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Removing leather seat cover

J

JD-1

Ready to race!
Location
06468
Has anyone done this?


I mistakenly sat on my leather seats with slightly damp shorts (from kayaking) on a REALLY hot day. The water dried and left reduced the texture on my seats in a number of area's. They don't look terrible but I'm noticing that in between my legs the seats are developing a vertical crease. I'm really afraid this is going to rip over the course of another 30k miles.




I'm not about to jump the gun and buy a $500 seat cover but it looks like the part is $400-$500 from VW. Is it hard to swap? Would a auto upholstery place do it if I brought the seat and cover?
 
Sandman GTI

Sandman GTI

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Tennessee USA
JD-1 said:
Has anyone done this?


I mistakenly sat on my leather seats with slightly damp shorts (from kayaking) on a REALLY hot day. The water dried and left reduced the texture on my seats in a number of area's. They don't look terrible but I'm noticing that in between my legs the seats are developing a vertical crease. I'm really afraid this is going to rip over the course of another 30k miles.




I'm not about to jump the gun and buy a $500 seat cover but it looks like the part is $400-$500 from VW. Is it hard to swap? Would a auto upholstery place do it if I brought the seat and cover?
Click to expand...

Check "Katzkins" and see if they have after market seat covers for the GTI.
Maybe ask them if not listed.

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...=2ahUKEwi5sKKcsdzcAhX_GDQIHRqQDYkQ0Qx6BAgKEAE
 
sandmangti

sandmangti

Autocross Newbie
FYI.
I know,a year ago they had the Golf seat but only showed picture for GTI. Reason to maybe ask. Wife has them in her SUV. Great feel. Better than GTI and if they have you can custom design.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
sprinks

sprinks

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States
Gonna throw this out there: have ya thought about getting some leather conditioner to bring that leather back to life before ya spring for new covers and an upholstery job? Get some griot's leathercare from autozone and work it in.
 
J

JD-1

Ready to race!
Location
06468
sprinks said:
Gonna throw this out there: have ya thought about getting some leather conditioner to bring that leather back to life before ya spring for new covers and an upholstery job? Get some griot's leathercare from autozone and work it in.
Click to expand...


Yeah I put leatherique on the seat. It helped soften up the leather but the crease between my legs went unchanged and I think it will get worse.. the leather on this crease looks seriously fatigued/stretched out sadly.

Those other covers look good, but I really don't mind putting an oem cover back onto the seat. I'm trying to gauge if I could do it myself. It looks like the original covers are held on by super secure clips around the bottom of the seat. Is there clips or some type of hog rings that hold the center of the leather down? I also can't tell how you'd remove some of the plastic trim to fit the new cover around it.
 
Shane_Anigans

Shane_Anigans

Drag Race Newbie
Location
SE MI
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
If you're still under warranty, take it to the dealer, and just omit the part about the wet shorts. Not that they really care anyway, but still. If you're just slightly out of warranty, ask them if VW will offer any goodwill assistance, since it's rare for a seat cover to be defective in that way.
 
J

JD-1

Ready to race!
Location
06468
Shane_Anigans said:
If you're still under warranty, take it to the dealer, and just omit the part about the wet shorts. Not that they really care anyway, but still. If you're just slightly out of warranty, ask them if VW will offer any goodwill assistance, since it's rare for a seat cover to be defective in that way.
Click to expand...


make a service appointment for it?
 
Sandman GTI

Sandman GTI

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Tennessee USA
JD-1 said:
Has anyone done this?


I mistakenly sat on my leather seats with slightly damp shorts (from kayaking) on a REALLY hot day. The water dried and left reduced the texture on my seats in a number of area's. They don't look terrible but I'm noticing that in between my legs the seats are developing a vertical crease. I'm really afraid this is going to rip over the course of another 30k miles.




I'm not about to jump the gun and buy a $500 seat cover but it looks like the part is $400-$500 from VW. Is it hard to swap? Would a auto upholstery place do it if I brought the seat and cover?
Click to expand...

I know some cars use hog clips that take a special tool. Not expensive I think but something to investigate if you need.
 
Shane_Anigans

Shane_Anigans

Drag Race Newbie
Location
SE MI
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
JD-1 said:
make a service appointment for it?
Click to expand...


I would. When I was a service advisor, we used to replace stuff like this all the time, on a variety of cars. There's an odd chance that VW will want one of their personnel (not a dealer employee) to verify it, but these days, I would think pictures would suffice. I never worked at VW dealer so I don't know exactly how their process for trim defects works, but with BMW, there was a warranty code for practically every defect imaginable. If there isn't one, the dealer shouldn't have much trouble getting their rep to approve it.



Again, don't volunteer any information about how it happened, because odds are they won't ask about it anyway.
 
GTI Jake

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
As an alternative if the dealership doesn’t help you out on this the cheapest and easiest fix would be a to replace the whole seat with one from a part out

Four bolts and a wiring harness connection sounds much better than fighting $500 worth of cow hide for an afternoon lol

Plus a single seat is probably $250ish used
 
G

George Ab

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Pacific NW
I would buy a new seat at a salvage yard. Quick junk yard search showed prices from $100 to $270. Four 10mm triple square bolts and un-clip wire harness. Careful it is heavy and a tight fit getting out the door. Seems like a better solution than having to spend $400 and figure out how to install.


GTI jake beat me the punch. I was typing while he was posting. Brilliant minds think alike.:D
 
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