Has anybody replaced seat covers? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

WhipE350 · 01-02-2011, 09:25 PM

Looks like getting new seat covers for my 2000 'S' would be better then dying the seats.

Has anybody done this and do you like it, want to make sure they fit as snug as the originals, I'd rather have scuffs, shiny leather, and creases over replacement covers that look bad. The folks that sell the covers show what appears to be good stuff but I would like to hear from someone that has done it first.

Appreciate it, cheers!

Spinnaker · 01-03-2011, 02:03 AM

Have you looked at these guys yet? Haven't tried them, but others have reported good results.

http://colorplus.com/index.html

Dale_K · 01-03-2011, 03:45 AM

The ones I saw on the web at one of the companies that make replacement Boxster tops were so expensive that I ruled them out. If you decide to renovate your seats either by replacing the covers or by redying please post the before and after pics. The seats in my recently aquired 2000 S are not responding to the Meguiar's leather treatment/cleaner.

I read an item somewhere that mentioned redying leather seats with high gloss latex paint. I'm not quite that brave yet but my seats need some TLC.

clb0099 · 01-03-2011, 07:20 PM

Funny you mention this as my seats are at the shop right now getting re-covered. The covers I bought are vinyl and are from ebay. The seller has both leather and vinyl. i figured that the leather would getting beat up again like it did and the vinyl could take more of a beating plus the sun would have little effect on it. The price for vinyl was 300 and the leather was 600-650. I am paying 100 per seat for installation so i am close to what it would have cost just for the leather covers. I just did my interior completely blk. I dyed the carpet blk with Hi-tech blk aresol spray (4) cans as it does vinyl as well as carpet. I took off door panels and sprayed them . All the plastic trim on dash,doors and everywhere else was removed and brought to the bodyshop so that they could paint them blk. My interior is going to be a shiny new blk.

WhipE350 · 01-03-2011, 08:55 PM

Thanks for the response everyone. It's possible that 'colorplus' place stuff would do the trick, maybe some strong cleaning, conditioning, and then touch up dying.

clb, post pics of the vinyl and the rest when done, I"m very curious. Who did you get the seat covers from? I found two places on ebay that seem to sell the same covers. I'm figuring I can take the seats out and do it myself...I think

I was looking at the leather but heck like I said on mine I can't tell what is leather and what is vinyl. My car is red and seats black, I was thinking of doing the seats black with red cushions. Oh and ya the price for the leather is over $600.

clb0099 · 01-03-2011, 09:01 PM

I will post pictures when its done... it was def a guy on ebay that i bought them from and I am getting done at a local shop. The vinyl seems very similar to the leather I figured for the money its not worth doing the leather over again.. The constant going in and out of the car makes the bolster to go to crap. I will get all the info from where I bought from and pictures probably towards the end of the week. I didn't take pictures of the seats before so kinda hard to compare.

WhipE350 · 02-05-2011, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale_K

The ones I saw on the web at one of the companies that make replacement Boxster tops were so expensive that I ruled them out. If you decide to renovate your seats either by replacing the covers or by redying please post the before and after pics. The seats in my recently aquired 2000 S are not responding to the Meguiar's leather treatment/cleaner.

I read an item somewhere that mentioned redying leather seats with high gloss latex paint. I'm not quite that brave yet but my seats need some TLC.

I reconditioned my seats and am really pleased, saves a ton of money. Hard to get good before and after pics in the basement with a flash but I think from the pictures you can see they look awesome.
I did all 4 steps, rejuvenate, clean, prep, dye. If I hadn't had scuff marks I would have only done the first 2 steps. For those out there with nice seats and very few scuffs I would highly recommend the first two steps, you will be amazed at the results.
Since I had to wet sand to dye, the finish comes out very smooth and satin in look. I watered down the dye a bunch so it wouldn't look like paint and wouldn't be too shiny (this was 'my' method, many thin coats). I did the passenger seat first and then the drivers, the drivers came out better because I had learned a lot from the first seat.
First pic is a BEFORE of the passenger, the next two are AFTER on the drivers seat, drivers seat had more wear but less deep scuffs. I filled no wrinkles, I like the slightly wrinkled look, has similar character to my 50 year old face

I used Leatherique (no affiliation), they were recommended by a friend at work. George is real nice and helpful.

clickman · 02-05-2011, 12:37 PM

whip, post a pic of the passenger side redone, the same view you had in your first pic

WhipE350 · 02-05-2011, 08:05 PM

Clickman, seat is already back in car, but I took a pic tonight with a flash. The flash is good for showing imperfections. You can see it is much better and since it looks better in natural light I didn't add more dye, though after I see in the sun I may do some touch up.

