LX 470 leather seat replacements

[Patron100LC]

That sucks! When I bought my set from them they sent me everything, they even sent me two different sized pieces for the center console (one extra one was for the wider non-US model center consoles!) And mine got to my door exactly 6 days from the ordering date!

@ClassyJalopy , just reading a bit before ordering from @Ridies , finally my wife got convinced we need new upholstery after a 1000 miles trip through central FL and got the OK to proceed.

You mentioned you got all needed parts, and then some. Did you speak with them about what you need before ordering, either by email or phone? Or just went online and clicked on the green button?

Also, on their website they offer a fast shipping option for a cost, and free shipping with longer turnaround. Did you choose to pay extra for the fast shipping and that's why you got it so fast?

About to order front and middle rows in gray nappa, if I manage to get them before our next trip it'll be great. I think I'll manage the installation myself. Thanks in advance!

 

[scubadoober]

I had great experience with hotrodupholstery.com when I replaced my LC front seats. He lists LX front lowers on his website, but shoot him an email and see about the rest. He is a great guy and will make whatever you need. He included hog rings with my order.

 

[Bisho]

@ClassyJalopy , just reading a bit before ordering from @Ridies , finally my wife got convinced we need new upholstery after a 1000 miles trip through central FL and got the OK to proceed.

You mentioned you got all needed parts, and then some. Did you speak with them about what you need before ordering, either by email or phone? Or just went online and clicked on the green button?

Also, on their website they offer a fast shipping option for a cost, and free shipping with longer turnaround. Did you choose to pay extra for the fast shipping and that's why you got it so fast?

About to order front and middle rows in gray nappa, if I manage to get them before our next trip it'll be great. I think I'll manage the installation myself. Thanks in advance!

I did not order fast shipping, and had them in a week or so. I think if you’re not ordering something custom they’ll be fast without the extra cost. I did order perforated centers.

I also ordered a new driver seat bottom from an online Toyota parts dealer ( best deal I could find at the time). I got middle of the road hog ring pliers and hog rings from Amazon. I used my wife’s steamer on all the foam, which breathed some life back into it.

 

[Patron100LC]

I did not order fast shipping, and had them in a week or so. I think if you’re not ordering something custom they’ll be fast without the extra cost. I did order perforated centers.

I also ordered a new driver seat bottom from an online Toyota parts dealer ( best deal I could find at the time). I got middle of the road hog ring pliers and hog rings from Amazon. I used my wife’s steamer on all the foam, which breathed some life back into it.

Thanks for your input @Bisho , got the new driver's bottom foam in a sealed box waiting for this moment, ordered from amayama a while ago.
Besides the Nappa leather option, not interested in custom features, my wife's lexus RX has perforated cooled seats and she doesn't use them, and in my LC I have a perfectly located AC vent between my legs facing the most important parts. (Genius feature!)
Crossing fingers all comes in without hiccups.

 

[Patron100LC]

I had great experience with hotrodupholstery.com when I replaced my LC front seats. He lists LX front lowers on his website, but shoot him an email and see about the rest. He is a great guy and will make whatever you need. He included hog rings with my order.

Thanks scuba, did you ordered 2nd row as well? Mine is crispy from almost 20years of FL weather, and it was re-painted by PO at some point, so no way it'll match the fronts.

 

[scubadoober]

Thanks scuba, did you ordered 2nd row as well? Mine is crispy from almost 20years of FL weather, and it was re-painted by PO at some point, so no way it'll match the fronts.

I did not, I got front seat bottoms, both front armrests, and center console. Like I said he can make you what you need even if it isn’t listed on his site. Also got a few things for my wife’s Honda and he was very open and honest with what he charged me. Very fair.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

@ClassyJalopy , just reading a bit before ordering from @Ridies , finally my wife got convinced we need new upholstery after a 1000 miles trip through central FL and got the OK to proceed.

You mentioned you got all needed parts, and then some. Did you speak with them about what you need before ordering, either by email or phone? Or just went online and clicked on the green button?

Also, on their website they offer a fast shipping option for a cost, and free shipping with longer turnaround. Did you choose to pay extra for the fast shipping and that's why you got it so fast?

