Has anyone had the cloth interior in a Civic replaced with Leather?

Dadavester2k2

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My girlfriend and I are both looking at getting 2016 Civics and I have been struggling to find one matching my requirements. Black with black leather with Honda Sensing. Multiple dealers near me (NorCal) have offered to take an EX-T and put aftermarket leather in it for $1,200. Especially with the complaints about leather quality in the EX-L, I think this would be even better since it's the same price.
My question is, has anyone done this before? If so, do you regret it?
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HondaGeek

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Im not sure what leather complaints on the EX-L you are referring to. Honda usually uses higher quality leather than most manufacturers, and that's including some luxury makes. Having worked for stores offering Lexus, Acura, BMW and Mercedes, the JDM brands use higher quality, longer lasting leather. Napa leather is softer (a BMW option over the lower grade Dakota), but it wears at a more rapid pace. Think of a Summer Tire. You get that extra performance, but at the cost of a very short life span. It also stains quicker if you love denim.

I have worked with dealers who install aftermarket leather on cars that came with clothe seats. Generally speaking, OEM leather is usually better quality, unless you are willing to pay a lot for finer cow hide. My other concern with aftermarket leather is that all new cars come with side airbags built into the front seats, where the seat/leather choice and design takes this into account. Getting aftermarket leather may reduce the success rate of this airbag deploying correctly in the event of an accident.

My opinion, based on mainly selling luxury brands, is this. The EX-L leather is of good quality. It may not be the 17 bulls that it takes to wrap a Bentley Mulsanne, but much better than the majority of the competition. Further more, I am a big advocate on safety, so having the risk of an airbag not deploying properly would take this option out of consideration.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
 

LT2BLT2A6

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I am not as confident as you are in the quality of Honda leather unless it has improved since my 06 Accord EX-L. I rarely wear denim but the driver's seat definitely showed discoloration, possibly from wearing a belt but I am not certain. It did stain and the bluish band across the seat back could not be removed. If I recall there were complaints of this in the Accord forums at the time. From past experience I am very hesitant to purchase a Honda with light-colored leather. Hopefully that issue has been resolved but although it looked great new it's susceptibility to stains from clothing was disappointing.
Your safety concerns are valid. I do not know what standards the aftermarket must meet and have wondered. I ended up putting sheepskin seat "vests" on the Accord seat so only the bolsters were visibly blue. Of note is that this occurred within a two year time frame as I traded the car in '08.
 

HondaGeek

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I am not as confident as you are in the quality of Honda leather unless it has improved since my 06 Accord EX-L. I rarely wear denim but the driver's seat definitely showed discoloration, possibly from wearing a belt but I am not certain. It did stain and the bluish band across the seat back could not be removed. If I recall there were complaints of this in the Accord forums at the time. From past experience I am very hesitant to purchase a Honda with light-colored leather. Hopefully that issue has been resolved but although it looked great new it's susceptibility to stains from clothing was disappointing.
Your safety concerns are valid. I do not know what standards the aftermarket must meet and have wondered. I ended up putting sheepskin seat "vests" on the Accord seat so only the bolsters were visibly blue. Of note is that this occurred within a two year time frame as I traded the car in '08.

Yes. It has improved. On some models, like the CRV, they are using identical Acura seats (I used to work for Acura as well). Honda has been using more and more Acura components, including their Amplitude Reactive Dampers and Acoustic Glass (used on the Civic Touring).

There has been huge improvements in quality and it will continue from here. Honda is becoming a premium brand offering, where Toyota is cheapening their brand to have a bigger distinction from Lexus. You can't even get real leather seats on a RAV4 Limited.
 

takemorepills

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Im not sure what leather complaints on the EX-L you are referring to. Honda usually uses higher quality leather than most manufacturers, and that's including some luxury makes. Having worked for stores offering Lexus, Acura, BMW and Mercedes, the JDM brands use higher quality, longer lasting leather.
Man I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw you state that JDM brands use higher quality leather. At best, JDM leather is mid pack, I have owned a few of 10 year old Honda/Acura/Infiniti leather cars. The Infiniti was the best, but my neighbor's CR-V EX-L has shot leather at 46K, my Vigor I had back in the day was worn out before 100K, my Legend needed leather refurbishing on the driver's seat at 30K. Yeah, now that I think of it, my I35 and QX4 leather was better than Honda.

How can you state that the newer cars are "better" when they aren't old enough to prove that?

Honda Pilot leather:

http://colorglocalgary.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/perforated-seat-repair1-honda-pilot.jpg


Now, we can argue about how "good" Honda leather is these days. But we won't know until enough time passes. You never know, Honda may have recently switched leather vendors, which may have a different effect on durability, good or bad. We won't know yet. BUT, I will say this, I had perforated leather in my Solara, and it was a bitch to clean and condition. Any products you use to maintain leather go right into the perforations and collect there and look like butt.

