On my 08 Eddie Bauer I am trying to figure out what part is real leather and what is vinyl. I can tell on the rears pretty easy, but the fronts are harder. It seems the areas marked in yellow are for sure leather, but what about the front seat sides and back sides-marked in red?

 

The old catch phrase was Leather Seating surfaces.

I haven't played touchy-feely, but my guess is that the surface of the seat, both colors, is leather. I'd bet anything your back/butt doesn't touch is pleather.

 

I was groping my seats today and I think I can feel an obvious difference. The parts you marked as red as well as yellow are both leather. Just on the other side of the seam, I would say it is Vinyl, It feels much slicker then the leather part.

 

They both should be leather. I noticed they maybe different quality leather. The actual seating surface (yellow) in the case with my Edge was a better quality leather than the areas you marked in red. I questioned the area in red as being vinyl until I turned in at the end of the lease and noticed how the seat wore in cretain areas. The backs and sides are vinyl. The only leather seats, I have seen that are full leather, belong to the King Ranch. The third seats on my Explorers have always been Vinyl, and that was even in the Eddie Bauer and the Limited

 

Yeah, the areas I marked in red feel like thicker leather than the areas marked in yellow. Some of the thinnest leather I have felt.