About to order front and middle rows in gray nappa, if I manage to get them before our next trip it'll be great. I think I'll manage the installation myself. Thanks in advance!

I didn't order expedited shipping - just placed the order online. They did call me to confirm my selection because I had ordered perforated inserts without the wrinkled/gatthered seams.

If you have front seat backs are in decent shape, consider not re-upholstering them with fresh leather - it was just a lot of work for not a lot benefit.

 

[Bisho]

I didn't order expedited shipping - just placed the order online. They did call me to confirm my selection because I had ordered perforated inserts without the wrinkled/gatthered seams.

If you have front seat backs are in decent shape, consider not re-upholstering them with fresh leather - it was just a lot of work for not a lot benefit.

I agree on the seat backs. I couldn't figure out how to remove the nets (LC, not LX) without breaking the frames, so I left them as is. BTW, on the seat backs, you pull out the bottom, then push up to release the top catches. You can buy the plastic top catches when you break them...

 

[Patron100LC]

I didn't order expedited shipping - just placed the order online. They did call me to confirm my selection because I had ordered perforated inserts without the wrinkled/gatthered seams.

If you have front seat backs are in decent shape, consider not re-upholstering them with fresh leather - it was just a lot of work for not a lot benefit.

I agree on the seat backs. I couldn't figure out how to remove the nets (LC, not LX) without breaking the frames, so I left them as is. BTW, on the seat backs, you pull out the bottom, then push up to release the top catches. You can buy the plastic top catches when you break them...

Thanks, ordered last night, got the Nappa front and 2nd row in light gray, they called me twice, once before placing the order, I asked about the US market center console and arm rest, the guy said they send both, US and full size just in case.

The 2nd one is to verify correct order, and that the Nappa option for 2nd row is an additional $100 that wasn't reflected in the order. Still $1199 for 2 complete rows in premium leather is still a good value. Since I want the smoother leather I just OK'd it..

Thanks on the seat backs, if they send the leather I'll keep it stored in case my son decides to keep destroying them in the future, I'll leave them as is and just replace the map pockets. Probably going with cruiserpatch option, they look nice and durable.

Thanks for the heads up.


Regarding the color, automatically it came as Light Gray, and I searched a few showing that the color is fairly close to the OEM Stone. Since I didn't get the samples, and also since most times samples aren't 100% same as actual product, I hope I ordered OK and I'm not getting something completely off the rest of the car. I have the gray leather on the doors and seat backs as well.
Is the Light Gray the right selection for the Ridies Nappa? Or did I mess it up? (still in time to call and change since I ordered last night))/

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Thanks, ordered last night, got the Nappa front and 2nd row in light gray, they called me twice, once before placing the order, I asked about the US market center console and arm rest, the guy said they send both, US and full size just in case.

The 2nd one is to verify correct order, and that the Nappa option for 2nd row is an additional $100 that wasn't reflected in the order. Still $1199 for 2 complete rows in premium leather is still a good value. Since I want the smoother leather I just OK'd it..

Thanks on the seat backs, if they send the leather I'll keep it stored in case my son decides to keep destroying them in the future, I'll leave them as is and just replace the map pockets. Probably going with cruiserpatch option, they look nice and durable.

Thanks for the heads up.


Regarding the color, automatically it came as Light Gray, and I searched a few showing that the color is fairly close to the OEM Stone. Since I didn't get the samples, and also since most times samples aren't 100% same as actual product, I hope I ordered OK and I'm not getting something completely off the rest of the car. I have the gray leather on the doors and seat backs as well.
Is the Light Gray the right selection for the Ridies Nappa? Or did I mess it up? (still in time to call and change since I ordered last night))/

From my order:
Leather Color : Light Grey
Top Stitching Color : Light Grey
Center Console : Light Grey

 

[Patron100LC]

From my order:
Leather Color : Light Grey
Top Stitching Color : Light Grey
Center Console : Light Grey

Thanks for the confirmation.

Will update when arrived and installed.

 

[VinylSeats]

Fun before and after with Ridies, Arm isn's great. Next time I would just have upholstery shop cut leather, but still very comfortable and look a little better than what I had
fun View attachment 3441774View attachment 3441775

What color and leather type did you go with from Ridies? I got their samples yesterday to help make the decision (light tan seems to be closest match to OEM ivory?).

