Leather seats

[14emerc]

Seen today that MB have lost a landmark case regarding plastics seats but called leather and will have to repay £850 to the cars owner .
Will this ruling now open the flood gates for other MB car owners to also claim that they were mis sold ?

 

[RonFleet]

Is this to do with Artico "man made leather" seats - like the ones in my C200 and probably in the cars of a good proportion of those on this forum?

 

[RonFleet]

Just done a search on t'internet... Is this the case you're referring to?

Driver discovers his Mercedes leather seats were 'synthetic' | Daily Mail Online

In which case, I think he was justified in complaining if it wasn't made clear to him.

Perhaps it's a different case. In this one, the chap received a full refund and took his business elsewhere.

 

[AntMB]

Is that the case where the guy threw his toys our of the pram over differences in seat material only to go and buy a Passat with a higher price tag?

 

[liamt]

I'd be interested to know how he could prove he was mis sold the car. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure all recent Mercedes literature (including online) specifically states Artico "man made leather". Unless the salesmen specifically said it was 'genuine' and this could be proven. Put Artico into google and it is not difficult to get the answer. I'm personally happy with mine as I think they are durable.

 

[markjay]

There were two different cases.

1) Artico being called 'leather'. Where this happens, it is 100% the fault of the selling dealer. Nothing to do with Mercedes-Benz. MB never described Artico as 'Leather', but rather as 'Man-Made Leather'.

2) Part-leather seats being described as 'Leather'. This is an issue for MB, not the selling dealer, who simply repeats the spec as published by MB. Apparently MB claimed that 'Leather' seats can contain both 'Leather' and 'non-Leather' parts, but the Ombudsman disagreed with them.

Re Artico.... it is very common to see traders describe Artico as leather... either because they don't know the difference, or because they think the customer won't know the difference.

 

[RonFleet]

I've had Artico in all three M-Bs that I've owned - and been satisfied with it. The first dealer tried to convince me that it should be treated as leather and that I should use leather feed on it. I just replied that it was a type of vinyl and that I was OK with that. In truth, I'd be happy with cloth seats.

 

[whitenemesis]

My S203 originally had 'leather-twin' upholstery on the seats. The faces were leather, the bolsters, back and sides were Artico..
The brochure called it Leather-Twin ..

 

[Scooby_Doo]

How did he manage to get samples for testing ??? If the tests had showed they were actually leather he'd be driving around with holes in the seat. I wonder what the dealer said when he returned the car with bloody big holes in the seat ??

 

[slade1]

Artico is crap, it’s in my CLK and is cracking. MB tex is indestructible, my 190 has it and after 59 years still looks good, some loose stitching and that’s it.

 

[Blackbird1]

I have leather I mine an 04 c180 whether it is real or not i think prefer cloth and very tempted to swap for cloth. Leather is nice to look at ect but for me not the be all ect. Cloth to me is comfier the leather in mine isn't very soft or supple at all.

 

[slade1]

I have leather I mine an 04 c180 whether it is real or not i think prefer cloth and very tempted to swap for cloth. Leather is nice to look at ect but for me not the be all ect. Cloth to me is comfier the leather in mine isn't very soft or supple at all.

Agree, cloth is best, never cold and clammy or burning hot

 

[JBD]

What a load of crap. He bought an A7 because his seats were half artificial leather?

I’m living in a tent because I don’t like the colour of my front door


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[James]

It might be a dealer miscommunication about what the seat material comprises. Customers can be easily confused into thinking their cars have leather especially when Mercedes dress it up and call it 'artico'. In the old days you either chose MB Tex or full leather that covered the entire seat including the backs and sides.
An indie dealer once tried to sell me an X3 with BMW's plastic 'Sensotec' which was advertised as leather. I told the dealer this, but the advert was never changed. I can imagine this would be a problem in the independent trade market - ebay often has Mercs with Artico/MB tex advertising it as 'full leather'

 

[kid-jensen]

Mine was advertised (secondhand) as leather, but I knew it was Artico and bought it anyway.

I can see haw some might be upset though. I was more upset by the single key, especially when I found out how much for a replacement!

Generally, Artico makes a good fist of impersonating leather, but it has cracked on the driver's RH bolster.

The cost of any kind of fix makes me live with it in a kind of grumbling resentment...

 

[Scoops1972]

It appears that I am truly ignorant in these matters. I thought my car had leather seats, and have been treating them as such, but they may in fact be plastic!? How do I tell if it's leather or vinyl? Or perhaps ignorance is bliss?!

 

[kid-jensen]

Leather has the distinctive.....errr....leather smell, and will probably have multiple creases when well used.

Artico generally looks the same for years, then cracks.

 

[Ted]

In the old days you either chose MB Tex or full leather that covered the entire seat including the backs and sides. '

Or the gorgeous cropped velour, which iirc might have been more expensive than leather.
The original MB-Tex was of course indestructible, and will probably outlast the planet.

 

[Deadly Dave]

Can you tell by looking up the chassis number if it's leather or Artico ?

 

[stagwcb]

I have an SLK and the data card states A221 Leather Black Anthracite . So is it Leather or plastic?