To the OP, if the aftermarket leather is a reputable brand (Katzkin was highly regarded back when I was working with cars) and is NOT perforated, I would almost give the nod to the aftermarket leather. I have seen lots of dealer installed aftermarket leather on Hondas, both when new and old. IF the installer installs the leather nicely where it looks OEM, no slack, it will usually last much longer than OEM leather. The aftermarket leather I have seen used has been better quality than OEM Honda. But, in all honesty, this is 2015, Honda may be using better leather and aftermarket may not be as good as it was 15 years ago.
But still, perforated leather sucks to maintain! (Nicer in the summer though)
 


HondaGeek

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Man I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw you state that JDM brands use higher quality leather. At best, JDM leather is mid pack, I have owned a few of 10 year old Honda/Acura/Infiniti leather cars. The Infiniti was the best, but my neighbor's CR-V EX-L has shot leather at 46K, my Vigor I had back in the day was worn out before 100K, my Legend needed leather refurbishing on the driver's seat at 30K. Yeah, now that I think of it, my I35 and QX4 leather was better than Honda.

How can you state that the newer cars are "better" when they aren't old enough to prove that?

Honda Pilot leather:

http://colorglocalgary.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/perforated-seat-repair1-honda-pilot.jpg


Now, we can argue about how "good" Honda leather is these days. But we won't know until enough time passes. You never know, Honda may have recently switched leather vendors, which may have a different effect on durability, good or bad. We won't know yet. BUT, I will say this, I had perforated leather in my Solara, and it was a bitch to clean and condition. Any products you use to maintain leather go right into the perforations and collect there and look like butt.

To the OP, if the aftermarket leather is a reputable brand (Katzkin was highly regarded back when I was working with cars) and is NOT perforated, I would almost give the nod to the aftermarket leather. I have seen lots of dealer installed aftermarket leather on Hondas, both when new and old. IF the installer installs the leather nicely where it looks OEM, no slack, it will usually last much longer than OEM leather. The aftermarket leather I have seen used has been better quality than OEM Honda. But, in all honesty, this is 2015, Honda may be using better leather and aftermarket may not be as good as it was 15 years ago.
But still, perforated leather sucks to maintain! (Nicer in the summer though)

I say this having been recently employed by Acura, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes. Lexus generally uses the best leather, which holds up better than the rest. I agree with you completely about previous generation leather used in Honda, including the Accord and Pilot, but the new hide is a different quality.

The leather in the euro cars do not hold up as well. Seeing both hundreds of JDM and German luxury cars for the past six years, side by side, in all types of models and years, I would confidently say this.

Acura seats have improved dramatically. In fact, at the moment, the highest rated luxury car seat are the ones from the RLX (JD Powers), based on the past three years of availability.

Have you sat down and driven the new Civic Touring for more than five minutes? It's a dramatic improvement over the previous Civic, Accord and Pilot as far as comfort and quality of touch. The stitching as well, uses slightly thicker thread. I found this even more pronounced with the leather stitching on the steering wheel.

They will always be different opinions, but I'm basis mine on the past experience with the brands mentioned above, and the hundreds of cars I've been in and driven.

As far as aftermarket, as I mentioned before, you can get a high quality install, but it can be costly. I've seen leather installs done for $1000, and the quality is not near OEM.
 

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So, nowadays, how do people cope with applying leather care products to perforated leather? When I had my Solara, perforated leather was a PITA to maintain, especially for applying conditioners or cleaners.

If it is true that the Civic leather is of good quality, where is Honda scrimping? Turbo motor, best redesign in 20 years, and now high quality leather for $23K?? Something doesn't add up...
 

HondaGeek

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So, nowadays, how do people cope with applying leather care products to perforated leather? When I had my Solara, perforated leather was a PITA to maintain, especially for applying conditioners or cleaners.

If it is true that the Civic leather is of good quality, where is Honda scrimping? Turbo motor, best redesign in 20 years, and now high quality leather for $23K?? Something doesn't add up...
You are absolutely right...something doesn't add up. Yet, for the customer, it has been for the better.

Let me put it simple. Internally, Honda wants to be premium. Not luxury, but premium. They not only want to have the most reliable cars, but also more premium and sporty looking (look at the new Pilot, HRV, Accord and Civic) when compared to their old conservative ways. In addition, they want to offer the best set of features and value, in both luxury and non-luxury segments.

Here's is an awesome example.

