Seat Covers / Reconditioning - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rock88hard · 02-18-2016, 11:07 AM

The leather on my driver seat is beyond repair. It's actually ripped with pieces missing, guess I should have treated them long ago... :-(

Anyway, I found a few people that sell the leather kit to replace it and was wondering if anyone here has used anyone. So far I'm seeing two vendors.

Vendor 1 is LeatherSeats.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muwZkLZqvyc and they are selling theirs for $1,329 and vendor 2 is SeatShop.com and they are selling theirs on amazon for $299 (although their company website isn't listing them)

I def trust amazon, but I don't see any reviews there. Anyone have any experience or advice?

littlewiggler · 02-18-2016, 11:25 AM

I used SeatShop.com for leather covers for my F150 Lariat. IIRC they had different fabrics.

They fit very nicely and had great videos to reference. Hardest part was removing the seats from the cab of the truck. Hog ring pliers are easy to work with.

78F350 · 02-18-2016, 11:45 AM

I sold a seat base to another forum member cheap. Your least expensive/easiest option may be to get a partial seat (shipping a whole seat is expensive) from the classified section of the forum.

rock88hard · 02-18-2016, 11:55 AM

Thanks for the info wiggler. I've also been scanning the forum every now and then for seats, that would be a great find them there.

BruceH · 02-19-2016, 06:06 AM

Try to buy these seats. Do freight shipping and it should not be too bad.

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/60404-986-s-parts-sale-dfw.html

slattimer · 02-19-2016, 10:27 AM

I've been looki at the SeatShop.com replacement covers. Is the quality up to par?

Phil C · 02-19-2016, 04:52 PM

Check out ebay. You should be able to buy bottom seat cushion for $100, and seat back cover for less than $100. Center back cushions are less than $50.
Leatherique sells an excellent dye. Easy to apply and great results if you need to change color.
Good luck!

stelan · 02-19-2016, 06:34 PM

In my opinion, most of the kits available end up lookin like seat covers
Nothing like a good custom upholsterer, is expensive but you will be happier at the end
i had mine custom done and they look great, I bought the leather in two large cow sized hydes
And it was enough to even do the back side (porsche uses binyl on the backs to save money)
i even had the upholsterer sculpt the foam to look more like the new models in the headrest area and double red stitch to match the guards red exterior

ksjohn · 02-20-2016, 05:31 AM

I need a new cover for my driver seat or for both. My passenger seat is perfect, but the driver is trashed. I have had no luck as of yet finding any used seats as of yet, Savannah beige pleated seats if anyone has one.

I have checked with one local shop and was quoted north of $1500 for both. I intend to check with some other local shops as there seems to be a wide disparity in pricing I see posted.

I did contact seatshop and requested some leather swathes, but they never followed through. I had seen posted on ebay and elsewhere that their leather was not very good quality, thick and grainy, not really what most would want for their Porsche.

Has anyone used Autoberry. They have good reviews on ebay and cost is $750 to $800 for their basic seat covers.

stelan · 02-20-2016, 11:34 AM

ksjohn · 03-01-2016, 04:59 PM

I have contacted 4 upholsterers in the past couple of days. Quotes from 3 so far have been north of $2000 for both seats. I expect the 4th to be in the same range.

One guy told me he would install new covers from another source for $100 per seat. I may end up going this route as the full custom seats are just too expensive.

I am still leaning toward Autoberry. They offer 2 styles, perforated leather or supple. $750

I would love to hear from anyone who has used their seat covers!

mikefocke · 03-01-2016, 05:15 PM

A list of wrecking yards and seatcovers is here.

stelan · 03-02-2016, 07:54 AM

wow 2k is a lot, I was lucky that when I got those seats done I was traveling thru mexico (where there are some companies that I consult for) I paid around us 1000 for everything, including the leather and the custom upholsterer too bad seats are very heavy because we could send a bunch of seats to get done there but with shipping prices it may end up costing the same

fredd5r · 03-08-2016, 01:39 AM

I always heard good things about LeatherSeats.com. The only pros I can say is the price.

ksjohn · 03-18-2016, 03:46 PM

I called Autoberry.com and LeatherSeats.com today regarding new seat covers.

Autoberry only offers covers in a single color, leather on the seating areas with vinyl around the edges and back (same as the originals from the factory). They do not offer any options like a different color for the seat back center or seat bottom center, nor any highlight stitching. They list the factory colors for options.

$750 and made in the US

LeatherSeats offers any configuration you want. I priced what I want for my car, beige with burgundy inserts and burgundy stitching, all leather, no vinyl.

They offer an extensive color palate, but don't really match the Porsche original colors. They did say that beige is somewhat different from the factory color.

$1385 and made in the US

I ordered leather swatches from both companies so I could see the quality of leather they use.

I also checked with another local upholsterer. $1400, two tone, highlight stitching, all leather installed.

kenand1988 · 03-18-2016, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock88hard

... vendor 2 is SeatShop.com and they are selling theirs on amazon for $299 (although their company website isn't listing them)

I def trust amazon, but I don't see any reviews there. Anyone have any experience or advice?

Do you have a link to their product? I can't find anything that looks decent on amazon.

TNT79Bronco · 03-19-2016, 04:37 AM

I just redid mine. Mine from my 2002S were falling apart. Here is where i went:

Leather Seat Covers | Custom Leather Interior | Replacement Seat Covers | Lseat.com

I got a 2 tone, with perforated leather. Paid a guy $200 to put them on and repair some foam. Totally thrilled at my $500 investment!

PM me with an email address and I will send ya some pictures.

ksjohn · 03-19-2016, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TNT79Bronco

I just redid mine. Mine from my 2002S were falling apart.

I got a 2 tone, with perforated leather. Paid a guy $200 to put them on and repair some foam. Totally thrilled at my $500 investment!

PM me with an email address and I will send ya some pictures.

Can you post your pics here? Definitely want to see them!

epapp · 03-21-2016, 01:28 PM

Must post pics here! Did you go with genuine leather?

ksjohn · 08-14-2016, 06:33 PM

After a lot of searching, I found a upholstery supplier that had Savannah Beige leather. I had contacted several companies and ordered swatches, but the tan was never even close to Savannah Beige.

I came across Auto Custom Leathers in ebay. Auto Custom Leathers Called them up and spoke with Jerry. Nice guy, told him what I was looking for and he assured me that they did have the right color in leather and matching vinyl. I also wanted a burgundy insert. Jerry assured me I would be satisfied with their product.

So I rolled the dice and gave him my credit card. About 3 weeks later the seats showed up. I think they look very good! And the beige is almost an exact match to my 18 year old upholstery. The burgundy is a little darker than I would have preferred, but I think it will look fine. $750 including the up charge for the inserts. Kind of middle of the road cost, but the colors match!

I am taking the seats to my upholstery guy tomorrow to have him put them on and and fix the padding in the driver seat.

I will post pics of the finished seats later this week.