Leather Seat Repair/Prevention

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Xyxyll

New member
Quick questions guys... my 16yr old leather seats have seen much better days. The bolster wear is growing a concern and the seam has just popped.



Are these seats toast?



Where can I go to get the seams stitched up?



Is there a particular process for restoring leather (haven't searched yet but will begin tomorrow)?



What measures can I take immediately to prevent any further damage? This has been a garage queen of mine for some time, but I'll be pawning off my DD here soon.



Thanks!



P1040016.jpg
 
Another note. This is pretty mild bolster wear compared to most MR2s of this time period. Is this easily preventable (reasonably speaking... of course everything is preventable)?
 
My old Celica had the same wear pattern. It was from how I entered the car. I'm 6'2". I'd put my butt on the seat bolster, and slide down it into the car. After 12 years of that, my seat looked exactly the same as yours.



Unfortunately, it's shot. A good upholstery shop might be able to replace (or possibly re-finish) just the one panel, but it's not a sure thing.



Is this on an MR2, by chance?
 
SuperBee364 said:
My old Celica had the same wear pattern. It was from how I entered the car. I'm 6'2". I'd put my butt on the seat bolster, and slide down it into the car. After 12 years of that, my seat looked exactly the same as yours.



Unfortunately, it's shot. A good upholstery shop might be able to replace (or possibly re-finish) just the one panel, but it's not a sure thing.



Is this on an MR2, by chance?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've done my best to avoid rubbing on it when getting out of the car (also 6'2"), but no matter what I do, that bolster has just worn dry. I'd love to swap in 7th gen Celica seats, but I don't have the time or money. Until then though, I'd like to do what I can to restore these, and if I can't, I'd like to at least keep them from tearing apart so they retain at least some resale value.



Yep, 1993 Toyota MR2 Turbo.



lawrencea said:
If the leather is not ripped all the way thru, it can be filled and dyed.
Click to expand...



Is this a DIY type deal or a task that should be done by an upholstery shop? It's not ripped at all... just worn down.
 
Yeah, I saw your thread. Amazing transition. It looks like a different type of wear as mine, though, so I wasn't sure if the Leather Magic kit would be worth investing in.
 
im very confident the leather magic will do a equaly good job on that wear



find a local upholstry guy to sew the leather up...be cheaper if you can remove the seat and padding
 
It can be fixed - My 1995 BMW M3 with 180K had front seats that looked extremely worn and had holes -almost like a burn hole. The rear seats were never used.



Leather world and leather magic sell kits matching your factory color. By the time I was done, you could not tell the difference between front and rear seats. It totally upped the resale value and the FIRST thing the guy talked about when he looked at the car was how nice the leather was.



One note: Take your time with the re-finishing the leather - It's best to do it over several days and layer the product with several coats that had plenty of time to cure.



-my.02
 
Xyxyll said:
P1040016.jpg
Click to expand...



Take a closer look at the picture above. There is no color left at all. Leather Magic, Leatherique, etc. are all great products, but they can't restore a color that simply isn't there. Using such a product may improve the over all look of it, but the parts that have no color in them will still have no color in them.



This is definitely something for an upholstery shop to look at.
 
Wouldn't a product with a dye be able to bring it back? I don't think Leatherique's products actually dye the leather, but HappyWax's post suggests to me that Leather Magic's might.



As soon as the car's running again, I'll run by an upholstery shop and see if I can get some insight from them as well.
 
Do any of you Autopians know of someone that does leather seat work in the Phoenix, AZ area that is reputable and reasonably priced? Or do I have to go to an upholstery shop? I remember a while ago reading about people who do this on a mobile basis and are able to produce a decent result with older seats that are cracked and faded.
 
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