 

[baltistyle]

In terms of the rear netting, if it’s just the top elastic string that is worn, you can drill that out and place a new elastic up top without replacing the net.

 

[VinylSeats]

In case this is helpful to anyone, I received my samples from Ridies this week and laid out the close matches on the front passenger seat of my 2004 LX 470 with the ivory interior.

As you can see below, Light Tan - Napa is by far the closest match of both color and texture to OEM Ivory.

I have heard the genuine leather is more durable than the napa (material strength and dye?) so I'm not quite sure which direction I'll go yet. The napa matches better but I'd definitely prefer higher durability.

Key:
LT - N = Light Tan - Napa
LT - GL = Light Tan - Genuine Leather
LO/C - N = Light Oak / Cashmere - Napa
LO/C - GL = Light Oak / Cashmere - Genuine Leather
S - GL = Sandstone - Genuine Leather

Photo with codes

Photo without codes

 

[flintknapper]

In case this is helpful to anyone, I received my samples from Ridies this week and laid out the close matches on the front passenger seat of my 2004 LX 470 with the ivory interior.

As you can see below, Light Tan - Napa is by far the closest match of both color and texture to OEM Ivory.

I have heard the genuine leather is more durable than the napa (material strength and dye?) so I'm not quite sure which direction I'll go yet. The napa matches better but I'd definitely prefer higher durability.

Key:
LT - N = Light Tan - Napa
LT - GL = Light Tan - Genuine Leather
LO/C - N = Light Oak / Cashmere - Napa
LO/C - GL = Light Oak / Cashmere - Genuine Leather
S - GL = Sandstone - Genuine Leather

Photo with codes
View attachment 3718353

Photo without codes
View attachment 3718350

Agreed. L/T Napa. Great post and pics. Good job Sir.

 

[Patron100LC]

You won't regret going for the Nappa leather, it's so smooooooth. Got 75% of mine done, did pass seat, and rear bench, still gotta do driver's seat since I'm waiting on a seat belt latch I ordered from Serra Toyota.
They do mention that the nappa leather isn't as resistant as the genuine, but in reality, genuine leather is the cheapest you can get if you look at other leather industries like clothing and accessories.

 

[samj100atx]

What color and leather type did you go with from Ridies? I got their samples yesterday to help make the decision (light tan seems to be closest match to OEM ivory?).

These are GL Light Tan, after almost a year after install these have held up fairly well. If i could go back in time i would have just had my upholstery guy match material and make the new seat covers.

 

[Longmark999]

I just finished replacing the leather on the seats on my 2001 LX470 so I thought I’d provide a couple of tips that helped me and things I wish I’d known going in. I chose to go with leather from LeatherSeats.com after doing research in advance and narrowing it down to Ridies, LSeat, and LeatherSeats.com. LeatherSeats was the most expensive option of the 3, but had the best reviews and comments on discussion boards, and the pre-sales responsiveness was excellent.

The quality of the leather and the color matching for the LeatherSeats was very good, however while installing the seat bottom on the passenger seat, at the step in the process where I had to stretch the leather over the bottom of the seat frame to attach the J hook to the frame, I noticed that the stitching attaching the plastic J hook to the leather was loose and hadn’t been properly knotted. This caused the stitching and the J hook to loosen as I pulled the J hook over the frame. Since I’d already attached the seat bottom with the hog rings and the seat heater pad with the tag gun, the idea of having to remove everything and start over with a replacement seat bottom did not fill me with excitement (it might help to imagine a cartoon steam whistle coming out of the side of my head).

So I sent an email to LeatherSeats.com explaining the situation, and to their credit, they responded quickly with both a manual fix to the problem, as well as a replacement seat bottom should the manual fix fail at some point down the line. So I would give LeatherSeats.com 5 stars for customer service and after sales support, however I would encourage anyone buying seat covers to thoroughly inspect the seat covers before beginning the installation process. I would also rate LeatherSeats.com very highly for color match and appearance of the seats.

