R36 microfibre seats

[Wolfman_36]

Was just wondering if any R36 owners have experienced wear and tear issues with the microfibre seats? Do they fare better than full leather seats?

Nivek. I had an 850R which had black leather with Alcantra insets in it - generally as per the R36. When I sold it the car had over 200,000 kms on it and the Alcantra was still fine. You will probably have to look after the leather more.

So, based on my previous experience, I will not bother to treat the seat Alcantra inserts. Thinking of occasionally giving the leather some treatment tho. I used the AUDI leather tratment cream when I had an A6 with leather and it was great. Maybe VW sell the same stuff re-badged.

[R36 Dreamer]

Nivek. I had an 850R which had black leather with Alcantra insets in it - generally as per the R36. When I sold it the car had over 200,000 kms on it and the Alcantra was still fine. You will probably have to look after the leather more.

So, based on my previous experience, I will not bother to treat the seat Alcantra inserts. Thinking of occasionally giving the leather some treatment tho. I used the AUDI leather tratment cream when I had an A6 with leather and it was great. Maybe VW sell the same stuff re-badged.

200,000kms

You must be on the road a fair bit eh?

[nivek]

I used Meguiar's Leather Care once a summer on my previous car and it seemed to work quite well.

I thought it made the leather more supple and less prone to creases, especially on the sides where it is raised and bottoms are always scraping the seats.

[Wolfman_36]

200,000kms

You must be on the road a fair bit eh?

Um, picked it up at 140k second hand and do the 65k kms in 3 yrs, so not excessive me thinks.

Put a chip in it and it was a 1/2 decent car. Convinced me that 4WD was the way to go tho - 200+ kw thru front wheels doesn't work too well.

[Wolfman_36]

I used Meguiar's Leather Care once a summer on my previous car and it seemed to work quite well.

I thought it made the leather more supple and less prone to creases, especially on the sides where it is raised and bottoms are always scraping the seats.

IMO - the trick is to find a leather treatment that doesn't make the surface shiny or slippery - hence my comment about the AUDI stuff - which did neither. I think I have used the Meguires stuff, and from memory it did leave the surface shiny - am I wrong about this?

[nivek]

No, I don't recall seeing the leather shiny after the treatment. Nor was it slippery. It does leave a pretty strong smell for about a week though.

But I'm sure the Audi stuff would be equal or better than what Meguiar's can offer.

[RThirtySixer]

My R36 is 13mths old, done 37,000kms and have kids - no probs with seats but did do precautionary protection pack, however I don't reckon that would have prevented damage, just staining.

Peter