Any info regarding leather thickness?

[sprengBoard]

Does anyone happen to know the thickness of the (regular and Nappa) leather used in the Telluride?

Reason I ask is I recently sat in a couple Tellurides (SX non-Prestige) at an auto show and the leather in both felt pretty thin (especially noticeable where the perforations are). Pressed my fingers down on the seat bottom and ran them across….honestly felt like cheap faux vinyl. I don’t recall this impression in the new Telluride I test drove a few months ago - it could be because I was so enamored with other aspects of the new one I drove, or because the show vehicles had had thousands of butts sliding in/out of them over the months and were worn more than normal.

The leather in my Honda Pilot, and the myriad of other vehicles I’ve had with leather, definitely feels thicker. The Telluride brings tremendous value, so there must be ways that Kia recoups some of that cost - wondering if slightly thinner leather is one of those ways.

Seeing reports of the leather in a few peoples’ new Tellurides either arriving with fairly deep creases/wrinkles, or showing up soon after purchase would somewhat indicate thinner leather as well.

 

[z28hugger]

Good question. I have another one to add to it. Is the leather, whether Napa or not, natural or coated? It makes a difference in how you clean and protect it. For example, my wife’s car and our Corvette have coated leather. For them I use 303 protectant, For other cars with natural leather, I use Lexol products.

 

[Tellthemride]

Isn’t non-synthetic leather only thick as the cow hide naturally is when harvested? Unless there is a way to thicken the cow hide?

In general, I have not seen any widespread concerns for leather being too thin on this forum.

 

[arattle]

Isn’t non-synthetic leather only thick as the cow hide naturally is when harvested? Unless there is a way to thicken the cow hide?

In general, I have not seen any widespread concerns for leather being too thin on this forum.

To add to the above, I've had thick leather in previous cars - and it's not great, it feels stiff and more vinyl-like. Telluride's thinner leather is actually pretty nice feeling, as long as the durability doesn't suffer (that is TBD long term, but I haven't seen any reports of tears or significant damage).

I do have an imperfection on the passenger seat but it doesn't bother me and indicates that it's a natural product, vice a stretched vinyl that was heat-shrunk to perfectly fit the seat shape.