Replaced Leather Seats
11-01-01, 01:28 PM
#79
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Looking Good
Whitmanpc,
Oooh! Oooooooh, if I was a lady. No, seriously, looks like
you've completed the one thing that would make many of our
cars look almost new again.
I can't wait to get our seats re-done but there's no way I'm
going to do this one myself. In the spring we're going with
two-tone seat, front and back from leatherseats.com
Enjoy.
Oooh! Oooooooh, if I was a lady. No, seriously, looks like
you've completed the one thing that would make many of our
cars look almost new again.
I can't wait to get our seats re-done but there's no way I'm
going to do this one myself. In the spring we're going with
two-tone seat, front and back from leatherseats.com
Enjoy.
11-05-01, 06:58 AM
#81
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Location: Tewksbury, MA
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Leatherseats.com pricing
Pricing for the front and back seats and center console was just shy of $900, complete with shipping charges and tool kit to do the job. I believe this also included Massachusetts 5% sales tax.
This did not include the door armrests. They have not developed that pattern yet, and I didn't want to replace them anyway. The door inserts are supposedly very difficult to do.
Also, I just realized that the pictures I took were not very sharp. I will repost pictures as soon as I figure out how to post good quality pictures. My original pictures would not post because they took up too much disk space.
The seats really look great, the interior smells like new leather, and I am really happy with the installation. Again, the process is very straightforward. The seat covers are exact replacements for the OEM ones, and taking the old leather off is a perfect lesson on how to put the new leather on.
The way that the seams fasten to the seat (under the seats) is very impressive and I will attempt to take higher quality pictures so you'all can see how tight it looks! While there may be less expensive options, I can't imagine an easier to install option. Further, the leather quality is MUCH better than the OEM 1993 leather.
This did not include the door armrests. They have not developed that pattern yet, and I didn't want to replace them anyway. The door inserts are supposedly very difficult to do.
Also, I just realized that the pictures I took were not very sharp. I will repost pictures as soon as I figure out how to post good quality pictures. My original pictures would not post because they took up too much disk space.
The seats really look great, the interior smells like new leather, and I am really happy with the installation. Again, the process is very straightforward. The seat covers are exact replacements for the OEM ones, and taking the old leather off is a perfect lesson on how to put the new leather on.
The way that the seams fasten to the seat (under the seats) is very impressive and I will attempt to take higher quality pictures so you'all can see how tight it looks! While there may be less expensive options, I can't imagine an easier to install option. Further, the leather quality is MUCH better than the OEM 1993 leather.
11-05-01, 12:03 PM
#82
Can you describe the problem you had in the begining. Re-reading the posts, you seem to be at witts end getting the seat apart, now your saying its simple as pie! What gives?
"I have spent 6-8 hours just trying to take apart the pass. seat!!! I have all the leather off, but can't get the new stuff on!!! "
Your attitude now is a lot different, I'm just curious as to the suddden change in opinion.
Also what tools did you have to buy, and could you buy them cheaper at a local shop?
Hey smooth8- what was the price for the factory leather that you talked about a few posts back. You said you were able to get it really cheap from lexussc400.com. I went to the web site, but did not find it listed.
Keith
"I have spent 6-8 hours just trying to take apart the pass. seat!!! I have all the leather off, but can't get the new stuff on!!! "
Your attitude now is a lot different, I'm just curious as to the suddden change in opinion.
Also what tools did you have to buy, and could you buy them cheaper at a local shop?
Hey smooth8- what was the price for the factory leather that you talked about a few posts back. You said you were able to get it really cheap from lexussc400.com. I went to the web site, but did not find it listed.
Keith
11-05-01, 03:38 PM
#83
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Easy...not easy...easy
Hey Keith (et al.),
Indeed you caught me at "wit's end" after so many hours of trying to dismantle the seat...I posted:
>Hello all....my leather seat replacement is not progressing at all.
>
>I have spent 6-8 hours just trying to take apart the pass.
>seat!!! I have all the leather off, but can't get the new stuff on!!!
When I figured it out, I went on to say:
>Lexus-specific issues aside, this was EXTREMELY straight->forward and easy. The process of installing the seatcovers was >simple but took some time. Leatherseats.com estimates that a >professional could do this in about 4 hours and I agree.