2014 Honda CRV AWD EX = $26,470
2015 Honda CRV AWD EX = $26,795

Do you see the difference in price? It's exactly $325. And yet, this is what Honda added to the 2015 model

LED DRL
Smart Key Access
Push Start Ignition
Rear Center Air Vents
7" Audio Display
Dual USB
HDMI
Lane Watch
Sportier Suspension
Sportier Steering
Siri Eyes Free
Redesigned front and rear bumpers

You're absolutely right. This does not add up. All this features are worth much more than the $325 increase in price.


Just like a Civic Touring is worth much, much more than its $27k price for the features it offers. And do yourself a favor and drive this car. The seats are not hype. I can tell that they are on par with the comfort and texture of a Lexus (again, I have sold for them as well).

Or how about the 2016 Accord. It's prices exactly the same as the 2015 model, yet it's a refresh year with more standard features.

Honda is not taking a conservative approach anymore. While very difficult to do, they want to lead in every category possible going forward.

And all this benefits the consumer!
 

Slickone

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I agree with you completely about previous generation leather used in Honda, including the Accord and Pilot, but the new hide is a different quality.
Are you saying that just because it feels better, or have you read/heard somewhere that it's a better quality that will last longer? It could feel better but be even less durable than the older leather you're comparing it to.

What kind of work have you done working for Acura, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes?
 

HondaGeek

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Are you saying that just because it feels better, or have you read/heard somewhere that it's a better quality that will last longer? It could feel better but be even less durable than the older leather you're comparing it to.

What kind of work have you done working for Acura, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes?
Like everything else, time will tell when it comes to durability. What I can tell you is that Honda in the last two years has been using more and more Acura components in their new Hondas. The local Acura dealers are not too happy about that, because you can basically get a Honda for about $7000 to $8000 less and have very similar comfort features, along with the same quality.

Two great examples are Acura's super handling all-wheel-drive and amplitude reactive dampers. The former which is on the new Pilot, even though publicly they do not use the name, and the latter, which is on all HRV and Touring Accords. In addition, Acoustic Glass, which is usually reserved for luxury cars, not only is found in the upper trim Honda Pilots, but also standard on the entire 2016 Civic line. These are things that are unheard of in the non-luxury line.

And to answer your question about my former experience with the manufactures listed above, I have had multiple sales positions, in addition to technology specialist and trainer.
 


RedTouringMA

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I am not as confident as you are in the quality of Honda leather unless it has improved since my 06 Accord EX-L. I rarely wear denim but the driver's seat definitely showed discoloration, possibly from wearing a belt but I am not certain. It did stain and the bluish band across the seat back could not be removed. If I recall there were complaints of this in the Accord forums at the time. From past experience I am very hesitant to purchase a Honda with light-colored leather. Hopefully that issue has been resolved but although it looked great new it's susceptibility to stains from clothing was disappointing.
Your safety concerns are valid. I do not know what standards the aftermarket must meet and have wondered. I ended up putting sheepskin seat "vests" on the Accord seat so only the bolsters were visibly blue. Of note is that this occurred within a two year time frame as I traded the car in '08.
The discoloration is not the fault of the leather, its the fault of the denim companies for no longer producing denim that does not leave its color everywhere it touches, they are no longer colorfasting denim.

A cleaning with leather wipes will generally remove the denim discolorations from leather
 

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One of the reasons why I have always stuck with black. Ages well and a little black shoe polish can work wonders on the carpet and leather wear areas.
 

spexicola

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I have a 16 Touring Sedan myself, and can speak to the quality of the leather used. I went with black, specifically to avoid dye transfer, which isn't as much to do with the quality of the leather as it is the color, as mentioned above. If you get tan leather, wear darker dyed jeans, and get your ass wet you will have dye transfer eventually.

The construction of the covers on the front seats is great as well, with no wrinkles or lumps anywhere. The back seat however, has some ripples around the tops of the seat backs. It's annoying at first, but I got used to it. Also, Most everything above one's elbow is soft-touch or leather/vinyl wrapped. The only thing that sticks out to me is that ABS instrument cluster cover. I'd have paid $100 extra to have it wrapped and stiched, personally. Also, a wood interior choice would have been nice. Heated rear seats is the thing that really blew me away. The inlaw's new Lexus doesn't even have that.

As for the quality, it's true that you just can't touch the Touring for the features and the price, however Honda still has rattle issues. I just spent the weekend shoring up the back deck with Damplifier Pro, Luxury Liner Pro, and Tesa taping all the contact surfaces and retention clips.

I had rattles in the back deck (with and without music playing), and the sunroof rattle (fixed with some foam weatherstripping between the plastic contact pads in theheadliner and the bottom of the sunroof housing.
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