YRUNVS

I have been following the posts on this forum for almost a year and have learned much from all the members, especially w00tPORSCHE! Well, finally I have February 19 build date for my V6 that I have waited over a year and a half to pull the trigger. Yes, I am in agony enduring the torture of the wait. I know most of you know all about that!

I have paid special attention to the car care folks to see the pluses and minuses of the leather options. Based on that and my personal preferences, I decided to order my Cayenne with the Espresso-Cognac full natural leather interior. What I wanted to ask the field of members who have experience with the natural leather material, is to comment on how it has worn, how they have cared for the leather, would they do it again, and perhaps what they would have done differently relative to care and maintenance now that they have lived with the material for a while.

Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks Doug

stormin48061

look up a website called leatherique... their products are the best for leather for conditioning, cleaning and of course restoring if you let it get that bad.

philg3

It depends how big your bank account is, how important recouping option cost at resale is to you. No doubt, the full leather is very nice (10/10 rating), but the standard leather is also good (7/10 rating). In my experience, both are good quality and wear well. Have the full leather in 2004CT -- looks almost new; standard leather in a 2012CV6, and standard leather on order 2013CD. As far as maintenance is concerned, any good leather conditioner works well. I like Zymol Treat, or Zaino. IMO, creams are better than sprays.

The full leather option is a pricy one for the Cayenne, and it didn't make the cut for my latest order. Did get the premium plus package +, basic Bose with HD Radio (didn't care for the package with CD changer), along with Metallic Blue / std beige interior, prem 18" wheels w color insert, and tow pkg. Also, not making the cut was PASM / Air; don't have it on 2012V6, and it drives just fine.

Since I will be selling my 2004CT, and I looked at the difference in resale value versus a 2004CS, or 2004C6, there isn't much difference among the three versions . Bottom line: I may recoup $5K of the extra $30K spent on the Turbo versus an S -- all things equal.

At my local dealer there is a 2012CT in the showroom for about $150K -- been there for >6mos -- apparently ordered by an individual that had no license, couldn't or didn't take delivery. You can buy a 2013V6 for just a bit over $60K with a few options; my 2013CD stickers around $70K. Tough to justify paying $80K-90K more just to get the bigger motor, and every option known to man. And chances are, the next potential owner won't be impressed enough to spend the extra cash. If anyone is interested, there is a $20K OFF sticker on the windshield for this year old vehicle.

chasz

Most important for maintaining a quality leather interior is keeping is clean. No sand, dust, oil, grime, sweat, etc.!!!

LaicepsYdobon

It's actually not that bad. My jeans stained the leather quite noticeably during the first three months of ownership but I got some Lexol wipes off amazon (both kind; cleaner and conditioner) and have use them on the seats. I just wipe them down once a month and that's its. The whole thing takes me about 15 minutes. No biggie. And the more I use the wipe the less jean stains or dirt I see at the end of each month.

EnigmaWmn

Over 50k with Espresso/Cognac and I never. Ever. And I mean EVER wipe it with anything. It gets a treatment from Detailing Dynamics few times a year and that's it. Looks great (dog, dirt, sweat included).

YRUNVS

Thank you folks for your comments! I am fairly confident that I will love the C/E natural leather as well as most of the options. I cared very little for resale or recouping the costs, I ordered the car for me not the next owner. I am pretty sure the next owner is going to love it too, my son! Have been doing considerable research on care and maintenance. I very much enjoy keeping my cars clean and detailed. I have received good advice and I thank all who took the time to respond to my request. Hope others chime in. Doug

dale59911

Here is something that my dealer has not been able to answer. What is the distinction between "leather" and "natural leather". I know that the basic interior with the plain jane seat is in fake leather. All the other colors (we are getting the umber/light tortufo) say that they are leather. The Espresso is called natural leather. When you see them on the samples, there does not appear to be a difference in appearance or texture. The only natural leather color is the Espresso and Espresso/Cognac combination.

Can someone enlighten me on what the difference is?

Thanks

dale59911

Let's see if the membership actually shows up :-)

Mike in CA

The biggest difference between the two, as I understand it, is that the normal full leather colors are surface dyed while the natural leather colors are vat dyed so that the color permeates all the way through the material. In theory this should cause the natural leather colors to wear better, although I've never had issues with the normal leather in any of my Porsches, even after years of service.

Additionally, the natural leathers are supposed to be freer of imperfections, and feel softer due to the way they are processed. I've been happy with the look and feel of the standard leather, but there is some difference between full and natural in this area, so you pay your money and make your choice.

dale59911

Thanks for the information. I will also pass that along to my prospective dealer.