So the change in MOOD (lol) was due to the fact that I was done and extremely happy.
As to the problem I had, it was specifically and only that I COULD NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME figure out how to seperate the bottom of the seat from the rest of the assembly. This was necessary so I could pull the new leather around the seat bottom foam and "hog ring" it to the appropriate places underneath.
I still am not 100% sure how the heck to get to all the screws (I only was able to get 3 of 4 screws out...enough to slide the leather on!).
I certainly would recommend this solution to anyone who is patient, may not be very resourceful/mechanical, but can follow straight-forward directions.
As for anyone else who gets this leather, try to find out how to remove the bottom cusion. Perhaps the repair manuals list this? Armed with this information from the get-go, your installation will go much smoother than mine and you won't be spinning your tires like I did for a full day.
As for pricing, I just looked at my invoice. The breakdown was:
$679 front and back seats
$35 Installation Kit (hog ring pliers)
$35 perforated leather for part of seats and seat backs
$85 Console cover
$834 total....so more shy of $900 than I said before.
I hope to have better pictures up by tomorrow.
Indeed you caught me at "wit's end" after so many hours of trying to dismantle the seat...I posted:
>Hello all....my leather seat replacement is not progressing at all.
>
>I have spent 6-8 hours just trying to take apart the pass.
>seat!!! I have all the leather off, but can't get the new stuff on!!!
When I figured it out, I went on to say:
>Lexus-specific issues aside, this was EXTREMELY straight->forward and easy. The process of installing the seatcovers was >simple but took some time. Leatherseats.com estimates that a >professional could do this in about 4 hours and I agree.
So the change in MOOD (lol) was due to the fact that I was done and extremely happy.
As to the problem I had, it was specifically and only that I COULD NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME figure out how to seperate the bottom of the seat from the rest of the assembly. This was necessary so I could pull the new leather around the seat bottom foam and "hog ring" it to the appropriate places underneath.
I still am not 100% sure how the heck to get to all the screws (I only was able to get 3 of 4 screws out...enough to slide the leather on!).
I certainly would recommend this solution to anyone who is patient, may not be very resourceful/mechanical, but can follow straight-forward directions.
As for anyone else who gets this leather, try to find out how to remove the bottom cusion. Perhaps the repair manuals list this? Armed with this information from the get-go, your installation will go much smoother than mine and you won't be spinning your tires like I did for a full day.
As for pricing, I just looked at my invoice. The breakdown was:
$679 front and back seats
$35 Installation Kit (hog ring pliers)
$35 perforated leather for part of seats and seat backs
$85 Console cover
$834 total....so more shy of $900 than I said before.
I hope to have better pictures up by tomorrow.
11-05-01, 05:48 PM
#84
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Hello Whitmanpc1,
Thank you for all of this great information and I hope we can see some nice pictures soon. By the way is your lather soft and has no grain like on a new Lexus or is it hard and with grain like in an MB. Thank you.
Abdulrahman
Thank you for all of this great information and I hope we can see some nice pictures soon. By the way is your lather soft and has no grain like on a new Lexus or is it hard and with grain like in an MB. Thank you.
Abdulrahman
Better pictures...please tell me what you think!
11-06-01, 07:08 PM
#89
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Hello Whitmanpc1,
Congratulations a very good looking leather job, and I got one of my questions answered by the closeup picture, which is whither the leather has a grain and yes it does. Is the leather soft or is it hard like on a MB, and do you see any difference in color between the trim and the seats? Thank you
Abdulrahman
Congratulations a very good looking leather job, and I got one of my questions answered by the closeup picture, which is whither the leather has a grain and yes it does. Is the leather soft or is it hard like on a MB, and do you see any difference in color between the trim and the seats? Thank you
Abdulrahman
11-06-01, 07:58 PM
#90
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soft leather
The leather has a soft feel to it. Seems a bit softer than the OEM leather (1993).
As for the color, it is different from the trim but blends nicely. There was no exact match, and I wanted it to look "normal", which I think it does.
As for the color, it is different from the trim but blends nicely. There was no exact match, and I wanted it to look "normal", which I think it does.