Leather Seats - Worth It?

[highlander]

Hi all,

Been quoted £146.88 (inc. VAT and delivery) for exec-spec door cards and all seats for my 406.

Door cards look good to me, but the seats look a bit tatty. They may just be very dirty though, as things often get when lying around a car parts warehouse.

These are the photos they e-mailed me (the guy assures me that it's "spilled yogurt or something" on the passenger seat, but I reckon it's bird sh*t )





He said they're from a W-reg saloon.

Do you guys reckon that with a bit of a clean and some leather conditioner, that these seats will turn out OK and would be worth the price?

It's the exact type of interior I'm looking for. The only other quote I got for an interior was for £293.75 (including VAT + delivery), and that's a bit much for me at the moment.

Would like to get back to him this afternoon if possible.

Cheers
Graeme

[Welly]

The seats look a bit ratty to me in particular the bit that gets caught/scuffed as you get in and out looks very worn and probably won't restore that well (poss v.high mileage) whereas I have seen some with very little wear in that position.

I think it looks like the drivers armrest has opened up on the end? a white patch showing?

The back of the rear bench seat looks a bit weird as though the leather is coming away?

A speaker cover is missing from the cards.

Overall they must be from a v.high miler but are cheap enough I suppose, although I'm not sure how supportive high mileage seats are now?

It's up to you really but I think if it was me, and I wasn't in a hurry, I'd hold out for a less-worn set?

[highlander]

That's probably fair enough - I hadn't noticed the speaker cover, though my existing cards have them - I'd assume they're interchangeable.

The seats do look very tatty, don't they

OK. I'll shop around a bit more and see what else I can find. Ta

[Welly]

Don't blame me though if you never find any other sets

I'm fairly sure they'll be ropey though.

Here's what mine looked like, there's a little scuffing to the back rest bit but it didn't stand out like those other seats (a grey, rough area where the leather facing has gone) mine were more cracked than anything which would always soften down with the conditioner.....

[teamster1975]

Oh I don't know, if you soaked them in leather treatment they may come up quite nicely.
The price is bloody good any how!

[highlander]

It is, that's what's so annoying!

I might just buy the door cards for now and go for seats later.

Am I right about the speaker grill; would these be interchangeable parts between my existing and these other door cards?

[BruceT]

I was put off leather because you'd have to mess about with the electrical wiring to get them to move (Assuming the leather seats are electric which in all cases ive seen is the case) which means you'd have no working seat movement till this electrical wiring was done?

[teamster1975]

Am I right about the speaker grill; would these be interchangeable parts between my existing and these other door cards?

They look the same shape, Captain Jack is the one for a definitive answer though as he's fitted them.
I can't see any reason for having a different shaped moulding for leather door cards anyhow, they've all got to fit the same door!

[waue1978]

How hard would it be to swap the leather seat over onto the base of the original seats, so that you'd have manually adjustable leather seats?

Saw a car on Ebay a while ago which had manually adjustable leather seats & sounds like a better bet than all the hassle of rewiring.

[highlander]

The only other quote I have for seats is from a D8 exec.

The guy raised the question about in-seat airbags; the set he's offering doesn't have them, and neither does my car (LX spec cloth seats).

Also, just found out that my local garage won't swap the seats for me - they'll only replace like for like - due to the connectors under the seats.

Can someone definitively tell me:

1) How do I physically install the seats (tools needed, skills needed)?
2) Are there any compatibility issues between D8 leather heated electric seats and my bog-standard 1999 non-multiplexed LX D9?