Is Artico as good as leather..?

[A.J.]

Just tried it, and got exactly the same result, "too new".

On the "has my car got Artico or leather" question, I wouldn't have thought it was that difficult to tell the difference. Artico has a very regular pattern of tiny pinpricks, exactly the same over the whole car, whereas leather being a natural material is more varied. Also if you scrape fairly hard with a fingernail, Artico being plastic, is slightly springy and rubbery to the touch, whereas leather isn't.

View attachment 68059

This is a close-up of the side bolster on an MB seat, nobody ever saw a texture like that on a genuine leather one. I'm not knocking Artico, I had it on my C250 Coupé with cloth centre insert, described by the Dealer as "Artico leather" and it was fine, but surely no-one could ever confuse it with genuine leather, the real thing. I enlarged a photo from another website for this, the poster was complaining about the sit-on bit going all baggy, it's non-rigid plastic, so you'd expect that. I wouldn't have thought that was something that could happen with a leather seat

That grain looks very similar to mine and mine is Artico

 

[Srdl]

I wonder whether it's just that VIN checker or whether 'Too new' is the problem. Try this one https://www.lastvin.com/

Yes, it depends on the VIN checker. I pulled mine off a couple of days before I took delivery of the brand new GLC. That’s how I knew it had a Artico rather than the leather I had paid for - but that's another story!

 

[Srdl]

Didn't work on mine, I was told too new and not been added to the database. That's not really surprising I guess, but a friend with an early 2019 C Class tried, and he got the same result, he got "too new" as well, just like I did. If your car is relatively recent, surely any Mercedes dealer should be able to track a build sheet for you? It would only take them a few taps on their keyboard.

Try this:

Free online Mercedes-Benz VIN Decoder : MBDecoder

Mercedes VIN decoder will check your Mercedes VIN and show you full vehicle specification

www.mbdecoder.com

 

[jp williams]

Yes, it depends on the VIN checker. I pulled mine off a couple of days before I took delivery of the brand new GLC. That’s how I knew it had a Artico rather than the leather I had paid for - but that's another story!

Will you tell the other story sir ?

 

[Srdl]

Will you tell the other story sir ?

We had words and I threatened to reject the car and wait for a factory order. My trade in car was worth an extra £800 less had I waited three months (I knew that because they had already quoted for a factory order and then they found one in the network). They also offered me a free two year service plan worth around £800 (my wife was quite vocal in their showroom!) and I got £800 back which was the cost of the leather option. So, all in all, having leather would have cost me around £2400 and it just wasn’t worth it.

Two and a half years on, I really like the Artico/Dinamica combination. (Dinamica is the same as Alcantara but a different brand). You don’t slide around on the seats and the Artico is, so far, showing no signs of wear (but I’ve only done 15,000 miles). I certainly don’t miss full leather.

 

[Rob7seven]

We had words and I threatened to reject the car and wait for a factory order. My trade in car was worth an extra £800 less had I waited three months (I knew that because they had already quoted for a factory order and then they found one in the network). They also offered me a free two year service plan worth around £800 (my wife was quite vocal in their showroom!) and I got £800 back which was the cost of the leather option. So, all in all, having leather would have cost me around £2400 and it just wasn’t worth it.

Two and a half years on, I really like the Artico/Dinamica combination. (Dinamica is the same as Alcantara but a different brand). You don’t slide around on the seats and the Artico is, so far, showing no signs of wear (but I’ve only done 15,000 miles). I certainly don’t miss full leather.

Yes, the Artico/Dynamica combination is fine, comfortable on long journeys, and it lasts well too, better than Artico on its own. This photo is my almost new looking C250 at about 3 years, just before I swapped it for my driving enjoyment free E250, excellent of course, but strangely uninvolving. I do an OCD self valet on my cars before trade in, I always hammer top price from the dealer, and don't want them having second thoughts. The full leather in my current C300 came as standard, but if it hadn't been, I'd probably have paid for it anyway. At my post retirement age, I tend to live and act on the "can't take it with you" principle, and for me at any rate there's no doubt that leather is slightly better to sit on, especially on a long journey, which of course there isn't much likelihood of in the fairly near future, not beyond the UK anyway.



Well done for sorting everything out satisfactorily with your MB Dealer, are you going to name them to warn the rest of us? What they did was clearly deliberate deception, and failing agreement, I'd have gone straight to Trading Standards.

 

[jp williams]

We had words and I threatened to reject the car and wait for a factory order. My trade in car was worth an extra £800 less had I waited three months (I knew that because they had already quoted for a factory order and then they found one in the network). They also offered me a free two year service plan worth around £800 (my wife was quite vocal in their showroom!) and I got £800 back which was the cost of the leather option. So, all in all, having leather would have cost me around £2400 and it just wasn’t worth it.

Two and a half years on, I really like the Artico/Dinamica combination. (Dinamica is the same as Alcantara but a different brand). You don’t slide around on the seats and the Artico is, so far, showing no signs of wear (but I’ve only done 15,000 miles). I certainly don’t miss full leather.

Many thanks. I`m glad you are pleased that it all worked out for you.
My W210 is 18 yrs old now, covered 247,000 miles and Proper Leather is as good as new.

 

[mioba]

my W220 (2004) alpaca grey leather as good as new. An annual deep clean with gliptone helps.
Leather is know to be a quality item thats why it costs and lasts (but like many things needs maintenance).

 

[Srdl]

Yes, the Artico/Dynamica combination is fine, comfortable on long journeys, and it lasts well too, better than Artico on its own. This photo is my almost new looking C250 at about 3 years, just before I swapped it for my driving enjoyment free E250, excellent of course, but strangely uninvolving. I do an OCD self valet on my cars before trade in, I always hammer top price from the dealer, and don't want them having second thoughts. The full leather in my current C300 came as standard, but if it hadn't been, I'd probably have paid for it anyway. At my post retirement age, I tend to live and act on the "can't take it with you" principle, and for me at any rate there's no doubt that leather is slightly better to sit on, especially on a long journey, which of course there isn't much likelihood of in the fairly near future, not beyond the UK anyway.

View attachment 68090

Well done for sorting everything out satisfactorily with your MB Dealer, are you going to name them to warn the rest of us? What they did was clearly deliberate deception, and failing agreement, I'd have gone straight to Trading Standards.

I’m not sure whether it was deliberate deception, as in “let’s hope he doesn’t notice” or a genuine error. The salesperson I was dealing with was a newby acting under the control of her Manager and they were in a desperate panic to get the sale through before their month end. On balance, I think it was just an oversight in their behalf.