I bought my '05 back in January, and since it basically sits in the garage, I haven't done much major cleaning. Well, I decided to give it a complete cleaning today, and while doing the interior I noticed the entirely different grain pattern on the entire back seats. It didn't match the small sections of leather on the front seats, but DID look like all of the vinyl pieces on the front. So, I pulled off the clips on the fold-down section of the back seat, and it definitely looks as if the entire back seat is covered in nothing but vinyl! Does anyone know if this is correct? Hey, I know that automakers have increasingly put vinyl on everything but the seating surfaces of leather interiors, but this would be a first and ultimate low. I paid almost an additional $700 for what is stated to be a "Leather" interior, and I fully expected it to be on both front AND rear seats! If vinyl is used on the back, I would have been further ahead to purchase one of the aftermarket leather sets and get quality leather for the front seats, rear seats AND headrests.
Please, does anyone know what the real material is on the back seats, because if it's vinyl, Ford is going to hear from me, and I hope all of the others who paid top dollar for the upgrade! You can e-mail me directly at "ctr01980@centurytel.net".
I bought my '05 back in January, and since it basically sits in the garage, I haven't done much major cleaning. Well, I decided to give it a complete cleaning today, and while doing the interior I noticed the entirely different grain pattern on the entire back seats. It didn't match the small sections of leather on the front seats, but DID look like all of the vinyl pieces on the front. So, I pulled off the clips on the fold-down section of the back seat, and it definitely looks as if the entire back seat is covered in nothing but vinyl! Does anyone know if this is correct? Hey, I know that automakers have increasingly put vinyl on everything but the seating surfaces of leather interiors, but this would be a first and ultimate low. I paid almost an additional $700 for what is stated to be a "Leather" interior, and I fully expected it to be on both front AND rear seats! If vinyl is used on the back, I would have been further ahead to purchase one of the aftermarket leather sets and get quality leather for the front seats, rear seats AND headrests.
Please, does anyone know what the real material is on the back seats, because if it's vinyl, Ford is going to hear from me, and I hope all of the others who paid top dollar for the upgrade! You can e-mail me directly at "ctr01980@centurytel.net".
I'm not sure either. This so called leather doesn't even come close to the interior in my Denali as far as softness goes.
There was a discussion a few days ago about that, and apparently the fronts of the front seats are the only thing that's leather in the interior. I agree, I was a bit frustrated about it, but I've heard that the vinyl "leatherette" is actually a lot more durable than actual leather.
The only part that is leather is the front seat pan and the front seat back panel (where your back actually touches the seat). The rest of the front seats and the entire back seat area are vinyl. Door panels are leather and the steering wheel cover is leather (this is what came with GT premium package-- leather option on non-premium package might be different regarding the side panels).
Good news is the vinyl should be very durable (perhaps even more so than the leather)
jq
So, Ford charges $700 for a few pieces of leather that wouldn't even cover a man's jacket?!!! The sticker said leather seat inserts, and since the back area has what is nominally labeled as "seats", I assume eveyone would expect at least a few inches of the stuff back there! I call this a major deceptive policy, since nothing was implied on the sticker as to being only "leather portion FRONT seats"!
Ford is definitely going to hear from me about this. I'll keep eveyone posted about what they tell me regarding this issue. They need to modify their sticker to acurately reflect what the customer is paying top dollar for when deciding to ante up for the extra cost. I would NOT have paid extra for this option if I'd known the truth about the seats. Instead I would have purchased a better quality aftermarket leather seat package that matches the O.E. red leather interior for less money!
yeah i commented on this issue earlier this week. this is a real low. $700 is alot to pay for pieces of leather. i was excited to hav leather seats and now to find out there not, so dissapointing. i dont care if vinle is longer wearing, bullsh*t.we need to stand up for ourselves. i think after the holiday im calling customer service, dont know if theres much they'll do it does say leather-trimed option i believe , but still way too misleading.hey keep this thread going everyone please.