For tips, the first thing I would mention is that this job takes time. I estimate it took me 7 hours to do the passenger side, with 2 hours of learning curve. So I’m guessing it will take me 5 hours to do the driver’s side. Stretching the leather over the seat back was reasonably easy, but the seat bottom required a lot of effort and maneuvering particularly with the front of the seat. I placed a 40 pound dumbbell on the front of the seat bottom frame (with the seat upside down) to help compress the foam while I stretched the leather over the front of the frame to attach the front J hook. This helped compress the seat foam while leaving me with 2 free hands to pull the leather over and attach it.

The other thing to note is that the clips that attach the top of the seat back board to the back of the seats were impossible to remove without breaking. I found a video on Youtube that said the best way to go is to pull the side of the seatback board away from the seat back and then push the clip out of it’s “socket” on the seatback board with a dowel or a pick tool. I’m going to give that a try with the driver’s side seat.

Finally, this job is hard on the hands with cutting the old hog rings and installing the new ones. I found mini bolt cutters at Harbor Freight that made cutting the old rings a lot easier. For installing the new hog rings, a good set of hog ring pliers, and the longer the handles the better are necessary. Here’s some before and after pictures as well as some pictures of the bolt cutters and hog ring pliers.

 

[obe12]

I just finished replacing the leather on the seats on my 2001 LX470 so I thought I’d provide a couple of tips that helped me and things I wish I’d known going in. I chose to go with leather from LeatherSeats.com after doing research in advance and narrowing it down to Ridies, LSeat, and LeatherSeats.com. LeatherSeats was the most expensive option of the 3, but had the best reviews and comments on discussion boards, and the pre-sales responsiveness was excellent.

The quality of the leather and the color matching for the LeatherSeats was very good, however while installing the seat bottom on the passenger seat, at the step in the process where I had to stretch the leather over the bottom of the seat frame to attach the J hook to the frame, I noticed that the stitching attaching the plastic J hook to the leather was loose and hadn’t been properly knotted. This caused the stitching and the J hook to loosen as I pulled the J hook over the frame. Since I’d already attached the seat bottom with the hog rings and the seat heater pad with the tag gun, the idea of having to remove everything and start over with a replacement seat bottom did not fill me with excitement (it might help to imagine a cartoon steam whistle coming out of the side of my head).

So I sent an email to LeatherSeats.com explaining the situation, and to their credit, they responded quickly with both a manual fix to the problem, as well as a replacement seat bottom should the manual fix fail at some point down the line. So I would give LeatherSeats.com 5 stars for customer service and after sales support, however I would encourage anyone buying seat covers to thoroughly inspect the seat covers before beginning the installation process. I would also rate LeatherSeats.com very highly for color match and appearance of the seats.

For tips, the first thing I would mention is that this job takes time. I estimate it took me 7 hours to do the passenger side, with 2 hours of learning curve. So I’m guessing it will take me 5 hours to do the driver’s side. Stretching the leather over the seat back was reasonably easy, but the seat bottom required a lot of effort and maneuvering particularly with the front of the seat. I placed a 40 pound dumbbell on the front of the seat bottom frame (with the seat upside down) to help compress the foam while I stretched the leather over the front of the frame to attach the front J hook. This helped compress the seat foam while leaving me with 2 free hands to pull the leather over and attach it.

The other thing to note is that the clips that attach the top of the seat back board to the back of the seats were impossible to remove without breaking. I found a video on Youtube that said the best way to go is to pull the side of the seatback board away from the seat back and then push the clip out of it’s “socket” on the seatback board with a dowel or a pick tool. I’m going to give that a try with the driver’s side seat.

Finally, this job is hard on the hands with cutting the old hog rings and installing the new ones. I found mini bolt cutters at Harbor Freight that made cutting the old rings a lot easier. For installing the new hog rings, a good set of hog ring pliers, and the longer the handles the better are necessary. Here’s some before and after pictures as well as some pictures of the bolt cutters and hog ring pliers.

View attachment 4128082

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Welcome to the party! The rear 60 of the 60/40 is harder. With time patient and thinking it through I managed with a friend to do the rear seats. The seat belt was the issue … in the middle. If I recall I disassembled the retractor … allowing the end to come out. That helped a lot.

 

[Malleus]

Oddly, the "60", upper and lower, side of the 60/40 seats is still available from Lexus, as are both 3rd row seat covers. In gray anyway.