I think that all the perforated seat material on my '95 "leather seat" bonnie is vinyl. The reason I believe that is because on the front seats, the perfed material wraps over the top and around the back for 6" or so (can't remember how far exactly right now, but it is significant).

I can't imagine that GM would waste good leather (and money) on the backside of the seat -- even if it is a portion of it.

Plus just the way it feels -- doesn't seem like leather.

If that is the case, the front side has quite a bit of vinyl on it.

Your thoughts?

it seems like leather to me?
It sure takes well to leather treatment, i know that much..

Matt...what kind of leather treatment are you using? I haven't noticed a difference after a whole bottle of Meguiar'* Gold Class conditioner.

Grease...I'm certain that the perforated part is leather. On my car, The non perforated parts are harder and more vinyl-like than the perf. At any rate, its all pretty low quality stuff IMO.

I have used Simoniz, Meguiars, all of them, they all seem to make a nice difference, smells good too, im gunna buy Zaino though for it, once i try it, i will let you all know how good it works on thirteen year old leather.

you can usually tell by the stiching.
if the stiching is soft its leather and if its hard its man made leather.

most touchable parts are real leather. meaning what your body touches.
and the sides are man made.

To be technically correct, this is true. Your "main seating surfaces" are "genuine" leather, whereas the side and back panels are man-made "pleather."

However, it'* also important to note that GM uses what is called "coated" leather. Basically what this means is that a clear varnish-like coating was sprayed onto the leather after the dying process, to prevent staining, and prolong the life of the dye. Since this coating is non-porous, and mostly seals off the leather, no "true leather conditioner" will ever fully soak into the material. Over time, though, this coating does wear away in some spots and should be conditioned better to maintain uniformity with the rest of the seat.

I've found that using some rather un-traditional methods actually are best for GM'* seats (and yes, I know they'll sound unorthodox -- I was a doubter too for a long time until I tried it)

1) Clean the seats with a highly diluted All-Purpose Cleaner (I prefer Meguiar'* EXTRA! or Detailer APC+. Just don't EVER use Simple Green!) and a nail brush to agitate.

2) Coat all seats with Neatsfoot Oil or Baby Oil (Neatsfoot adds a slight waterproofing property) and give it about an hour to soak before buffing off the excess.

3) Re-clean the seats with a pH balanced cleaner like Lexol'* pH cleaner.

4) Condition the seats with your choice of leather conditioner (I use either Lexol or Zaino Z10).

Voila, seats that are as close to new as you are going to get without actually HAVING new seats. Re-do this treatment as needed, but never go more than 6 months without doing SOMETHING to the seats.

off topic, but i must say that im glad to see we have such a knowledgeable detailer newbie on board.. welcome!

[quote="harofreak00"]Thanks!