What the hell? Weird. In what universe would cloth be better than vinyl?Cloth gets gross and absorbs farts and stuff. Vinyl is much easier to clean and these days, can barely tell the difference between leather. Old people were so weird...
In what Universe? In the this universe, in the 70's. In the late 60's, 70's...the vinyl was...well vinyl. It got hot and sticky in the summer, cold and brittle in the winter,and after so many years it would start splitting. About the only advantage it did have, was it was easy to clean. I'm NOT comparing the old vinyl to Softex today. I'm assuming we've come a long way. But I remember my parents "upgrading" to cloth. As a kid? I also remember falling asleep in the back of a vinyl upholstered 67 Mustang...and waking up to have to peel your face off the upholestry. I assume the outgassing fumes my Brother and I inhaled while riding in the back of a baking vinyl factory at least partially explains the brain damage I have today.
The horrible fake leather seats were the reason I got the 3 and not the 4. I could just see them getting all hot and sweaty in the summer.
I'm looking for comments on dogs & Softex too. The negative comments about Softex are coming from people who have cloth seats, while the people who have Softex aren't complaining, so maybe that's a good thing? I test drove a IV last week and was pleased that the Softex didn't appear to be all that fragile. I try not to think about sweat, dog drool and whatever else may be lurking in fabric, but the ease of cleaning the Softex has a lot of appeal....there is just that dog toe nail question. The seats are not that large though, so it would be really easy to toss a cover over the seat when Winston is riding with me. Or I could just put the back seats down and give him all that space to stretch out in.
When I went to test drive the C4 I had my dog with me and the wonderful salesperson insisted my pup come along for the drive. From that short trip, about fifteen minutes, the softex appeared to be fine...no scratches or dents...and I was a little concerned since the little guy had just had his nails clipped and they were rougher than usual. Maybe part of me thought "if he scratches the seat, I'll definitely have to buy the car!". But, alas, everything was fine.
Wow, what a nice sales person! Glad to hear that the seats stood up to dog toe nails -- thanks for sharing. Sorry it took me so long to respond...I just saw your post after I did a search on softex to see if anything new was out there. There are a LOT of posts on this forum and it's really easy to miss some
Softex has one purpose weight savings over leather. its why toyota went with it. softex is a quality product and if they didnt tell you, you would never know its not leather. All manufacturers leather is different. Ive seen soft in GM vehicles to hard leather in nissian, and many rear seats have been imitation leather, or leather just on the seating surface. softex should last longer then real leather and easier to care for. if you like the feel, then get it, cloth is for those who dont.
I've had my C4 for two and a half weeks now. Have taken my dog with me on many drives. The softex is great....absolutely no marks or scratches from the pup, who generally rides with front paws on the center armrest and back paws on the back seat. And the softex is really easy to clean. Love it!
I also have the Black Softex and I love them. They weren't hard and crunchy during the cold weather but I'm up in Canada and our "hot" weather hasn't started yet. Is there anyone out there who could comment on HOT weather (anything 80+) and the black softex?
I have cloth and prefer it (tried both, my friend owns the 4 with softex I turned down so I still get to compare daily)...its actually the main reason I went with the 3 vs 4 (forgoing the fog lamps and heated side mirrors *sigh*)... Softex feels/looks fake, is "slippery" to me, and you WILL sweat in ur seat (I'm from Oklahoma). He likes his though cause he claims it is easier to clean. To each their own...
