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Cloth or Leather?

2015er

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The new interiors in the JL are great - we have a 2018 Wrangler JL Rubicon and the fit and finish is first rate. We opted for the cloth seats - very comfortable and the heat is amazingly fast and effective - three levels no less. I expect that the Gladiator will be just as good!
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lookitsadam

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I have cloth in my JLU and it's been great so far. I do think leather looks better, but it's not worth the upgrade to me. If my cloth seats get stained or wear out in a few years so what? I'll just throw on a seat cover, or upgrade them at that point if I plan on keeping the Jeep longer.

The cloth seats in my 04 LJ were RUGGED. Previous owner left a few cigarette burns on them but barely did any damage. The foam inside wore out before the cloth itself.
 

Karnivoolfan

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Cloth. I don't like leather. I don't want leather. I'll have hot crossed buns in the summer and frozen ones in the winter. Also my cloth seats stay very clean. It's just me so no one to dirty the vehicle.
 

trez63

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If the cost were the same I would for sure get the leather. I still probably will.
For those complaining that it's too hot in summer and too cold in winter, you can always just throw a $10 seat pad under you for when it's at extremes but the leather will clean a hell of a lot easier and if you have pets your truck won't stink like a wet dog forever.

As for replacing the covers yourselves with aftermarket, that's a great option, unless you buy the heated seats which I plan to. I can't imagine the heated seats will function just as well with aftermarket covers as the originals.
 

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DreamedofaJeepSomeday

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If the cost were the same I would for sure get the leather. I still probably will.
Whatever happened to leatherette? In 1970 I purchased a new Mercedes 280SL. Yeah, I'm old. I went to the dealer and told him exactly everything I wanted, and what I did not want. He found a car with everything on my list, except no leather seats. I had seen a 1970 model in the showroom with leatherette, and I was not impressed. Had fake seams impressed in the seating area. Anyway, since my list was considered "odd" (I wanted manual trans, leather, but NO air conditioning), I decided to accept the car he found. When it arrived, it was a 1971 model (the last year of that version), and the leatherette was completely different from the one in the showroom. It was perforated, and had deep tuck and roll, just like the leather. People would get in my car and say, "oh the luxury of real leather!". That's how good it was. (In early 1970s, leather was uncommon on American cars.) I was never unhappy with my decision: the leatherette was beautiful, and carefree.

My point is, if leatherette could be made so good in 1970, surely it could be even better today. But I think I know the answer to my question: Detroit does not offer leatherette today, because then it could not sell so much leather as an expensive option. But in any case, when I finally order my Gladiator, it will have leather.
 
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I looked at an Overland with cloth seats last week and it did not have the backseat drop down arm rest with cup holders, the Overland with Leather did have it.
 

mazeppa

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I intentionally chose cloth and to add Bartact seat covers over the vinyl seat option with the small amount of leather seating surfaces on the front seats.
 

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the cloth were more comfortable for the spouse and I, even with waterproof seat covers. I like the price of the cloth too. If you use the convertable top, the leather burnt the crap out of our rear ends on sunny days. Black leather and sun don't mix in my book. Plus its easy to change up with seat covers. That said, resale will always be better with leather in good shape. Pros and cons.
 

Jeepnoob34

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I went with leather for one reason, my dogs. I have a husky and an 8 week old Aussie. Getting dog hair out of cloth seating is a nightmare. It gets intertwined and it’s nearly impossible to get it all out without going over it numerous times. It’s the same reason I have all leather furniture in the house. I don’t think my wife would ever let me not have a husky in our family.

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361Sean

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I went with cloth and bartract. My wife has leather in her 2016 cherokee trailhawk with 30k miles and they already show wear. With the JT and and the fact that we for the most part slide out the leather seat would be full of foldes.

May e I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.
 

DreamedofaJeepSomeday

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Whatever happened to leatherette?... But I think I know the answer to my question: Detroit does not offer leatherette today, because then it could not sell so much leather as an expensive option. But in any case, when I finally order my Gladiator, it will have leather.
After looking at some JTs and JLs on the lot, I concluded that the cloth seats are of very high quality. I could be happy with either. But in the end, I still ordered my Gladiator with brown leather.
 

hjdca

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After 6K miles on the JT Rubicon, there are no folds in the bolsters from sliding in and out of the seat with the Cloth Rubicon seats. In fact, the cloth seats have no folds in them at all. I like that.
 

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You can wipe water off of leather/vinyl with a towel. Cloth? Hope you like a wet soggy butt.

Assuming you use your Jeep like a Jeep, that is.

But, maybe the newer cloth seats are treated to avoid that. Not sure really..
I got cloth and got waterproof seat covers.
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