seat upholstery help?

[code7]

So my girlfriend sat in the passenger's side of my boxster today and pop, leather split along a stitched seem. Any one know if it can be repaired with not to much $ or am I looking at new leather for lower bolster? Glue? The leather on that side is a bit hard b/c of hot summers etc. Thanks this sucks.

[Bradster]

I had the same problem, but instead of fixing the seat, I bought the solid black spacer mesh seat covers from Coverking. I am sure there are other brands. ( I have no affiliation with Coverking. I just searched the internet and bought based on the info provided.) Took about 15 minutes to install with the seats already out for other work. Everyone says they look fantastic. Both seats for about $120.00. Just a thought. Following is the info for my car. Lots of vendors sell Coverking.

CUSTOM SEAT COVERS (1 ROW) SPACER MESH BLACK for 1997 Porsche Boxster NOT FOR 2003-2004 MODEL WITH P70 SPORT DESIGN PKG., 50/50 bukt w/builtin hdrst, W/O SIDE AIRBAG

Good luck!

[Mark_T]

Cheap solution #1: Get a replacement panel for the seat, or a complete seat, from a wrecker and hope the color matches.

Cheap solution #2: Black neoprene seat covers ( I like this solution! )

Expensive solution: use this as an opportunity to justify buying those awesome racing seats you've always wanted, and the best part is that the g/f can't ******************** cuz she ripped the old ones. :dance:

[RandallNeighbour]

If a girlfriend makes any comments about how a guy spends his money, she's obviously thinking that guy is already her husband! Just a word to the wise

Now to answer the question at hand...

I'd take the car to a couple of upholstery shops and ask them to offer suggestions for repairs and the costs involved. I recommend more than one because I've not had the best luck with the one near my home... they wanted to redo both seats in leather for $1300 instead of do any repairs for me. So I bought two very nice seats off eBay for $700 out of a Carrera (not a cabriolet) and bolted them in. They're even heated and fully electric!

Often, buying seats out of a 996 is cheaper than repairs or panel replacement if you don't have to pay gobs of money for shipping. There are a lots of 996's and boxsters for that matter that are being gutted right now for track use.

[code7]

Hey fellas thanks for the ideas. I do like the coverking covers. I got a couple quotes from local upholstery shops in Denver. One was like $800! Got one I liked at $200 to replace the center perforated leather piece of the seat..., I know the color will be a bit off due to wear and age but they guy is telling me it won't be to bad. He's telling me he has done a few boxsters and 911's so I have faith in him. I gave him the go ahead to order up the leather, it's a day job, drop the car off, he pulls the seat and uses existing seat bottom as templet for stitching. I know that Im gonna start conditioning my seats a lot more now so they don't get hard on me again! Maybe tell my g/f to loose some weight!! hahaha

[code7]

"Bradster" do you have pics of your coverking seats in your box?

[Bradster]

No, I have taken any pictures, but will do so tonight and post.