Hi everyone,

New to this forum....seems like this is the right to place ask all sorts of questions and get some really good feedback.

I'm in the market for a 2007 V8 Vantage and went to do my first test drive today. I still have goose bumps from driving that beast of a car almost 5 hours ago. It appears the 4.3L is plenty fast for me, and so I did not even ask to drive the 2010 4.7L that was parked right next door (simply cuz i could not afford one, whether a 2009 or 2010).

So that brings me to the one question I had after today. What do you guys think about the quality of the leather seats? The 2007 I drove today only had about 13K miles, so I wouldn't expect to see any serious wear on the leather....but there was (mainly on the driver side). After feeling around for a bit, I got the feeling that the leather is pretty thin and not nearly as good in quality as the novillo leather inside the current M3 (i.e., the other car i was thinking of getting instead). The leather on the Vantage seats felt thin just like the leather in my 2003 Acura RSX, which I wouldn't expect from a car that stickers for 5x my Acura.

Of course, the dealer said that everything would get touched up, but i don't really see how worn out leather could be reconditioned after it's already cracked and faded/peeled.

I also noticed that the driver's side seat belt was slighty frayed as well....again, i don't see this kind of problem is my 2003 Acura.

Has anyone experienced any of these issues and, if so, how do you deal with it? I'm really hoping that the previous owner was just rough with the car and didn't baby it like I would have....as opposed to this being indicative of the general quality of the interior.

Thanks in advance....

 

My 07 seats still look great. 13K miles. I've not noticed any wear or thinness of them.

However, on the driver's seat corner just above the parking break I have scuffed it up a bit. My tennis shoes sometimes scrape across the seat edge because I'm not paying attention when I get in. (I yell at myself whenever I do it)

I like the leather in my Vantage more than my Mercedes. The Mercedes has the hard, textured leather seats which I don't care for as much....not sure if it's real leather in that case. I love the soft leather in the Vantage. Maybe the trade off with soft leather is that it wears quicker.

 

thanks for the input. will probably just ask the dealer to do the reconditioning now and i'll see how it looks before pulling the trigger.

also, have you noticed any fraying along the edges of the seat belt straps? i was really surprised to see that as well.

 

33k miles.

Side bolsters have a little bit of wear, and yes, I also did notice the fraying of seatbelts.

Both of those items bothered me for a day, now I'm paying a bit more attention getting in/out of the car, and gentle with putting on/off the seatbelts.

I apply Zaino's leather treatment once a month, so far the leather's in good shape.

 

I have experienced both issues with my 2006 Vantage:

With the leather (especially on the driver's side), mine has faded slightly just above the emergency brake. Since the car sits low to the ground, I find myself "falling" the last few inches to the seat when I first get in. If you're wearing jeans, it probably doesn't help the situation as you rub across it. When I went in for my annual service, the dealer had a 3rd party "dye guy" that touched it up for me for a few hundred bucks. It looks much better.

As far as the seat belt, I have, on one or two occasions, had the seat belt "stick" a little so I tugged on it. I could hear what sounded like hard rubbing before I stopped. Now, I have some slight fraying on the driver's side belt. Not very noticeable but it's there.

Hope that helps.

 

On a lot of high end cars, the Aston, my current Ferrari, a ZO6 I had some time back, it is best to put your hand on the edge of the outside bolster (it sticks forward to hold you into the seat) as you get in and out of the car to avoid rubbing your butt across it as you get into the seat. Otherwise they can wear a bit. I put my hand on it and sort of protect it as i slide into the seat. On my vette, I never did and

I had an 07 Vantage for 3 years. just traded it. The leather was smoother and softer than in my Ferrari, the rest of the interior (grab handles, *****, and particularly carpet quality, is much better qulaity than in the Ferrari. (That said, the Ferrari handles worlds better and is about a second and a half faster in the wquarter, but I have to say I miss the Aston so much I'm looking to pick up a Vantage of a DB9 when I can).
I expect the leather was really durable in spite of the softness - the only place I saw any wear at all was that bolster and after about a year, when i noticed a bit of flatness where I was abrading it as I slide into the seat, I started covering that with my hand and it was no worse two years later when i traded it.