Leather interior question
 

Are there any differences in the quality of the leather interior of various years or colors? Do they all wear about the same?

I don't know about wear, but the quality of the leather on the dashboard and doors on full leather optioned cars seemed to get better from 97 and 98 compared to the 2004 models.

One thing is for sure. The leather used on the dashboards is paper thin. It can't handle abuse, and it wrinkles if you use the defroster and don't keep it dry.

The seat leather on all the cars I've sat in and viewed is pretty much the same. Thick leather hide that's quite durable.

Now if the owner parks the car with the top down in the blazing sun on a regular basis, you can kiss any quality of leather goodbye.

As to the color question, the red fades into a dark pink, but the carpet fades to a really bad pink so at least they match. The tan holds up well, the dark blue fades. Black shows the least amount of fading in my opinion.

There was an leather quality article in the British car magazine "911 & Porsche World" a year or two ago, basically comparing the earlier Porsche cars interiors with the later 996/997 models.
The general consensus that the earlier model leather was of better quality - but with the proviso that even the cheaper 996 leathers can last longer & look good as long as they are maintained correctly.
The 997 interior leathers were judged superior quality than 996 leathers.
IIRC the problem child seemed to be the grey coloured leather in the 986/996 models which tended to crack and lose colour for some reason.....

My 02 has the full leather interior, Grey. It is wearing great after 12 years. I keep it dry and treat it with basic conditioner a couple time a year
I hear from others the poor quality look of the plastic interior. The Full leather must really be an improvement as I think my interior's fit and finish looks very good

I do need to do a good cleaning before treating this spring as it does get a bit dirty

I have full leather and the side airbags and doors are in a very nice black leather that has worn very little, the dash is in a thin leather that's basically just a step above plastic though, and I have supple leather seats which are very lush and considering the car has 90k miles have held up great! The perforated regular leather seems to crack on drivers outside bolster, but the supple is still in good shape (despite showing wear.)

I've got the full leather Boxster Red on my '99 and, if anything, it has more orange in it after 116K miles. I rarely drive with the top up and leave the top down at most events so it has gotten a lot of sun exposure since I've owned it.
As mentioned the dash leather is very prone to dents in it but I've had no problems yet from exposure.

I've had several leather interior cars over the years, all colors and quality. The key is conditioning, the best leather will look like crap in a couple years if you don't maintain it, and conversely a lesser quality will still look good with care. I just picked up a 98 with 112K on it in Metropol Blue. The seats were in good shape for the age, showing a little fade and wear. An afternoon of work armed with a re-dye kit from LeatherWorld and they're like brand new. The color match was spot on. I've attached before and after pics. http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1420593074.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1420593116.jpg