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Worn Leather Seats - Reupholstered Leather
Hi All,
I see a number of 150 owners complaining of early wear in their leather seats however very little from the 120 owners that I can find.
That said, at 120,000 kms the leather on my front seats is stuffed on a 2006 VX. Basically we have worn through the leather in the likely spot on the drivers side edge where you slide across the seat. Overall the leather is cracking, wearing and looking pretty shabby plus we have a hole in the drivers seat through to the foam which is getting a bit distorted as well.
Trying to keep the costs down I only want to recover the front seats. The back is wearing but not as quickly, so after doing the rounds of the upholsterers I thought I would share what I found and what I have done for those in the same predicament
So here is what I now know, hopefully this may help someone with their decisions in this area with less running around than I had to do:
1) Unless the upholsterers are large, doing just 2 seats seems like more of a hassle to them unless they happen to have some close matching leather lying around. Otherwise they need to buy a new cowhide and charge accordingly for this (ie $700 just for a hide) before they start upholstering. Honestly I felt like I was just annoying to most of them I approached as it all seemed too hard for them.
2) Leather ain't leather. So many variants and quality levels out there and lots of stuff that looks like leather but isn't. Stuff called "Reborn Leather" comes up often. I'm no expert but as best I can tell it is a cheap bonded leather product not a proper cowhide.
3) Getting a good match is more than just colour. You need to get the holes stamped the same if you are not doing the whole car so it blends in.
So after a number of visits to upholsterers and lots of web searching, I ended up finding a guy in Redcliffe Brisbane running a business called www.proseat.com.au It appears that he has done his homework and gone and got patterns for heaps of car seats and is getting new re-upholstered covers made on spec overseas and fitting them locally.
I chose the leather colour and style to match and had them custom made. I had them fitted today. I am very happy with the results, this is what I have found out:
1) The guy sells some stuff on ebay for commodore and falcon owners at a very low price on ebay. This is made for a market but is not all he does so don't be put off by this as he has both Italian leather OR Reborn leather options.
2) When you order from him it will take weeks to get the covers in as they are being made on spec for him overseas (but worth the wait). Once you pick your colour, style and stitching (which can be either custom or as per factory) they make them from patterns they already have which I think is a very clever model. No need to have your car there while they sew them up.
3) I had him fit mine and the fitting process will have you without the car for a full day
4) I know he sells some kits interstate on ebay, but not sure if Prado's are a DIY for the tech savvy Prado owners. If you want a kit from him then you would need to ask (I forgot to).
RESULTS
- Very happy with the new seats.
- Wish I could afford to get the whole car done as the new seats are obviously of a much higher quality leather than standard. You can tell by the look and feel they really seem quite luxurious compared to OEM.
- Colour match is not identical but it is pretty close and when looking from front to back or back to front it all blends in nicely
- Comparing original leather to the new italian leather, the original seats look like vinyl (even on the bits that ARE leather). It has really shown me how crappy the factory leather is compared to the good stuff. Feels like I am driving a european luxury car
- Back panel and not critical parts still use a faux leather as doing every part in genuine would be very expensive, however you really can't see which is which once that are on the seats (but you can check them before the are fitted to make sure you are getting what you paid for)
- Comes with back pockets and SRS Airbag tags just like original.
- Cost $1,100 fully fitted. I didn't consider DIY so not sure how much to just get the covers but there was a good days work in fitting them properly.
PICS Before
PICS After
Hopefully this thread may assist someone looking at this. I recommended Proseat to a mate of mine who just got his BMW convertible done as well and he is also happy with the results.
So at this rate I should easily get another 7 or even 10 years from the old girl ...... (no I'm not referring to the wife ) :-)
For the record and the cynics, I have no affiliation with this guy, just felt that credit is due for a job well done and hoping this info may help some other Prado owners out there.
Regards
Ross
I see a number of 150 owners complaining of early wear in their leather seats however very little from the 120 owners that I can find.
That said, at 120,000 kms the leather on my front seats is stuffed on a 2006 VX. Basically we have worn through the leather in the likely spot on the drivers side edge where you slide across the seat. Overall the leather is cracking, wearing and looking pretty shabby plus we have a hole in the drivers seat through to the foam which is getting a bit distorted as well.
Trying to keep the costs down I only want to recover the front seats. The back is wearing but not as quickly, so after doing the rounds of the upholsterers I thought I would share what I found and what I have done for those in the same predicament
So here is what I now know, hopefully this may help someone with their decisions in this area with less running around than I had to do:
1) Unless the upholsterers are large, doing just 2 seats seems like more of a hassle to them unless they happen to have some close matching leather lying around. Otherwise they need to buy a new cowhide and charge accordingly for this (ie $700 just for a hide) before they start upholstering. Honestly I felt like I was just annoying to most of them I approached as it all seemed too hard for them.
2) Leather ain't leather. So many variants and quality levels out there and lots of stuff that looks like leather but isn't. Stuff called "Reborn Leather" comes up often. I'm no expert but as best I can tell it is a cheap bonded leather product not a proper cowhide.
3) Getting a good match is more than just colour. You need to get the holes stamped the same if you are not doing the whole car so it blends in.
So after a number of visits to upholsterers and lots of web searching, I ended up finding a guy in Redcliffe Brisbane running a business called www.proseat.com.au It appears that he has done his homework and gone and got patterns for heaps of car seats and is getting new re-upholstered covers made on spec overseas and fitting them locally.
I chose the leather colour and style to match and had them custom made. I had them fitted today. I am very happy with the results, this is what I have found out:
1) The guy sells some stuff on ebay for commodore and falcon owners at a very low price on ebay. This is made for a market but is not all he does so don't be put off by this as he has both Italian leather OR Reborn leather options.
2) When you order from him it will take weeks to get the covers in as they are being made on spec for him overseas (but worth the wait). Once you pick your colour, style and stitching (which can be either custom or as per factory) they make them from patterns they already have which I think is a very clever model. No need to have your car there while they sew them up.
3) I had him fit mine and the fitting process will have you without the car for a full day
4) I know he sells some kits interstate on ebay, but not sure if Prado's are a DIY for the tech savvy Prado owners. If you want a kit from him then you would need to ask (I forgot to).
RESULTS
- Very happy with the new seats.
- Wish I could afford to get the whole car done as the new seats are obviously of a much higher quality leather than standard. You can tell by the look and feel they really seem quite luxurious compared to OEM.
- Colour match is not identical but it is pretty close and when looking from front to back or back to front it all blends in nicely
- Comparing original leather to the new italian leather, the original seats look like vinyl (even on the bits that ARE leather). It has really shown me how crappy the factory leather is compared to the good stuff. Feels like I am driving a european luxury car
- Back panel and not critical parts still use a faux leather as doing every part in genuine would be very expensive, however you really can't see which is which once that are on the seats (but you can check them before the are fitted to make sure you are getting what you paid for)
- Comes with back pockets and SRS Airbag tags just like original.
- Cost $1,100 fully fitted. I didn't consider DIY so not sure how much to just get the covers but there was a good days work in fitting them properly.
PICS Before
PICS After
Hopefully this thread may assist someone looking at this. I recommended Proseat to a mate of mine who just got his BMW convertible done as well and he is also happy with the results.
So at this rate I should easily get another 7 or even 10 years from the old girl ...... (no I'm not referring to the wife ) :-)
For the record and the cynics, I have no affiliation with this guy, just felt that credit is due for a job well done and hoping this info may help some other Prado owners out there.
Regards
Ross
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