low miler

I have owned many 928's over the years and have always wondered about this question. For the price of what these cars were new, you would think that every single item on the interior would have standard full leather. I know the dashes turned out to be turds in the long run as well as the rear quarter windows, but really, at the price these cars were new, it should have all been leather, standard! Maybe vinyl dashes and rear quarter windows could have been optional for the smart buyer, but that should have been an option!

But with that being said, and with what I know now, if I had the money to have purchased one of these cars new, I would have ordered it with the vinyl dash, glove box and posts, leather center console, complete leather doors, vinyl rear quarter windows, leather rear air cover, and leather roof and sunroof motor cover. And I gotta say, the burlwood package including steering wheel ain't that bad lookin' either!

This of course is just my fantasy that I could have never afforded anyway!

heinrich

Culture.

Through the 80's and maybe 90's the standard German Porsche 928 had nothing but the lightest options unless otherwise ordered. Why? Because the culture was very different from that in the target markets outside Germany.

I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort retrograding my S4 to this. Only to discover that lo and behold ... the German cars almost all look that way. OK I admit, leather is a prerequisite to me, but the idea there is that you are paying for the performance and engineering, and that any extras are fluff.

Randy V

My '79 is fully clad in leather - including the door panels!

The only surface not leather wrapped is the instrument pod.

zmandan

My 86.5 with the exception of the seats is all vinyl and although I would not say it looks new, it does look very good.

I wonder how it would have held up with leather?

BYW its black.

dan z

Weissach

Leather looks good for only a couple years.. The dashes are the first to go bad. Also, the smell. That wonderful(and strong) leather smell when new, is almost toxic smelling after twenty years of heat and sun.

goodspeed928

My 86 is 100% leather.
I think is was a 5k add on.

zmandan

Does the vinyl vs leather mean any thing when selling of buying a 15-20 year old car? or is it like peeing yourself in a dark suit: It gives you a warm feeling but no one notices ha ha

how has you car held up and does color make and difference as far as holding up over time

dan z

low miler

Oh, one more thing! After all of these years of owning countless 928's, I came to that fantasy mold of mine based on experience with leather vs. vinyl. The leather upper doors (around the speakers etc) hold up much better than the vinyl uppers which, even with extremely low miles, start to come unglued. Correct repair involves removal of the entire door panel...argh! The vinyl rear quarter windows, however, hold up much better than the leather ones which we all know warp and then eventually pull up. But I have yet to see a 928 that was intelligently ordered with leather door uppers and vinyl rear quarters. If you got it in leather, they both came that way and visa versa. I did however, about 15 years ago, have a late '86 model that did come with a vinyl dash and leather center console and glove box. The person who had originally bought that one was probably a repeat buyer who knew the potential problems! It does seem though that alot of the earlier models had much more leather than the later ones. Hell, most of the GT's and GTS's I've owned were almost entirely vinyl with the exception of the seats, yet those prices seemed to get higher and higher every year!

sweanders

You could get leather everywhere if you were ready to pay for it, many of the former company cars from Porsche has full or almost full leather.

Nicole

This is a combination you would have regretted. Because you'd have the leather all around the dash, nicely done with the seams, but "flowing" into a vinyl dash without the seams. It would look like piecework.

ViribusUnits

Realy?

I keep wishing for less leather in my 928. Expecal the seats. When you sit down in it after the hot Texas sun, the leather will leave you with blisters. Cloth on the other hand isn't an issue. It doesn't conduct heat nearly as well.

Lets see, the dash, center consol, door pannals, seats, and maybe a few more items are covered in leather. Kinda stupid if you ask me, but that is the way it goes.

heinrich

Agreed Nicole. Leather is perfect if you do not abuse it. Sun and water will kill it, otherwise it is fine ans remains fine.

I have a tip, and I know no-one will believe me but here it is: If you have a vinyl car, do not treat the vinyl and it will never crack or warp. I have had 2 928's in this condition after many years. Leather may be a different issue but I am still inclined to not treat it rather than water it.

donberry

my 81 is fully clad in leather. I can't really think of anything not in leather. It basically looks as good as new.
My guess would be if you have leather, it is something you just have to stay on top of and treat it often. As I have not owned this long enough to say it is working, but I use one of those windshield UV blockers when parked outside so the sun isn't baking the dash, and at least once a week I have been cleaning and treating the leather with meguiars.
I am sure it does not need it that much, but it truly is a labor of love. I would much rather be outside cleaning the leather or just fiddling around with the car then watching some stupid reality show on tv (just my opinion on the reality shows - sorry).
But as it is, the leather is 23 years old and looks great......so the PO's must have done something right.

ajmarton

My 81 is also all leather but rear quarters are vinyl. Leather is in great shape - just some scuff marks here and there.

Nicole

I've never had a cracked dash on any car I've owned - and I never treat the vinyl/plastic with anything but a damp cloth (and the glass cleaner that fogs on it while cleaning the windows).