mshan

1) How does the leatherette material hold up to normal wear and tear over the years?<p>2) How comfortable is the leatherette in a hot and humid climate (ex. south Florida)? How does it compare to cloth in this environment?<p>3) Will the choice of material (leatherette vs. cloth) significantly affect resale value (ex. 5 years down the road)?<p>Thanks.

StevenN

I personally prefer the leatherette. It's a very high quality material, and when most people look at it they automatically presume it is "real" leather.<p>I have had my A4 for three years, and the leatherette looks as good as the day it was new. I have the "ecru" color -- a light beige -- and the only problem I've found is that when you wear a new pair of blue jeans it tends to darken the leatherette. However, I've used leather/vinyl cleaner on the seats and it works pretty well.<p>The leatherette seats are perforated, so they stay pretty cool. I know some people prefer the cloth seats, but I think the leatherette is probably more durable. It's a matter of personal taste.<p>StevenN '96 A4 2.8 qm

Larry H

I have the cloth & love it. I can't fairly evaluate the leatherette since I don't have it, however the cloth is great & holds up well. <p>It wasn't a tough call for me since my last 2 cars had leather and showed wear over time......hey, but as I often say.....to each, his own! Either way, you'll still have an A4!

Bob

I was just at the local dealer and saw a beautiful Melange A4 with Onyx Leatherette. Previously, I had seen an Ecru leatherette but wasn't impressed. I noticed that the "breathing holes," which look a bit cheap to me, are much less noticeable on the black leatherette. In fact, it took me a second or two to distinguish that it was leatherette and not leather. Seeing is believing and now I've changed my interior choice from the gray opal cloth to the black leatherette.

Type SH

1. I would probably think the leatherette lasts longer than ordinary cloth. As long as you keep them fairly clean and treat them well, it's no a problem.<p>2. I'm not sure about humid weather stuff. However, you might be more satisfied with leatherette in extreme hot conditions. <p>3. Resale value, doesn't really affect it. Only real leather makes a difference.<p>But one more thing. If you like to take turns fairly fast (this is for more aggressive drivers), I found the cloth to be somewhat, hmm ... better. The cloth gives you more grip when you drive fast around corners up the mountain (well, at least that's the reason why i didn't get leather for my car). It's a personal thing.<p>~Prelude SH

SteveG

When my dealer finally found an A4 for me, he pointed out that it had leatherette. I had my heart set on cloth, by he said "Try it and you'll probably forget cloth". He even offered to change the seats to cloth if I didn't like the leatherette.<p>Needless to say my Melange A4 has black leatherette interior, and I love it.

Kevin S

Leatherette vs. cloth? No contest! The sport seats only come in cloth!

Mical

Just my opinion, but if you spend 28 grand on a car you should be able to get real leather. One of *minor* reasons I din't choose the A4 was that I did not want cloth and the leatherette just seemed cheapish. They should at least offer the 1.8 with a leather option. <p>I'm not going off on the A4 - it's truely one of the worlds finest cars.

Jeff M

I bought the A4 for my wife to drive as her primary car(I must have been drunk) and she wanted the cloth over everything. She's about 5'4 and a size 2 petite so she slides all over the leather seats that I have in my Montero Sport. We get all sorts of reaction from friends and others on how nice the black cloth looks. I will agree that when I'm driving the car, the way it is supposed to be driven, fast, the cloth hold pretty tight. It's nice and cool also.<p>98/A4/sport/Lasred/2.8<p>PS I had no idea that you couldn't get the sport seats in leather. We were lucky enough to get the car out of the showroom without a wait.

Andrew C.

I was in the market for cloth seats, but no cars in stock that I looked at (1.8 or 2.8) had cloth seats. Only leather or leatherette. Besides not liking the look I thought the leatherette didn't breath as well as the leather even with the perforations.<p>I thought the $1300 for leather was kinda steep, but I wanted a car and didn't want to wait 2-3 months so...now I own leather seating.<p>Dealer answers at all the dealers I visited was the same "If you're spending 30k on a car you don't want cloth seats" my reply "don't tell me what i want!" But they got me anyway!<p>98.5 2.8qms pearl white w/ ecru leather.