Seat covers on leather seats?

[gjw Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close gjw]

Hi,
Has anyone used seat covers on leather seats. My Toyota dealer says that any seat cover will damage the leather. Has anyone had any experience in this matter?
Gary.

[hoppy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hoppy]

im interested in this one to....

[mototrim Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mototrim]

The only thing you need to remember about leather is in our climate it must be feed leather food (cream) to keep it soft and supple or it will dry out and eventually crack.Seat covers especially sheepskin tend to sweat and on some occasions the dye can run and stain the leather.
My opinion and it is my opinion if you want to put seat covers over leather you should buy a model with cloth seats.Leather is very easy to keep clean with a mild soapy water solution and just wipe with a chux when it seems to be dirty and dry with a towel.

[t8 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close t8]

so what's the best/recommended cream to use? and how often?

[Guest Close Guest]

Meguiars is the only thing I'd ever use on auto leather - particularly perforated leather. In some circumstances Dubbin is good (h/duty leather such as steering wheels etc).

[Guest Close Guest]

The big question is: Do you have airbags in the seats? If so, no seat covers!!

[mototrim Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mototrim]

Good point TeamPiggy,
As long as you use a good quality cream and if Maguires make one there products are excellent.Most car acessories places will sell them and for our climate i think 2-3 times a year is fine.
To apply you leave the car in the sun for 5-10 min to let the seats warm up the apply cream and you dont need much but cover all leather areas.
Once you have done the whole car go back to where you started and buff off any left residue with a clean towel.You will notice almost imediately you apply the cream that it will be absorbed into the leather then you know its working.
Make sure you whipe off any excess residue or you will find yourself slipping under the dash on your next emergency braking.Im not to sure but i think in the grande leather seats it is only the faces of the seats that are leather which means dont waste your leather cream on vinyl it wont work.

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

Michelles Sacs covers are cotton lined and OK for the leather on Grande.

Only thing you cant fit is covers for the seat back on the front row. Otherwise, front seat base and headrest (plus everything else of course) is fine.

Only problem is the cost - well north of a grand. :shock:

[Guest Close Guest]

Fitting any type of seat cover to a Grande or any model with Side airbags renders them useless... :shock:
Actually dangerous in an accident as it will force under the cover and push occupant forwards into the seat belt thats going the other way from the retainer system.
Bottom line = crushed chest area. But at least your seat will be clean...

Like I said, Seat covers arent for all of them.

[Guest Close legweak]

Leather seats

Trading in my Kluger CVX with tan leather when the Tractor (Prado) finally turns up.

While it is only 3 years old, it has done 100,000 km with three kids under 6 on many, many camping trips. Leather is spotless.

While it is a company car, I clean the interior every month, and ALWAYS clean and treat the leather with Macguiar's Leather Gel. It takes 30 mins, and obviously it works. Only disadvantage is it makes the seats as slippery as anything for the next day or so.

One trick - When you clean the third row, leave the seats up for as long as possible afterwards. In the Kluger, the third row folds into the floor, which means they sweat quite badly if there is any residue left. Not sure about the fold up Prado seats, but I would still leave them unfolded to let them dry out.

Because of airbags, I wouldn't put seat covers on. If you look ater the leather, it will last very well.

Legweak

[gjw Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close gjw]

Thanks for the responses. We are getting seat covers custom made and they have a "weak point" where the side air bags are. We prefer the coolness/warmth/breathability and non-stickiness of sheepskin compared to leather. We didn't want leather but they come standard with the VX which we wanted for the traction control and rear air-con. Little did we know that you can now get the GXL and then add those options on. Bugger!!!!
Gary.

[hoppy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hoppy]

Thanks for the responses. We are getting seat covers custom made and they have a "weak point" where the side air bags are. We prefer the coolness/warmth/breathability and non-stickiness of sheepskin compared to leather. We didn't want leather but they come standard with the VX which we wanted for the traction control and rear air-con. Little did we know that you can now get the GXL and then add those options on. Bugger!!!!
Gary.

At least you get the electric seats with the extra adjustment. That is the main reason I am going with the VX. The GX/GXL seats at pretty poor, adjustment wise, I think for a $60,000 odd vehicle.

[Guest Close Guest]

We are getting seat covers custom made and they have a "weak point" where the side air bags are.

Hmmm, Sounds very risky to me..

Having witnessed a series of crash tests (one involving "modified" seat covers) I wouldnt be trusting any of these in the future.
Have they crash tested or performed live testing on these covers?
If not, I would be walking away as its possibly a life your playing with if you have a rollover/side accident.