Cloth SL & Leather SV Interior Swaps

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

LeftieBiker

Well-known member
Staff member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Messages
19,999
Location
Upstate New York, US
Nissan has done yet another disservice to prospective 2018 Leaf buyers and lessees: the popular Around View camera system is now an SL-only feature. This forces people who want to have this extremely useful parking camera system to also take a leather interior, apparently in the hope of boosting Leaf SL sales. Many people have no desire for upholstery that's too hot in Summer and too cold (and hard) in Winter, and a lot of Leaf drivers are vegetarians (like me) who generally won't sit on leather in their own cars. (It's bad enough that the steering wheel is leather-wrapped.)

I intend to complain to Nissan about this, but given their unresponsiveness to other complaints I doubt that I'll be able to order an SL with a cloth interior anytime soon. Failing that, we are stuck with the unappealing prospect of trading interiors. I don't know if many people really want an SV but with a leather interior, but I'd like to know if anyone would like to do a 2018 Leaf SV-SL interior swap. This topic can also be used, of course, for similar swaps between earlier Leafs.

One of the biggest concerns is doing this with leased cars. It is my feeling, albeit with little supporting evidence, that it will usually be possible to turn in a Leaf with the "wrong" interior, as long as the color and manufacturer model match. Personally I intend to keep any Leaf I lease, as long as the car proves reliable and the pack resistant to degradation, but who knows...?
 
For some(not me for sure) leather interior is a real selling point, for that reason I'm really thinking if you tried to turn in a leased SL they'd catch it very easily and I'm guessing really make a stink about it. If they made you put leather back I'm guessing it would cost you plenty, several thousand dollars.
I agree, forcing people to get leather just to get the all-around cameras really sucks and Nissan should be ashamed of themselves! They should also be ashamed of themselves for removing heated seats from lesser trim models and rear heated seats on ALL Leafs! Heck, my bottom of the line '13S came standard with heated seats(all around!) and steering wheel. The newer Leafs seem to be one step forward, one back :(
 
Agreed but this beef really applies to all car manufacturers. It seems to be a common practice to put extraneous items with a highly desired feature to justify jacking the price up.

Something as inane as forcing a $$ upgrade to get a $200 feature is incredibly self serving.

What is it about the surround view that requires the upgrade? Is it the Head unit? Does the display unit have to be upgraded as well or is it simply SW thing?

But the surround view is still in the "toy" category. In a few years, it will likely be standard. Sucks to be first in line sometimes.
 
Adding Surround View to an SV might be almost impossible if the wiring harness isn't there because it isn't an SV option. If it is there, it would still require a new head unit, two mirrors with cameras, new front camera emblem, and gods know what else.

If I have to get an SV without it I'll add a simple, cheap parking sensor system and then use stick-on lettering to write 'NISSAN SUCKS' on the back of the car. I'm tired of their crap. If the Leaf weren't otherwise just the car I wanted (assuming no severe pack degradation) I'd just walk away. As it is there isn't a single damned EV out there that meets my needs, largely because of the shitty games the manufacturers are playing with options and packages.
 
I need to know if the leather in both the Gen I Leaf and the 2018 SL is limited to the seats themselves, or if it extends to the inner door panels. If it's just the seats, then I'd (reluctantly) consider getting an SL and then swapping seats. If it's the door panels as well, then I guess it would be an SV with the "NISSAN SUCKS" rear decal and aftermarket parking sensors.
 
I have a deposit on a 2018 SL with - YUCK - light grey leather seats. Can anyone tell me if the headrests in the SL are leather or vinyl covered? I suspect vinyl, but want to be sure, as I'm looking for seat covers. I am also still very open to swapping seats with an SV - either color, but black preferred.
 
I’d consider trading my cloth seats for leather but unfortunately I’m in California not New York
 
It would be too hard to do via shipping company, I'm afraid. And too risky.

I pick the car up today, and have a set of cheap seat covers ready to slap on to make it look awful. Good covers won't be available for a few months, it seems.
 
Back
Top