It doesn't bother me that this car offers "fake" leather. I don't think one can judge a material without feeling it to see if it's suitable to be in a luxury vehicle or not. Like others have stated, I have felt real leather in some vehicles that feel like a cheap knock off and fake leather in other products that I thought were real leather. Isn't it usually just the seat tops that are leather anyway. I thought I read that most mainstream vehicles that offer "leather seats" only have leather on the seating surfaces and not the rest of the bits.
This. Some of the Japanese and Korean vehicles have leather that is of very poor quality. I have witnessed some German vehicles with leather that has been very stiff and not luxurious in feel. Good-quality leather upholstery is indeed a luxury feature, but it is not easy to find. What I find equally troubling is the dearth of good-quality fabric used in cars of late. We have moved from mouse-fur velours to burlap-like weaves that are rough and in no way pleasant to the touch. It seems we reached peak automotive fabric in the late 1960s.
As opposed to that lovely leather that GM stuffs in its cars? Lol! Seriously, I doubt you have ever actually been in a Lexus.
What wrong with the leather in my truck ![Huh ???](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/huh.gif)
Have you felt the leather in a Venza , it is not top of the line stuff ![Tongue :P](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/tongue.gif)
Neither, I suspect, is the leather in your truck. Most mainstream brands, whether it's Toyota, Hyundai or GM, use fairly midgrade stuff. It is not unique to the "Japanese and Koreans" as suggested by GregB / Catseye / Oldsguy. And it's all better than vinyl, IMO.
We weren't really discussing mainstream vehicles, however, but rather luxury vehicles. Generally (but not always) a higher grade of leather is used. Judging by the many 2011 Lexus LS460s that I test drove, the leather used was exceptionally soft and held up brilliantly well over time. I can't say I was similarly impressed with the quality of the leather in Some newer 2013-ish Cadillacs that I saw.
Clearly even MB considers leather a significant upgrade over their vinyl - and charges several thousand more, accordingly.
Oh, and pickup trucks are the type of vehicle where a vinyl interior makes perfect sense. Luxury sports coupes - not so much.