Disaster · 06-26-2017, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipE350

I reconditioned my seats and am really pleased, saves a ton of money. Hard to get good before and after pics in the basement with a flash but I think from the pictures you can see they look awesome.

Agreed. I cleaned and dyed my seats and the difference is night and day. Total investment was maybe $30 bucks.

Cbonilla · 06-25-2017, 01:20 PM

I'm considering seat covers from Lseat another forum user posted pics of his diy recover. Search the forum About $350 in leather

2003 boxster S

morgal48 · 09-22-2017, 08:37 AM

The seats in my 2000S looked awful, and after considering costs I opted to try Leatherique as a starting point. The results, for me, were better than expected. The seats don't look 17 years old. At a recent PCA GTG folks were surprised that the interior was original. The process is slow, but the results, and cost, make it a reasonable option. The car is 1500 mi. away right now so no pictures are available.

Brian in Tucson · 09-25-2017, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgal48

The seats in my 2000S looked awful, and after considering costs I opted to try Leatherique as a starting point. The results, for me, were better than expected. The seats don't look 17 years old. At a recent PCA GTG folks were surprised that the interior was original. The process is slow, but the results, and cost, make it a reasonable option. The car is 1500 mi. away right now so no pictures are available.

The seats in my 01 base WERE awful! How an 01 Boxter (74500 miles!) could be that bad is beyond me. They looked like a 47 Ford truck that had been parked next to a barn for 30 years. The pleather was shredded, the foam was degraded, and the metal parts inside the seats were exposed. Had to sit on a bit of rug to drive the poor car home (it has other problems.):ah:

I elected to buy a set of black pleather seats on ebay. Very nice but with the scuffs mentioned in an earlier post. I paid $600 for the pair, shipped from Santa Fe, I live in Tucson. Close enough to the original Metropol blue to not stick out too much.

Deep cleaning and a bunch of other work and the interior, while not exactly new looking, looks 100% better than it did.

Pablito · 06-25-2017, 04:25 PM

I replaced the leathers with a full grain kit a few years ago. I wanted a different look for the car that's why I chose the color in the picture.

I ordered the kit in eBay and had it installed by a local upholsterer. Total job set me back less than $900 for full leather seats. I can't argue with the results.

sfkjeld · 09-21-2017, 04:03 PM

"I ordered the kit in eBay and had it installed by a local upholsterer. Total job set me back less than $900 for full leather seats. I can't argue with the results."

Spectacular job Pablito. Were these actual seat covers that slide over the existing seats, or replacement hides? Do you know the name of the eBay vendor you bought them from? Thanks.

Pablito · 09-21-2017, 04:19 PM

These are leather inserts pre-cut to replace the original. It came with all the plastic fittings to fit in the original mounts. It needs to be installed by a professional or somebody with extra patience.
Check ebay item: 360227471311

Although I think is not exactly the same vendor I had about 5 years ago.

L1ttleBastard · 02-25-2018, 02:16 PM

Is bestleatherkits still in business?

jccash · 02-25-2018, 02:23 PM

I went with GAHH. Black savanna beige combo. I like this company products a lot:

https://www.leatherseats.com/mobile/home/

My seats look something like this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paul D · 03-17-2018, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jccash

I went with GAHH. Black savanna beige combo. I like this company products a lot:

https://www.leatherseats.com/mobile/home/

My seats look something like this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just checked with leatherseats.com last week and unfortunately they don't make the leather skins for the Boxster anymore or at least not for an 02 Boxster. I'll follow up with bestleatherkits.com this coming week and let everyone know what I find out.

Paul

ksjohn · 02-25-2018, 04:55 PM

I posted this in another seat cover thread, but it is another option for upholstry.

I bought new seat upholstery from Auto Custom Leathers. $750 for a custom 2 tone set. Had them professionally installed for $150.

Have had them in over a year. Very happy with the results. They stock original Porsche colors, even matched my Savannah beige, which is a very difficult color.