I pulled out my window sticker, and it says "leather trimmed bucket seats". So, what would most people assume this to be when a typical leather interior option always includes all seating surfaces? In fact, the earlier Firebirds and Camaros had a similar back seat desin (except with separate bottom cushions, and they called the back area "rear bucket seats".
For $700 I can' tbelieve that any manufacturer could stoop so low-not even Ford! Hey, I know that auto manufacturers are feeling the profit pinch, but you don' get new customers by cutting quality to the point of creating bad word of mouth among present owners. Back in the 80's, Nissan got hit with a class-action lawsuit over their description of leather seats. Since that time, all manufacturers hae described their leather option as being leather seating surfaces with vinyl trim. The problem here is that we paid premium dollars to get 4 small sections of leather only on the front seats!
For those of us that paid the price, we need to band together and let Ford know of our displeasure. They will simply ignore one or two people. The Mustang is the only good selling vehicle that Ford has right now, and they need to know that they can't make most of their profit off of our backs by deceptively getting us to add high profit options that aren't worth the cost!
Leather is installed in the front seats, rear seats and side panels wherever the "diamond" cuts are. Also, the front seat "bolsters" on the seat itself and backrests are leather. Everything else including the headrests are pleather imo. Poke your finger into the pleather areas and see how it deforms with about 5 "fingers" of indents. Now poke the front bolsters, see how they wrinkle like skin in a different way?
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C&L CAI with MAF, Steeda UP's, FR 4.10's, Predator "C&L-MAF" Tune, Borla 3" tip catbacks, Kooks LT/ Catted X-pipe, Nitto 255/45/18(F) 285/40/18(R), Steeda Springs, Tri-Ax, Adj Pan Hard, Camber plates, Cowel Hood, Tokico Adj Dampers.
dyno; 315 RWHP/ 320 RWTQ
What was previously described might be true on the GT, but the V6 with the supposed leather option only has the hard platic side door panels which match the had plastic dashboard and mismatched grain pattern hard plastic console. I pulled off the entire rear folding seat panel later this afternoon, and couldn't find one inch of leather anywhere on that piece, so I doubt the $700 paid for this option on my car involves more than a couple square feet of leather on the center sections of the front seats.
So, here's a quiz for those who purchased this option.
The leather trimmed bucket seat option is ACTUALLY:
A). A vinyl interior with a few inches of leather accent pieces.
B). A major monetary rip-off.
C). A positive proof of the old adage "Buyer Beware".
D). A shaft applied to customers.
D). All of the above.
If you answered D, then you won the prize and lost the hard earned money!
Im sorry for all of you. It does really surprise me because my 02 has the best leather interior I have ever seen. It seems that at 03 and after that they have been putting really weird leather with a really rough grain. It wouldn't really surprise me if that grain was actually vynil. Good Luck.
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Rice includes chicken
02 Silver GT -Magnapacks from Magnaflow-watch the blast zone buddy.
I am waiting on my new 05 to arrive this week. I paid $900 CAD for leather seats and if I don't get leather buckets where my ass hits the seat (front and back), I'm going to invest in a pad of paper and write them a nice long letter. Albeit, I had the opportunity to see a stang in the showroom, but to market it as Leaterh bucket seats seeems extremely misleading. Had they marketed the option as Leather front seats, it would have been much clearer. I recommend weall write letters just to let Ford know how misleading marketing can result in negative PR.
My car was built later then the rest of the 05 Stangs after production was initially stopped so I'll see if they made any improvements. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
the perforated portions of the front seat are probably leather (the sticker says "leather seating surfaces"). the back seats perforations don't appear to go completely through the material, leaving me to believe that they are not leather.
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'05 Torch Red GT; medium graphite leather; 5sp Man.
Out of storage 3/25/06
back to storage 11/1/06
Help! Is Back Seat Vinyl? 
Gotta love it - NOT! 
