Exact color matching leather seat cover (1 Viewer)

[baghloli123]

I have 2000 lx 470, with beige interior.
The front seats covers are torn. The back is still good. Though I am open to replacing the full front seat covers.
Can you suggest a few places where I can find seat covers that
1) close match for the factory covers
2) relatively easier to install

Thanls

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Search "seat covers" or "leather replacement", limited to titles, limited to 100 section only, lots of good threads with pros and cons of the vendors and their products, some very recent ones. I'll say from my experience after spending the money on replacement leather that didn't last and then do Escapegear covers, I wish I would have just done those from the start.

 

[TCEd]

Search "seat covers" or "leather replacement", limited to titles, limited to 100 section only, lots of good threads with pros and cons of the vendors and their products, some very recent ones. I'll say from my experience after spending the money on replacement leather that didn't last and then do Escapegear covers, I wish I would have just done those from the start.

Do these covers go over the original leather upholstery or do you strip the leather and install these ?

 

[DFXR]

Do these covers go over the original leather upholstery or do you strip the leather and install these ?

They are cordura and/or heavy canvas slip covers and go right over the original leather, no stripping or tools required.

Escape Gear and Specter Off-Road both make great covers. I have both. They may seem expensive ($4-500/row), but they both fit very well and my original Specter set is going on 13 years, with only the driver’s seat showing real wear.

Finding high-quality leather replacement upholstery is definitely possible. But it will be expensive and getting the installation right for the long haul is not easy.

 

[TCEd]

They are cordura and/or heavy canvas slip covers and go right over the original leather, no stripping or tools required.

Escape Gear and Specter Off-Road both make great covers. I have both. They may seem expensive ($4-500/row), but they both fit very well and my original Specter set is going on 13 years, with only the driver’s seat showing real wear.

Finding high-quality leather replacement upholstery is definitely possible. But it will be expensive and getting the installation right for the long haul is not easy.

From photos it looks like the Spectre covers fit tighter and Escape gear looser. Do you think this is correct ?

 

[baltistyle]

Having done two different interiors with different leather supplies what I would say is that if you are at all capable of simple mechanical repair, you will be able to do these seats yourself. An issue with putting an additional seat cover on is that you can’t refresh the foam with steam and that is one of the best parts in re-covering a seat because you not only get a good surface but a comfy even surface. An example would be if someone always leaned to the right and there’s an indentation on the right of the seat, you can steam the whole seat to make it even again.

When I used Nos OEM leather in my LX for the driver seat, it was still lighter than the 18-year-old material Inside. After driving on it for a year everything does match when clean, and I keep it very clean.

I used a Road Wire kit in my LC for both front and middle rows and I found the quality of that to be pretty decent though different than stock. That leather still looks basically perfect after more than four years. Road Wire was purchased by another company, but I cannot remember who at this point.

Lastly, I’d recommend real seat cover replacement versus adding a cover to the current seat because it will fit nice and tight.

The leather isn’t terribly expensive to buy for the whole car so you might want to buy the whole kit and slowly tackle the job so that all of the leather you buy is of the same lot number. Some people have had great success with great pricing from local upholstery shops if you don’t want to install them yourself.

 

[DFXR]

From photos it looks like the Spectre covers fit tighter and Escape gear looser. Do you think this is correct ?

Yes, definitely. The pics on the SOR website are actually pretty accurate compared to real life. They are tight, in a good way.

But given that, the Escape Gears are not exactly loose. Just loose by comparison. I currently have Escape Gear in front and Specter in the second row.

I had no complaints about the Specters but the driver's seat was finally giving up the ghost and the Escape covers looked interesting. They look and feel good too. About $100 cheaper.

There's a lot of sewing that goes into both brands and given the fact that SOR's are made domestically, the higher price tag makes sense.

The EG front covers are marginally more difficult to install but if you unbolt the front seats and tilt them back it's no big deal.

 

[GTV]

FYI, just like paint you will never find an exact match. Your original 25 year old covers are worn in, dirty and sun faded to some degree. Even if it was perfectly clean and never saw a day of sun the new leather will have come from a different dye lot. If you want the cushion and backrest to match you will have to replace them both.

 

[Manhattan]

Here are two of the more recent threads on leather:

• Another Leather Option? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/another-leather-option.1354012/page-2#post-15800050
• 2024 Leather Options - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/2024-leather-options.1338256/

I appreciate that removing and recovering these seats isn't an insurmountable mechanical task. But, I'm pretty sure the seats in my 2006, with 195,000 miles need foam. I can tell that the bottom of the seat back is hitting my differently than it did years ago. When I had the seats redone in my '84 Pickup by an upholstery shop, I told the owner of the shop that the truck only had 59,000 miles and that the foam seemed like it was fine. He said it's not just or even mostly the miles - it's the age. The foam degrades. He rebuilt the foam when he did the seats. When I sat in the truck, I had to adjust the rear view mirror. Seriously. Also, the seats were soooo much more comfortable.

Okay sure, 2006 (or 2000) isn't 1984, but the foam does add a complexity that's probably beyond my skill set, and definitely comfort level. Although, it does look like fun... carving chunks of foam with the electric kitchen knife my mom used in the '70s.

 

[baltistyle]

Here are two of the more recent threads on leather:

• Another Leather Option? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/another-leather-option.1354012/page-2#post-15800050
• 2024 Leather Options - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/2024-leather-options.1338256/

I appreciate that removing and recovering these seats isn't an insurmountable mechanical task. But, I'm pretty sure the seats in my 2006, with 195,000 miles need foam. I can tell that the bottom of the seat back is hitting my differently than it did years ago. When I had the seats redone in my '84 Pickup by an upholstery shop, I told the owner of the shop that the truck only had 59,000 miles and that the foam seemed like it was fine. He said it's not just or even mostly the miles - it's the age. The foam degrades. He rebuilt the foam when he did the seats. When I sat in the truck, I had to adjust the rear view mirror. Seriously. Also, the seats were soooo much more comfortable.

Okay sure, 2006 (or 2000) isn't 1984, but the foam does add a complexity that's probably beyond my skill set, and definitely comfort level. Although, it does look like fun... carving chunks of foam with the electric kitchen knife my mom used in the '70s.

I haven't checked recently for availability but I have done foam replacement and foam steaming for foam that is not torn up. If you look at my posts, you'll find a picture of a new foam seat bottom verse a 2006 steamed foam. It isn't any harder. than the leather. Hog rings are a bit of a pain. The hardest part is the final stretch and as long as someone is there to help its not to bad. I sat on the foam to compress as I stretched the final front clip, which was a little hard because Im about 150lbs wet. The 2000 I did the full interior and only steamed the foam and it felt as new and I used spray adhesive in any tiny rips and thin foam if a chunk was missing such as on the outer seat bottom bolster..

here is the link

Oem Leather for an Lx470

Hi all, The interior of my car is nearly perfect except for some small seat bottom bolster wear. Because I have a bad back and the seats have 240k on them, I decided to order a new driver seat bottom cushion. When pulling the seat, if I were to steam the existing cushion and it not work, I...

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