squarehat

Well, randomly looking on eBay last night for ES300 parts, I came across a set of black 1996 ES300 seats in much better condition than my current ones. And then I noticed that they were only 25 miles away from me, and I could pick them up and not pay a ridiculous amount for shipping. So I bid, and won them for $152.50.
The description said they were pulled from a 1996 ES, and they appear to be from a Coach Edition (the seats have the perforated inserts).
So, does anybody know how to remove/reinstall the seats? I figure the fronts have 2 bolts on each rail, and to slide the seat all the way to the front and back to access the bolts, use a socket wrench, and disconnect the harness for the power/heat.

The back bench is where I'm confused. It appears that there's some hooks holding it on, not sure where I look to pull them out, and whether there's some additional bolts. It also looks like the seat belt receptacles must be routed back through the seat.

The salvage guy didn't know if the seats were heated or not. Does anybody know if heated seats were part of the Coach package? I figure, at least in colder climates, they came bundled as part of the Coach package. If they aren't heated, I may pull the upholstery off and use them on my existing, heated seats.

Now I just have to find a use for those old seats

meZoom!

i cant answer any of the stuff about coach edition options (dont have a coach), but the fronts have FOUR bolts per seat. the rears are held in place by clips in the front (2 or 4, i forget), and these bolts in the back. ARRRGGGG I DONT HAVE MY CAR SO I CAN'T RUN OUT AND SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry...writing these things makes me feel like i have my car right outside, i gotta keep from saying "lemme check in the morning and get back to you." it is pretty much common sense, removing them. heck, you have new seats, so you can pretty much screw around with the old ones til you finally get it out. just don't strip any holes, bolts, or openings. that would be bad when you try and put the new seats in.

squarehat

Thanks, meZoom.
I'm going to pick them up on Monday, the place is closed on the weekends, and my friend with an Explorer offered to drive down with me to pick them up. I'll carefully inspect the rear seats to figure out what the deal is. I was hoping 1LoudLex or somebody else who does audio work would be familiar with pulling out the back bench.

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

Back seat is pretty easy, the bottom has 3 clips holding it in in the front. If you stick you're hand under, you can feel where they are, just pull up on them and pull the seat out. Then you can see the bolts for the seat back at the bottom. Take those out, then pull out and up or some combination of those to remove the seat. If you mess around pulling on it for a minute or two you should find the right way to pull it out and you'll see how it works.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

if they are coach ,nice score but for the price that is real nice anyway.
to tell if they are coach they will have preforated leather not plain.
the bolts have been adressed in position to find in prior posts,but be careful as the seats in front are heavy and very akward to get out of the door..

make sure you retract the rail back under the seat and unrecline the seat after you have removed the seat bolts, or you will scratch the paint on the sill of the door for sure.
i don't hink the seats are heated as US versions did not come with heated seats or headligth versions as it was a patr of the cold weather package but i am sure some do in the states as all in canada do have them.
this is what i have seen but i have not seen very es in north america and i live in canada,so i could be wrong

squarehat

Here's a pic of the seats I bought. I'm pretty certain they're Coach Edition seats, perhaps Blux or somebody else with a '96 Coach can tell me for sure. They're not perfect, but at least the rear bench seams aren't splitting like my current ones.

lexusk8

squarehat,

Yes, the seats shown in your pic are indeed Coach Edition. As skperformance has mentioned, the seats are distinguished by their perforated holes, and if you look closely, the "Coach Edition" badges on the front driver's headrest and the headrest on the rear passenger seat directly behind the headrest. I've owned a '96 ES300 Coach Edition since I got it new in '96, so that's why I sound like a wise guy in this matter

One thing I want to mention about the CE seats is that there's something about the feel between them and the regular leather seats in other ES's that sets them apart. In fact, I use Armor-All on the seats once every two weeks to ensure the seats are well conditioned (and they definitely still look and feel brand new to me every time I look or sit down on them!). That's one of the aspects I love about my Coach Edition ES (black on black on black... a rare but extremely adoring color combination these days

AntBaker

Wow, that is a great buy. I have black leather seats and I know that, at least in the area I live in, they are rare to find in an older ES. I have heated seats and mine is definatly an American version and not a coach so I am sure that those are already converted to be compatible with the heating system you already have in your car.

Laters

squarehat

Picked up the seats yesterday. They're indeed Coach Edition (Coach logo embossed on driver's headrest and driver side headrest of rear bench. They're in much better shape than my current seats.

