In Reply to: Leather interior? posted by Marc (marc99) on February 27, 1999 at 17:43:28
I had the same dilemna, 2 boys (7 and 9) and a 2 year-old lab. We just took delivery of our '99 that we fairly loaded, but no SLT+, because of the same fear of kids/dog ripping leather.
Six years ago I bought a 6 year-old BMW with leather interior, bur immediately replaced the front seats with cloth Recaros because the springs were shot in the driver's seat. The back seats show some abrasions, but have no puncture wounds (but the back seat doesn't see much activity.)
So while I can't really offer an opinion based on experience, I decided on cloth because
1. Leather cost more and is colder in winter and hotter in summer,
2. I was paranoid about the cost of repairing a tear and
3. We keep our vehicles for 7+ years and 150k+ miles and if BMW leather shows wear by that age, I'm sure Dodge's will. After all, it's not Corinthian anymore. ;)