Apologies in advance if this is a noob question -

On the US-spec XJ6 interior, what's really leather and what is vinyl? Is it one of those situations where "leather interior" means steering wheel rim, shift knob, and maybe the driver's seat panels?

I'm trying to clean up my 1996 (interior code SDC) after the previous owner's 25 years of cigarette use, and my favorite leather cleaner (Lexol) wasn't touching the dirt on the rear seat cushion. I had removed it to vacuum underneath it, so I clipped out a small sample of the upholstery from the underside. It had a woven backing, so - vinyl. What else is vinyl? No sense wasting leather care products on plastic, after all.

Thanks for any info, or pointers. Again - this is a US-market model.

Thos/MA

 

On Jaguars, all Jaguars from the X-Type to the F-Type, the full seating surface on every seat is leather (unless it is the specified Alcantara fabric). On the top level models such as the Vanden Plas, the entire seat, seating surfaces, front and side panels, rear panels are leather. On the base models the side and front panels of the seats will be vinyl. The door armrests and console armrests are leather, and again, on top level models the entire door panels can be leather and very often the dashboard and console are leather as well.
The rear seat seating surfaces in your car are most definitely leather. The Lexol cleaner is very mild but a soft toothbrush used with it will help to release the dirt. A more effective cleaner is AutoGlym leather cleaner.

But in a Mercedes, watch out. They use " Artico Leather" in some models. If your eyes are good enough to read the minuscule wording at the bottom of the MB brochure pages you will find out that Artico Leather is vinyl. Jaguar uses no such trickery. It uses real leather.

 

I have found the Girot's Garage Interior Cleaner very effective at cleaning both leather and vinyl. However, if you are trying to get rid of tobacco smoke the only effective way is to put an ozone generator inside the car and let it run for 24 hours. I have a friend who uses the one for his hot tub and it is amazingly effective at removing the smell. It gets into everything, especially the headliner so surface cleaning isn't enough to get out the smell.

 

i don't think anything but the seats and door pocket padding is leather, everything else is vinyl

 

The seats are leather on all cars, as is steering wheel (including centre).
On the Vanden Plas and XJ12, the door pocket AND the centre console are also leather. This is because the leather option was ‘Autolux’ (highest grade). This was available as an optional extra on all models.