My current daily driver has the Ford fabric and it's starting to accumulate coffee stains and dirty patches.

Thinking about a leather kit

Anyone regret going with leather for any reason??? Too hot in the summer as opposed to fabric??

 

I just did that jump, swapped my cloth seats for a Katzkin leather kit and am very happy with the results. They are a LOT easier to keep clean. I did not go with black leather to help a little bit in the summer time (my wife's car has black leather and they bake in direct sun). I would highly recommend putting in a heated seat back on the pan and back if you live somewhere that actually gets winter temps. The leather does feel colder than cloth.

 

Have factory leather in mine, and of course, it has the heated and ventilated seats, so hoping summer won't be a big issue, but won't know how it is for a few months.
Got my truck at the end of summer last year, and it wasn't too bad at all with the seat fans blowing cool air up my behind.

As to dirty, stained cloth seats, steam cleaners work wonders.

 

An alternative would be to thoroughly clean your fabric and Scotchgard them. Scotchgard was like a day one treatment back when cloth interiors were more common. And if you had to cover them, I would do those seat protector covers. If it's not obvious, I have a thrifty approach to problem solving.

 

Absolutely no regrets with my leather seats.

 

As do seat covers and as someone else mentioned, Scotchguard or similar fabric protectors.
But if leather is someone's thing, by all means do it. I'm just not one of those persons. Wife's Chrysler 300 has them. Getting in a cold car takes me back to the 70's and vinyl seats.

 

When I ordered my truck it was the first vehicle I have ever had with leather seats. I have always been happy with cloth, and was planning to get cloth on the truck. After driving quite a few vehicles and seeing how the vented leather seats worked I went with them and it has been great. My wife likes the leather seats, I run the vent feature pretty much non-stop all summer. Without it, there would be no way I could have leather. I would be hot and sweaty all the time.

 

With the heated/cooled seats, remote start works wonders on cold and hot days, and I HATE black interiors so I get lighter colored ones or colored like the Marsala. While they are dark, they still aren't as hot as the black seats got. Once I had kids, it was all leather, never cloth, much easier to clean sealed leather seats than cloth, especially when it comes to liquids, if you know what I mean. One thing I don't like about cloth is the friction getting in and out. I always were jeans and they tend to get a good grip on the cloth, which makes just sliding out difficult, where with leather I just slide right out. In a truck not that big a deal, but in a car it is. I have arthritis in the spine and hips so anything to make movement easier for me.

Cloth today cleans a LOT easier than in the past. Stains don't stick as well as they used to, so seats do come clean with the right tools. Absorption of liquids though, now that is something cloth can't stop, even with scotchguard if left on long enough. That and odors. Leather repels most odors and cloth absorbs them. Ugh I remember this van that was purchased at auction for resale when I worked as a mechanic. The PO must have had a few dogs, and that van REEKED of dog and could NOT be deodorized! We gutted the thing and even power washed the carpeting, could not get the smell out.

 

I've had cloth and leather, non-heated, heated, heated and cooled, in Texas, Colorado, Montana.

My preference is leather, not black. My wife's 2014 Explorer Limited has black leather, heated but not cooled. VERY uncomfortable getting into in the summer. My 2016 F250 had the tan leather, heated and cooled. Current 2019 has black leather, heated and cooled, 2022 F350 on order has heated and ventilated (apparently Ford removed the cooling and just blows air now), in Baja (tan).

 

No regrets, but I will share some experiences with them. Yes, I would absolutely do it again. I love the look and the ease of cleaning.

I added Katzkin leather (black with the gray stripe) to my 2019 XL (STX) F250. For context, keep in mind I live and work near Phoenix, AZ.

Summer
Surprisingly, seat surface temperature was not ever something I noticed being a problem. I do have window tint though. Darker than limo on the back and limo on the front doors, plus I always put up a windshield shade. It takes a few minutes for the interior and air inside of the vehicle to cool, but it was the same before leather. I also try to park with the rear of the vehicle facing the afternoon sun. My wife and kids never complained about the seats being hot.

Winter
Seat surface temperature was much colder than I expected. We don't even get super cold here. My wife and kids occasionally complained about the seats being ice cold.

We do have heated/ventilated leather seats in another vehicle. I absolutely view heated seats as more of a must than ventilated. I use the heat almost without exception on a cold morning. I almost never even think of turning on the ventilated seats all summer long.

Good luck with your decision!

 

I opted for the vinyl seats in my Super Duty. It has all the same too hot/too cold issues as leather at a fraction of the price.

 

Lariat "leather" is mostly vinyl, but I prefer it over cloth. I like the durable vinyl on the back seat surfaces especially for kids and dogs. We've had black leather in our last 3 vehicles and prefer it over light leather since it shows very little dirt, stains, or wear.

 

The light leather shows far less dirt stains or wear than King Ranch leather! LOL

 

We've had a variety of cars with leather and never had an issue with any. Meguire's Gold Leather Wipes do a decent once in a while wipe job IMHO. I typically wipe the seats down then buff a bit with a dry towel. I prefer the lighter colors. Black anything is Texas turns into a BBQ in summer. They are expensive to fix, so remember to remove that screwdriver in your back pocket.

The 2004 F-150 went 160K - cloth interior. The driver's seat was showing wear, but nothing excessive. The cloth seats in the 2020 Super Duty were very nice, nice enough to make me hope I like the leather in the 2022 Lariat. Still - it's Texas and you jump in a leather car in summer in shorts and you might be jumping right back out.

 

One reason I never wear shorts.