caddyowner

The family member of a friend is looking to buy a new, reliable, mid-size car with all the creature comforts - nav, bluetooth, parking sensors, heated seats, wood trim, etc. - but with comfortable cloth seats. (She likes to wear shorts.) I suggested Subaru as they often have heated cloth seats, but I don't think you can get the nav and wood trim with cloth in the Legacy or Outback. My friend said a somewhat smaller cloth version of my LS430 would be perfect. Her max price is about $30K. Suggestions?

lamar411

She could probably find an XLE Camry, but the cloth seats really pose a problem. She's got a lot of searching to do.

Ty419

Or she could just get a nice seat cover like most people that prefer cloth but want a nice car...

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Its hard cause a lot of people are switching to leather. Kia and hyundia even offer leather throughout their entire lineup i believe. Tell her to look at Nissan maximas, i beleive they offer cloth with some of those options

LexFather

I can't help Couldn't tell you who has the best cloth now but that is an interesting question as some seats/fabrics are better than others.

mmarshall

Hold off on a new Legacy or Outback at least until the 2012's come out this summer. There have been shimmy and tracking problems with both the 2010 and 2011 versions. (Why Consumer Reports, which is normally excellent with auto-reliability, hasn't picked this up, is strange).

On the cloth issue, this may not be exactly what she is looking for, but the new 2011 Kia Optima SX offers optional heated/cooled front (and heated-rear) Sport Cloth/Leather seats. Like many other vehicles, it does not offer heating on the pure-cloth seats of lower-line trims. SX models, with options, will typically list in the high 20s to around 30K....her price limit.

http://www.kia.com/#/optima/features/

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

I agree.

I would worry about getting the BEST car first, then add on some cloth seat cover, not basing the car by the cloth seat.

bad co

Legacy Outback get this one hands down. The scooby has the build quality of Honda and the ruggedness of pickup truck.

pbm317

Subaru's and VW's have heated cloth seats from the factory.

caddyowner

This is a 75 year old great grandma. A nice heated fabric seat is her #1 priority.

caddyowner

I can't recommend VWs to anyone but a VW mechanic.