I second this question. I am leaning strongly for the R-Design but also own dogs and tend to be messy.

 

The Nubuck is a synthetic material and I have it in my P* car. I like it but our dog and any food or drink (besides water) do not see the inside of my car so I would probably advise against it for really heavy use. It would certainly clean up well like any synthetic material but don't know about dog claws. We recently got one of those rear seat carriers for our pup that stretches from the front seat back to the rear seatback - works great!

 

Nubuck is NOT synthetic. You're thinking of the alcantara in your P*.
Nubuck: "top-grain cattle leather that has been rubbed on the outer side of the hide to give it a feel like that of suede".

 

Whatever Volvo's nubuck really is or isn't, I have found it pretty resilient for my nine months of ownership. I have two kids (11/14) so I'm not worried about sippy cups, but they do bring in all sorts of other elements from their activities. No dog so I can't vouch for that aspect. Treated them with a repellent and the seats looks as new as when I picked up the vehicle. Also, the texture of the nubuck really cuts down on the hot/cold feeling of leather in the extreme temps. Haven't missed my ventilated seats from my previous car.

 

I've had my XC90 RD for about 10 months now and the seats show no visible wear. I also treated my seats with Scotchgard and haven't had any issues with spills or stains. Wife has spilled a little bit of coffee and son spilled something sticky but both wiped off with a damp rag and no stains.

No dogs but I don't think the seats would be any different in that regard to standard leather.

 

2 years and counting in my P* and still looks new. It actually looks a little better than the leather parts of the seat TBH.

 

The nubtex, as we like to call the textile imitation nubuck around here, is not hard to keep clean by any means. Mud and such brushed right off for me, but I never spilled much else on it.

Whether someone's going to call it anything-resistant, I don't know.

 

Does the black nubuck absorb a ton of heat and get hot in the summer like typical black leather?

 

In my experience, it never got nearly as hot as black leather would (never felt like it might burn me). It breathes well, But it did really hold onto warmth.

 

I could not agree more with this. In hot weather, I would rather have this vs black leather.