Seat refurb - leather or alcantara

[niggtv]

I have two tone (outer blue, inner sandstone) Vantage seats, and am not overly keen on them; I thought they would grow on me - but I think it's a bit dated. Rest of the interior is blue, except for the sandstone door inserts.

I have 3 options, and wondered whether anyone had any wisdom to impart to help the decision making process:

1) Inners retrimmed in blue leather to match outers.
2) Inners recoloured, as above.
3) Blue alcantara inners.

I have a spare plain set of blue door trims for Options 1 and 2, but if I went for Option 3 I guess I'd need to get the centre sections of these redone in alcantara to match.

It's a 2011 car, so I dont think alcantara was an option - not sure if it being non-OE would negatively affect resale/desirability? I also cant decide if alcantara feels lower or higher spec than full leather!

EDIT: particularly interested in vies as to whether leather retrim or recolour would be a better option in terms of tying in/looking original.

Edited by niggtv on Monday 11th March 16:52

[steveway]

I love my alcantara, got grey leather and chancellor red

[TR-Spider]

It boils down to your priorities...

a proper retrim in Aston-like quality and style will certainly uphold its value for both leather and alcantara, not so sure on the dye.
Alcantara is very much a personal preference, I like it a lot, others may dislike it.
IMO Alcantara inserts are much more comfortable during a hot summer.

[niggtv]

Cheers - both look good. Re dye vs retrim, it’s not a massively different cost, so it sort of depends how long dye stays looking good vs how similar new leather looks against old.

[kathk]

The Alcantara does look nice, but is way more difficult to clean and keep clean than Nappa. I went with Nappa for my retrim with only the headliner being Alcantara. I think the top of the dash might have worked as well, or any other surface one doesn't sit on or touch frequently.

[cypriot]

kathk said:

The Alcantara does look nice, but is way more difficult to clean and keep clean than Nappa. I went with Nappa for my retrim with only the headliner being Alcantara. I think the top of the dash might have worked as well, or any other surface one doesn't sit on or touch frequently.

I am not sure this is true... Alcantara was specifically made to be made to extremely hard wearing, and contrary to what many people think, its a doddle to clean... Literally just use a damp cloth, some fairy liquid, and the alcantara will look like new!

[leerandle]

These are my 'custom' leather and alcantara seats.

Although the alcantara isn't as hard wearing as leather, I don't use it enough for it to be a worry.

I matched the alcantara to the existing headliner (Tailors grey) and also a similar existing stitching pattern.

[LPH]

cypriot said:

kathk said:

The Alcantara does look nice, but is way more difficult to clean and keep clean than Nappa. I went with Nappa for my retrim with only the headliner being Alcantara. I think the top of the dash might have worked as well, or any other surface one doesn't sit on or touch frequently.

I am not sure this is true... Alcantara was specifically made to be made to extremely hard wearing, and contrary to what many people think, its a doddle to clean... Literally just use a damp cloth, some fairy liquid, and the alcantara will look like new!

I concur. Very hard wearing if you buy the proper Alcantara and not a copy. And as you say cleans very easily, there are specialist cleaners for it now.

[niggtv]

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Edited by niggtv on Tuesday 19th March 14:15