Up till around VIN8000 (going from failing memory) you couldn't get heated textile seats at all. Didn't matter if you had the Tech package or not. Heated seats were tied to leather seats. Heated mirrors were tied to the Tech package.
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Up till around VIN8000 (going from failing memory) you couldn't get heated textile seats at all. Didn't matter if you had the Tech package or not. Heated seats were tied to leather seats. Heated mirrors were tied to the Tech package.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
I don't think it got anywhere near VIN 8000. More like 4000 around the beginning of 2013.
I'd have gone for heated, memory-laden cloth seats too had they been available when I finalized in August 2012. Although my 60 kWh car was actually built in early January, 2013, I'd have had to pay an additional $2.5k (given a price increase in the new year) to get the "downgrade" which Tesla was reluctant to do anyway that late in the game.
I like two-tone look of the cloth seats (with the partial leatherette inserts). They are also less slippery than the leather seats - I rode in a car with cloth seats back in 2012 - and are not at all cheap-looking.
youlikeadajuice
P 9130
I'm VIN 4874 with cloth and no heat, and heated cloth was definitely not an option when I finalized in Dec 2012 or when the car was delivered in Feb 2013, so it's definitely VINS over 5000, I don't think 8000 is actually a bad guess.
Had my MS for a few months now, and have cloth seats. They are wonderful. I had leather on my previous car, & didn't like all the work needed to maintain it. Also, my leather was tan so after 10 yrs, it just looks very worn & dirty as it gets darker. On the occasions when I drive aggresively, the leather seats kept my butt stationary, unlike my bolsterd leather seats, which I slide around in regardless of the bolster. The heated feature is great also. My wife gets cold very easily & I run on the warmer side. So a lot of times when we're in the car togethr, I can have the window or air on, but the seat warmers keep the wife happy. Best of both worlds.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Jerry, youlikeadajuice, I stand corrected. Again, if I were to do it over, I'd go with the cloth seats and use the money for the twin charger (as if I'm not complaining enough about not getting that 
)
)
I have cloth seats and love them! My mom who is leather only, really likes my cloth seats. They are very high quality. They also have significant amounts of high quality vinyl trim on them as well.
I do not have heated seats.
The transition happened with the price increase Jan 1 2013. After that date the cloth seats were the same as the leather, whereas before they were different mechanical seats. The cloth seats before the price increase also did not have seat memory, even if you had the tech package. And as a result you didn't get driver profiles either.
I do not have heated seats.
The transition happened with the price increase Jan 1 2013. After that date the cloth seats were the same as the leather, whereas before they were different mechanical seats. The cloth seats before the price increase also did not have seat memory, even if you had the tech package. And as a result you didn't get driver profiles either.
After reading this thread I'm convinced that cloth is my choice. But I have some questions.
1.
Steering wheel is still leather right?
2.
My wife is kind of allergic (not in the medical sense) to the smell of new car seat cloth. Bur my experience is that this differs between manufacturers. How is Tesla in this regard?
3.
The "leather" insets in the cloth seats, are they real leather? Or some kind of fake version? If fake, how is the feel?
Thanks in advance.
1.
Steering wheel is still leather right?
2.
My wife is kind of allergic (not in the medical sense) to the smell of new car seat cloth. Bur my experience is that this differs between manufacturers. How is Tesla in this regard?
3.
The "leather" insets in the cloth seats, are they real leather? Or some kind of fake version? If fake, how is the feel?
Thanks in advance.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
1) It is some kind of leather or leatherette. I tried to compare it with the wheel on my leather-clad loaner and am probably 80% sure it's the same covering. I suspect they just have the one wheel no matter what options you select. Either way, it has a nice pleasing texture.
2) I noticed no smell to the fabric. Indeed, the "new car smell" in general is very faint. Just enough you can tell it's new, but that's about it.
3) No, it's leatherette. Some kind of vinyl or something. It actually seems really high quality for synthetic leather. The texture is nice, and it feels reasonably thick and durable. I had a zipper scratch against it that marred the surface visually. I wiped it with a damp towel and it looks brand new again, so it's relatively scratch-resistant as well. Chances are good if some random person got in your car they wouldn't be able to discern it visually from the coated leathers used in most vehicles. The only thing that may give it away is its vaguely plastic feel. I feel this is a minor negative given they're spot-on visually.
I can't say enough good things about the textile seats. I'm pretty strongly against leather seats in cars so I've had many cloth seats, and these are easily the best cloth seat coverings I've seen.
If you can, try to check one out at a showroom. You may have trouble given they're somewhat rare, but it would put you at ease if you could track one down.
