A while ago I posted about getting a Katzkin interior upgrade but then the taxman put that on hold. I've been talking to one of the reps at Katzkins via email and their standard seating package includes some vinyl pieces, when I asked what that included I got the following response:

"This usually means that the face of the front two seats is leather and the wrap is vinyl. The middle row inserts would be leather and the wrap vinyl. The third row is all vinyl."

I've done a little research I've read that some companies use vinyl the same way in their OEM seats and that if done well its really hard to tell the difference, which is good. I went to a Dodge dealer by my house the other day and sat in a new Durango and I couldn't tell whether they used a leather vinyl combination or not (so either its all leather or they do a REALLY good job of matching). The R/T package seems to be a leather suede combination - I could tell if there was any vinyl missed in there).

So my question is (and DodgeCares might know the answer) - is there any Vinyl used in the standard leather package, and if so - what areas and how much.

 

Yes. And a lot. I have the Nappa leather package and the front seats are completely leather, the second rows are partial and the third row is all synthetic. You can always tell what's real leather by pressing your finger down on different sections. If there are "stress lines" surrounding your finger it's real. If not its synthetic which isn't a bad thing since it can hold up better to wear and tear. Most bmw vehicles have fake leather and half of Mercedes uses synthetic as well.

 

I presume that the center panels of the front leather seats in my 2012 Citadel are vinyl due to the holes for the ventilation option.

 

yes, on the standard leather package there is vinyl also. I'm 100% certain that the 3rd row fold down seats are vinyl. I never checked the wrap on the first two rows.

I originally read it on here or I wouldn't have known there was vinyl at all. D/C did a really good job with the synthetic parts.

and yes what Fullslp said is the best test. push in on certain parts. real leather has little 'stress lines' around the indent. the pleather just indents.

 

I can certainly attest to the quality of the synthetic leather in my '10 VW Sportwagen. They hold up beautifully, far better than real leather. I'd actually prefer it over real leather - no cracking, stretching, flaking, buckling...

That said, I very much doubt the synthetic covering on the Durango's 3rd row matches the quality of my VW's. (But I would love to be wrong about that.)

 

awesome - thanks guys.. I think I'm going to take the plunge and do the standard kit. I feel better knowing that I would have gotten the same quality materials had I just don't this from the factory.

 

Caution about Katskin installers - We got our interior upgraded from cloth to Katskin aftermarket leather upon purchase, handled through the dealer. The install was terrible - we've had the back plastic panels of the front seats fall off because they werent reinstalled properly, the black plastic clips that snap the upholstery on have come off numerous seats, and the rear headrest flew off one day we hit the drop button on them - turns out they were both reinstalled backwards. I dont know the shops name since the dealer used them. Dealer has handled all repairs for free but I have no confidence these issues won't continue as the vehicle ages.

The quality of the interior is beautiful though, and it allowed us to get the leather we wanted but stay in the SXT package, saving us about $3k.

Just get some rep on the installer and warranty on the installation job.