Re: Infiniti's weak leather
 

I drive by the local Infiniti dealership about 3 times per week and today was the first that I saw an '07 there, let alone outside. In person, IMO, it was much more attractive than in the pics. Parked directly next to an M, it stood meaner, leaner, and lower.


The dealership near me is no good (no deals on anything, poor customer service) and I just got a nasty look from a salesman as he walked in with his lunch, no "Hello" or "Do you need help?". Anyway, I walked around the car for 2 quick minutes as it was raining pretty steadily.


I love the new interior design and while the graphite leather *looked* better and had a light grey stitching (cool) to offset the black leather, in the lower chair bolsters, there was already creasing (!!!). The car had to have been delivered within the week and if they let a select few drive it, it may have had 100 or so miles on it. Is this unacceptable or is it me?

Wait till you fire up that sucker and take it for a spin. Suddenly any creasing won't matter anymore... :D

By "creasing", do you mean butt-print ripples in the seating surface? Leather is an organic substance, not as elastic as some synthetics, and it's to be expected that sooner or later it will stretch and show ripples in the seating surfaces. It's possible, BTW, that someone had just been in the car when you saw it; the ripples will sometimes go away after a few minutes.

If by "creasing" you mean a sharp fold in the leather, for instance, near a seam, that's another problem entirely. That shouldn't be there.

I had 2003 G35 coupe with Graphite leather. Although it showed some degree of minor wear on the bottom cushion, its overall quality and feel never disappointed me.

Based on what I've seen on the photos, the new G35 leather looks even better. Don't plan to keep the car for more than 4 years, so I won't mind some wear on the seat as long as it doesn't tear up.

I'm more concerned about how it drives and its reliability; both I expect to be good. Realistically speaking, we shouldn't expect too much from low $30k "sport premium" sedan. I'm still amazed at Infiniti for delivering such value to this price range. We cannot expect G's leather to be top quality.

IMO the best leather in the business is by far Mercedes. It may not look or feel soft as Lexus, but it will last almost forever. Never liked the BMW's leather, except for 7 series. My friend owned '98 CLK320 for about 8 years and his leather still look and feel brand new. I really mean brand new! This is where Mercedes differs from others; it takes years to appreciate its true quality.

That's what I'm talking about. My feeling is that a nice cushy interior is just icing on the cake.

Hahahaha, for a moment there I thought you used the words "mercedes" and "quality" in the same sentence. Oh wait, you did....but I guess "quality" might not mean "reliability"...because that a Mercedes ain't. Give me a reliable Japanese car anyday.

Mercedes used to be the icon of quality...not so at all anymore. Interior quality master = Audi by a massive margin.

I meant "quality" as material quality, not for overall mechanical reliability. I had '97 C280 sport for about 3.5 years and didn't have any major problem. But can't say for same on some recent Mercedes.

It's true that Mercedes had some serious quality and sub-par material use for some years. But the recent Merdedes, especially new S class and improved E class, are so much better and starting to retake the throne. Only time will tell the real story.

You got to see my friend's CLK320 interior. Its style still looks great and everything inside looks and feels brand new. The car has almost 150k miles and still runs like a brand new car. No Japanese cars, including Lexus LS, can say the same for after 8 years of use.

most toyotas can

I personally don't think Infiniti has weak leather at all. After 3 years of ownership of my 03 G35, my seats look like brand new. I do have a little bit of creasing in my 2000 QX4, but it is almost 7 years old. I condition my seats on a regular basis so maybe that is why my seats look like new.

Exactly. I have a 1984 190E and it's pretty reliable mechanically and the interior materials are top notch.

Anyway...I don't think Infinitis have weak leather.

I always wanted some way to settle in my own mind the mighty Accord vs. Camry enigma. Which is better? I finally found something that settles it once and for all. 1st year depreciation, not even close. Put it this way, Toyota lost big time. Honda is definitely the Japanese BMW. Then, it's quite reliable too! (though the 2k5 330 got all red in Consumer Reports except a white circle for one category, so that's gotten better too)

hmmm...really? how come?

I haven't been to Tokyo, but based on what I've heard, BΜW is the Japanese BΜW.

Long as we're talking about leather (the upholstery kind), allow me to raise a topic that's probably been kicked around repeatedly over the past few years in connection with the '03-'06 - How much of the '07's upholstery is real leather, and how much is synthetic? Since the official '07 web site refers to "leather-finished seats", or some similar weasel-wording, I would imagine that only the bottom and seatback surfaces between the bolsters on the front seats are real leather on the '07. For personal reasons, it wouldn't bother me if the upholstery is mostly synthetic, but leather and synthetic upholstery require different care and that's why I'm wondering.

My car is over a year old, and the seats still look great, of course, all leather gets some "character" lines in it, that's just the nature of leather. I don't know what all is real leather, but one way I was always told to check, is, if you push in on the surface and it creases temporarily, it's leather, IMO it's hard to tell where the leather ends and vinyl begins, I think Infiniti did a good job of making it similar!