.

Anyhow... if you really must to know for sure what's leather and what's not, just examine your seat back, which you know is 100% vinyl, and compare that to the material elsewhere in the car.