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I believe the steering wheel is real leather. Superb quality. Looks and feels great.
I noticed very little 'new car smell' in my Tesla at all. It was significantly less than either VW I bought new.
The 'synthetic leather' inserts are vinyl. They are high quality, and aren't 'sticky' like fake can be. They are visibly very nice, and at normal distance appear to be leather, but under close inspection they are vinyl. I have no problems with them in general.
Old style textile seats here. Like 'em and I think they look good.
Regarding the timing of the change in the seats, Tesla announced their first price increase around 12/2012. Reservations that wanted to stay at the old pricing had to finalize some time I think in late Jan 2013. The new seats came in with the new pricing. I stayed with the old textile 8 way adjust, no heaters, no lumbar support to save the $1500. I actually had second thoughts because of the seat heaters an tried to change after finalizing but Tesla said no. I don't think there's a set VIN where the seats changed since it depended on buyer's preferences but I would say they're pretty rare after about 7000.
Regarding the timing of the change in the seats, Tesla announced their first price increase around 12/2012. Reservations that wanted to stay at the old pricing had to finalize some time I think in late Jan 2013. The new seats came in with the new pricing. I stayed with the old textile 8 way adjust, no heaters, no lumbar support to save the $1500. I actually had second thoughts because of the seat heaters an tried to change after finalizing but Tesla said no. I don't think there's a set VIN where the seats changed since it depended on buyer's preferences but I would say they're pretty rare after about 7000.
Thanks.
2. Is the most important. But if the new car smell is very faint even with the cloth then I'm good and can save some money on the seats...
I have a temp showroom 150+ miles away and the closest real one is ~300 miles away so it might be a little hard...
Thanks.
2. Is the most important. But if the new car smell is very faint even with the cloth then I'm good and can save some money on the seats...
I have a temp showroom 150+ miles away and the closest real one is ~300 miles away so it might be a little hard...
I had to travel 650 miles for to see my first Model S. If you think about the money you are about to spend on the car, taking $200-300 dollars (150-225 euro) isn't a bad investment at all.
I mean after I saw the car, and took the test drive I optioned up from 40kWh to 85kWh, decided the pano roof was mandatory, as well as green, and the air suspention. I also decided what the hell and bought the premium sound as well.
So that $400 trip (my wife came with me) ended up 'costing' me another almost $30,000. Money well spent.
I've already test driven it and so have my wife. So the trip would be to get a second look which I don't think is worth it.
Anyway, I put an order in to the company I work for today with cloth seats so hopefully the leasing firm will get it in a couple of days and then I just hope they will actually order it.
Yes, we LOVE our textile interior--warm in the winter, and much cooler in the summer.
Our original MS order was cancelled due to the then mandatory leather if you wanted heated seats/Tech Pkg.
The choice of killing sentient animals for their parts is immoral and unethical, so we had no choice but to cancel our order. We sent a letter to Elon advising why he'd lost a customer.
Days later we had a call from his staff advising that "they had received a lot of letters" on this problem and that they'd removed the leather requirement. Thus, we now greatly enjoy our very nice, cruelty-free, Model S85. (And, no, our steering wheel is not wrapped in the skin of a murdered animal either, which is now either standard or available by request.)
The package we sent Elon included contents from the following sources, among others:
Meat.org | The Website the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See
and
United Nations News Centre - Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns
"Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns"
***********************************************************
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND making the ethical, moral, and environmentally-friendly choice of the textile interior.
To do otherwise if voting with your dollars for the status quo, and that's completely unsupportable, and is also somewhat hypocritical.
For more info, please read the facts about leather "production" here:
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry/
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/09/25/ban-fur-then-why-not-leather/bringing-attention-to-the-fur-industry
Thanks for asking for our inputs and I do hope you'll choose wisely!
youlikeadajuice
P 9130
Your opinion is noted. I and others think that the textile is the better choice, regardless of what the car costs.
The car (S85 with tech but not much else) is around $120K here.
But I'm not spending that kind of money. I'm leasing it. Every item added doesn't only add to the lease cost, it also adds to the tax for it. So for the 3 year lease period, the leather would cost me roughly $3500.
If the leather was like the leather in my current BMW, I would consider it. But in the Tesla it is "too nice" (for lack of better description) which means it needs a lot of care, etc if you have small children and would like it to stay nice.
The website shows still no color option than black for textile seats. Do people currently discussing orders with Tesla hear or know differently? Any rumored changes coming? For a southeasterner, I'm very leery of a black interior for temperature reasons (suppose it would hold color longer, however) -- any comments on that?
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