Was wondering which is best since I have a 4 yr old kid. At first, I was defaulting to Leather but after reading a bit, might have to go with MBTex. Any suggestions?
MB Tex is easy to take care of leather can crack you need to keep up and condition. I have MB tex and its easy to take care of and I know other members with the SL SLS CLK with the MB Tex and they like it over MB's leather. I have seen some MB leather over the years in bad shape MB tex seems to keep that Brand new appearance with a simple wipe on the seats or the cleaner that was mentioned in the detailing section on this board.
consumer reports is about to test a C300, on their web site they talk about the MB-tex. While not commenting on whether its better than leather or not, they do say that its a very good material.
personally, I've had leather in several of our vehicles, including the our family mini-van and I prefer it. in the end, to me it is much easier to keep clean and maintain over material, and has less cracks or splitting than vinyl. Not having MB-tex, I can't compare it to leather, but based on the responses here and on other forums, you probably won't make a mistake ordering either leather or mb-tex. I suspect that they both will hold up quite well with some of the same basic cleaning.
Of course, with anything, if you only clean the peanut butter & jelly, melted crayons, etc. off of your back car seats once a year, then it doesn't matter what you have, they'll both be ruined. But if you clean up spills as they happen, do a good vacuuming a couple of times a month and wipe down the seats with a damp cloth once or twice a month, then your leather and your mb-tex will probably look the same after 4 or 5 years. The only difference is that you will probably want to apply leather softner or conditioner a couple of times a year. leather is not that hard to keep up with.
Considering how good MB-Tex is, It really doesn't matter what the vehicle has except to you. You might want to save the 1500 and put it towards a panaramic roof so the kids will have something to look at on trips!
Personally, I prefer leather because I figure if I wanted vinyl, (even good vinyl like MBtex) then I would have bought a chevy.
I have leather interior in my other vehicles but opted for MB Tex on mine for the sole reason that I don't want to wait 3 extra months to get my car. Dealer was unable to locate a leather version equiped the way I want in the western US or in transit, so will have to get one built. I am happy with the MB Tex.
They call MB Tex "Artico" in Canada I think...I don't mind it and until I read the forums I thought I had leather. In fact my salesguy told me it was "man-made" leather and that the upgrade was just a better quality leather.
I was wondering where they found a grey man to make my seats out of and I was kinda creeped out that I might be sitting on his face.
Vehicle: 2008 C350 Sport (P2, MM, Pano), 2007 ML320 CDI, 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD (turbo-diesel)
Location: USA
Posts: 100
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeInCanada
They call MB Tex "Artico" in Canada I think...I don't mind it and until I read the forums I thought I had leather. In fact my salesguy told me it was "man-made" leather and that the upgrade was just a better quality leather.
I was wondering where they found a grey man to make my seats out of and I was kinda creeped out that I might be sitting on his face.
Thanks, Mike. I needed that laugh today!
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2008 C350 Sport
2007 ML320 CDI
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD (turbo-diesel)
They call MB Tex "Artico" in Canada I think...I don't mind it and until I read the forums I thought I had leather. In fact my salesguy told me it was "man-made" leather and that the upgrade was just a better quality leather.
I was wondering where they found a grey man to make my seats out of and I was kinda creeped out that I might be sitting on his face.
MB Tex was an old product. Artico is the newer "artificial" leather, but they're virtually the same thing.
$2500 for real leather on a C-Class is a waste of money...it's not like it lasts longer.
Vehicle: 2004 W203 C180 K Elegance Sport, 2004 R171 SLK200 K
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 98
i have a 3 year old W203 with mb-tex and a 3 year old SLK with real leather and you can barely tell the difference. I am an enthusiast so i prefer the real leather, but the MB-tex is still nice enough and nobody knowns the difference.
it all depends on personal tastes and budgets.
as far as maintenance is concerned they are both easy and just require a quick wipe over with a damp cloth once a week to keep it looking new.. i refuse to use any cleaning products on it because it just makes it greasy and un-natural
for serious long term use though, MB-tex lasts and lasts and lasts and will not crack unless abused. go and have a look at a 1980's merc with MBtex and they usually look like new
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