Are leather steering wheel covers worth it? (buy, replacement, Rover)

[Aerio]

Hello everyone!

I was going to buy a standard eBay 'leather' steering wheel cover for my Scion xD, but haven't done so yet. Upon asking a friend, he said that he would never buy one, since it 'gets hot underneath it' and can therefore be detrimental to the steering wheel itself. I do believe him that it can get 'hot' underneath, but would that really deform a standard urethane factory-made steering wheel? I believe his steering wheel was not my standard hideous urethane one, but a proper leather one in the first place. Has anyone has bad experiences with steering wheel covers? I ask due to suspicion, but it's good to know beforehand.

[CCc girl]

neer had a problem. Leather is porous so it will let the wheel 'breathe. Of course, I didn't live in a desert, either.

[Mouser]

I've never had a bad experience with a steering wheel cover, I suspect this as I've
only used the Original "Sport Grip' brand

The complete cover is perforated to allow air flow and to keep it from getting
sweaty. One hint on installation is to let it sit in the sun for a bit it makes it
easy to fold onto the steering wheel and take your time when you loop it on.

Be sure to check with your owners manual if by chance you have a heated
steering wheel

[iTsLiKeAnEgG]

I would never use a wheel cover as they generally look and feel cheap while overly thickening the steering wheel. If you want leather on your steering wheel get it done right and have an upholstery shop wrap your sheering wheel in leather.

[convextech]

But don't forget that shiny leather gets superheated in the sun!

[trbstang]

I've used Wheelskins on several cars before and they've been great. Solid leather with lace up holes on the inside diameter of the wheel so it looks a lot like a factory installed wheel. I installed two on my Oldsmobile since it had one of those hard plastic wheels and it made the wheel so much nicer. Only problem was it did start to deteriorate after several years, so I got another one. Luckily my last 4 cars have had a leather wheel already, so I didn't need to install a cover.

[jtur88]

If you use a leather cover until it wears out, and take it off and find a ruined urethane original, just buy a new leather cover and put it on.

If you put one on and don/t like it, take it off and give it to somebody else. Cheaper than a carwash, not much to lose..

I like a wheel cover, because it makes the wheel ring feel bigger arouind, and I like that sense of contol. I wouldn't want a tennis racket with a handle as thin as a steering wheel. The only downside, is your fingers will keep worrying every imperfection in the cover stitching, the way your tongue works a tooth.

If you're worried about resale value, I think you can find a replacement wheel in any scrapyard and have it installed cheap. I had a wooden wheel put on my Rover, it was totally cool, because it had a woodgrain dash.

[JaxRhapsody]

I don't like covers of just about any kind, don't want additional crap gaudying up the interior, like car freshners, boblehead dogs, and those new infernal dancing flowers.