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Does anybody know why some SEL cars have leather (or fake leather) seat bolsters and some just have cloth, I've seen both types on the SEL. There are different seat options on the configurator, but all appear to have the leather bolsters ?

SEL owners, what do you have please ?

POLO Clive wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:53 pm Does anybody know why some SEL cars have leather (or fake leather) seat bolsters and some just have cloth, I've seen both types on the SEL. There are different seat options on the configurator, but all appear to have the leather bolsters ?

SEL owners, what do you have please ?

I’m not a Polo SEL owner, but looking at an old (Jan 2018) brochure, the standard seats in the SEL were ‘Tracks 2’ cloth with colour options of either Ceramique or Titan Black/Ceramique. The extra cost optional Art Velours alcantara seats do have ‘pleather’ (vinyl) on parts of the seat bolsters, so I suspect it’s cars fitted with the optional Art Velours seats you’ve seen with vinyl on the seat bolsters.

These are the optional Art Velours seats. You can see the pleather sections on the bolsters. IMO they’re very expensive for what they are - synthetic suede and plastic leather seat facings. They cost £1,150 in the SEL.

^ and about £600 cost for other European markets - UK price gouging.

This is the Titan Black and the Ceramic Tracks 2 on the configurator, I know the configurator isn't necessary 100% accurate on all the details, but both these options appear to have the fake leather pieces in the bolsters.

(p)leather/alcantara seat are good to have in general in my mind, my 2000 VW Passat 4Motion came with them as standard, my 2011 Audi S4 came with them as standard - so when I spotted that option for the previous model of Polo SEL, ie 6C, I really wanted to spec that car up with them - but extra cost for a car in that price bracket AND the fact that leather was only "pleather" really stopped me in my tracks - which was a pity!

I discovered that when I personally imported that 4Motion Passat back in 2000, that certainly NL VW dealership VW factory option prices were roughly half what VW UK asks for - but there again Pons is or was the official importer of VWs into Holland and is/was a privately owned company, VW UK the official importers of VW into UK are 100% owned by VW AG, Hum!

Brings me back to my earlier attempts to become a VW owner in the '80s and 90's - in a bid to move away from Ford, a VW dealer visit only to sus out that if you wanted anything useful added to your factory ordered new car it would make it silly money - and the sales people's approach was "don't question anything - take it or get out, there are plenty other people willing to buy all our stock" - so in late 1999 I finally accepted their advice/approach and personal imported/ordered a factory new build from VW dealer in Holland, where I was treated like a welcome customer and factory fitted options were sensible prices, shortly after that time, VW UK seemed to revise their sales strategy and start giving people better value for money and that along with UK sort of joining Euro Zone killed off personal car importing - well it worked okay for us again in 2002 when I converted my wife from Ford Fiesta to VW Polo - but the writing was on the wall and VW UK continued to add value to their offerings to UK customers.

@POLO Clive; if it’s causing you sleepless nights (hopefully not! ), you could always ask your dealer. No guarantee that they’ll know why some have pleather on the seat bolsters and some don’t. Usually, forum members are more knowledgeable about spec, equipment levels and trim details than the dealer.

It could be VW changed the bolsters as part of a model year change. If you want to check this out, you could always trawl through the used AW generation Polo SEL’s on VW’s and the Autotrader websites, sort the results by age of car and see if there’s a point at which the seat bolsters change.

If you do find the answer to your question, please update the forum with your findings.

SRGTD wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:38 pm @POLO Clive; if it’s causing you sleepless nights (hopefully not! ), you could always ask your dealer.

Yes I'm certainly going to do that, but I'd like to know the answer before I ask the Dealer

Mine is a 2019 sel and doesn’t have the leather

CLIFFORD2K1 wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:35 am Mine is a 2019 sel and doesn’t have the leather

Thank you, when I think about it I haven't actually seen another SEL in real life, so maybe they just look leather in all the ones I've seen pictures of.

My 2018 SEL has normal seats, not leather bolsters, but the bolsters are quite firm.

silverhairs wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:21 pm My 2018 SEL has normal seats, not leather bolsters, but the bolsters are quite firm.

Thanks for that, yes they are nice and firm, I just worry about them wearing because they're quite high.

POLO Clive wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:01 am

silverhairs wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:21 pm My 2018 SEL has normal seats, not leather bolsters, but the bolsters are quite firm.

Thanks for that, yes they are nice and firm, I just worry about them wearing because they're quite high.

I had that concern when I got my mk6 Golf GTD in 2011. The seats in that car had quite pronounced side bolsters. On some of the Golf forums at the time, a number of owners were experiencing what seemed to be premature wear on the bolsters. In the vast the majority of cases, warranty claims were denied by VW on the basis that the wear was caused by the way the seat occupants were getting in and out of the car - so it was classed as wear and tear.

Some of the forum members advised owners not to put pressure on - nor to brush against - the bolsters when getting in / out of the car. I tried this and it seemed quite unnatural at the time, but soon got used to doing it. When I sold the car nearly five years later, the seats looked like new, with no signs of wear whatsoever.

I still avoid making contact with the seat bolsters when getting in and out of my current car - a previous generation Polo GTI. It doesn’t have quite as large seat bolsters as my Golf did, but after just over four years of ownership, the seats still look new, with no wear on the bolsters.

My Polo SEL has the leather bolsters on the seats... I have the ‘Style Pack’ which I think includes these seats!

Dbirch27 wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:37 pm My Polo SEL has the leather bolsters on the seats... I have the ‘Style Pack’ which I think includes these seats!

Ahhh, style pack, thanks that could be the answer

Yes it is the style pack as I have this on mine which I picked up just over three weeks ago. Also gives black roof lining and pillars