1996 Collectors Edition vs XLE Camry

[Cshannon53]

Some people have asked me "What is the difference between an XLE and a Collector's Edition Camry?" I figured I would make this information available to everyone. All of this knowedge has come from personal understanding of my collector's edition Camry and understanding of what the XLE can come equiped with:

XLE:
Standard Paint/Trim (spoiler/pinstripe optional)
Collectors:
Lexus "Pearl White" on Grey two-toned paint (spoiler/gold-pinstripe optional)

XLE:
Moonroof optional
Collectors:
Moonroof standard

XLE:
Manual adjusted driver and passenger seats
Collectors:
Power 6-way driver's seat and manual passenger's seat

XLE:
Optional alloy wheels (16")
Collectors:
Standard OZ 14 spoke alloy wheels (16")

XLE:
Cassette & Radio
Collectors:
Cassette / Radio / 1-Disc CD player

XLE:
Leather Optional (*Note leather is fake)
Colelctors:
Leather Standard (*Still fake leather)

XLE:
Plain Black-Dash
Collectors:
Faux-Wood grain pannels on dash and door buttons

XLE:
Improved Sport-Tuned Suspension
Collectors:
Standard LE Suspension

Other Collector Edition Features:
Pannel under the hood to reduce engine noise
Leather trimmed door pannels (& possible sound reduction)

In short the 1996 LE Collector's Edition Camry has some special things that the XLE never recieved, but in the long run if you got a maxed-out XLE you would hardly notice the difference.

Enjoy.

[eurohazard]

Are you sure about the "fake" leather part? What is "real" leather then?

[Cshannon53]

I am fairly sure it's fake. On my driver's seat I have a substantial tear (from wearing a beeper on my belt) and there seems to be a lot of structural fabric underneath. I was told by a furniture sale's person that real leather does not require mesh-backing and an interesting tid-bit was that you shouldn't "stick" to real leather in the heat as leather has pores to allow mosture out and breathe.

However, it's also true that some head-rests and other parts of the seats can be vinyl to match the main seating's actual moo-cow leather. So I could be slighly off on this one. But in your defense, the old Corona LE did have genuine leather, so maybe I am mistaken.

[Cshannon53]

I do know for a fact that the Leather-Wrapped steering wheel is infact genuine leather. That can be determined just from the stitching itself. Plus I tried to find a reliable source to confirm/deny the faux leather seats and only cam across the genuine leather-wrapped steering wheel, nothing else.

It would seem odd that they point out a genuine leather steering wheel, but not genuine leather seats. Leading me back to believing they are more vegitarian friendly.

[eurohazard]

Originally Posted by Cshannon53

I am fairly sure it's fake. On my driver's seat I have a substantial tear (from wearing a beeper on my belt) and there seems to be a lot of structural fabric underneath. I was told by a furniture sale's person that real leather does not require mesh-backing and an interesting tid-bit was that you shouldn't "stick" to real leather in the heat as leather has pores to allow mosture out and breathe.

However, it's also true that some head-rests and other parts of the seats can be vinyl to match the main seating's actual moo-cow leather. So I could be slighly off on this one. But in your defense, the old Corona LE did have genuine leather, so maybe I am mistaken.

So the side bolster is what tore? Perhaps just the center portion of the seat is leather, and the bolsters are vinyl. I know BMW is one of the last to use "leatherette", which is a fancy way of saying fake leather or vinyl.

I know almost all cars have a blend of leather and vinyl....unless they say "all leather" like on Jags and other high end cars where even the dash is covered in leather (yummy!)