Progress on the install:
Rear bench is in. I had to take the door from the ski pass-through off my factory seats and put in on the Coach seats, because the lock on the new seats was keyed to match the car from which they were pulled. However, the armrest is a pain to put back in. So, I'll do that later.

Pulled the passenger seat out and realized it had a Y-shaped harness leading away from the power feed, whereas the Coach did not. I immediately realized that the Y-shaped harness feeds the heaters for the backrest and seat pan.

The driver's seat has a stripped head on the bolt of the outside rear corner.

Given the stuck bolt and lack of heaters (and the armrest troubles), I plan on taking the car to an upholstery shop. I'll pay somebody to remove that bad bolt, and swap the Coach seat covers onto my existing heated seats. And they can put the armrest back in.

Thanks to everyone for their help, the rear bench is very easy to pull out when you know what to pull on and unbolt. Even if I have to pay a shop to finish the job, I still think a complete set of Coach edition seats in very good condition for $152 is a good deal.

I took some pics with a very low-res camera, I'll get around to uploading them, that show under the seats. I noticed heat vents on the floor under the driver and passenger seats, no wonder the car heats up so fast. I never knew those were there.

Gizmo

Just wondering if you figure'd out what you want to do with your old seats. I also have a 96 Lex ES300 w/ black leather seats and my back seat back rest part has the leather cracking at the top. If you're willing to sel the rear seat back rest piece I'll buy it from you, so long as its in decent condition, let me know.. thanks.

squarehat

I don't think anybody would want my old rear seatback. The splitting seams on the top of the rear bench was my biggest complaint with my old seats. Not only were the seams split badly enough to see the foam underneath (at one point I used a Sharpie to color it black to make it less noticeable), but the leather was so badly shriveled that it pulled the top of the seat up, leaving a gap between the edge of the seat and the package shelf. If you looked in the back window, you could see the yellow foam of the seatback through the gap. Six inches below the top of the seat, it looked brand new. My old passenger seat has a partially torn seam and some sun damage on the seat cushion.

I'm really excited about the way the new rear bench looks. Can't wait to have the new upholstery put in on the heated front seats, and the armrest reinstalled.

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

How big a difference in feel is there between the standard leather and coach? I've kinda wanted coach seats, I saw that auction and might've given you some competition if I'd known they'd go that cheap. Shipping would be pretty bad, but at that price it still wouldn't end up real outrageous. Well, I'm just kinda thinking out loud so congrats on the purchase and hope the reupholstering works out well for you.

meZoom!

squarehat, why are you rears so badly torn up? my 95 seats are not that bad, especially in the back. the driver's seat has the hardest leather, which makes me assume the more you sit=the worse the condition gets. oh, and that california sun just KILLS leather.

squarehat

I bought my '96 last February from a Lexus dealer. I don't think the previous owner conditioned the leather too well. The back was split on the top, and the leather on the passenger seat cushion was shriveled on the bolster closest to the shifter, because it was unclipped, and just kind of sitting up there. I ended up going to an upholstery shop the day after I picked up the car to have it reclipped. Not sure if the black/black color combination baked the leather any worse; it gets fairly hot here in the summer, too.
Just got back from the Lexus dealer, where I picked up a new 14mm bolt for the track on my driver's seat (the old one had some bad rust). The service manager couldn't believe a Coach didn't have heated seats. I told him the car must have been from out of region. He couldn't believe I knew that Lexus cars were "regionalized". I told him about CL. After getting two 14mm bolts for free, I was told they would swap the seat covers, no problem--for $410 in labor! He told me it was 2 hours of book labor for each seat, 4 hours total. He told me I'd probably better off going to an independent upholstery shop. No kidding.
I'm now researching other shops.

I don't know if I could save on labor (and lugging) by pulling the covers off the Coach seats, and having them professionally installed, or whether I should venture to buy a hog ring kit and do it myself. I've seen a lot of people on the LS and SC forums install replacement upholstery themselves.

On the way back, I bought another mod for my interior. Stopped by a Nissan dealer and ordered a Gentex auto-dimming mirror with compass and HomeLink. Dealership was a dump compared to the Lexus dealer, but the price was reasonable ($279), and the guy didn't look at me like I was from Mars because I wanted to mod my car (at least until I told him the '96 I was putting this on was actually a Lexus sedan and not a 300ZX.)

squarehat

I pulled off the access panel on the seatback, and it looks like the cover is held in place by about a dozen hog rings. However, I can't figure out how to remove the plastic pieces into which the headrests mount.