Cracked leather options

[Nunyabiz]

ALL leather seats are basically crap unless they are in a Rolls Royce or similar $100K+ vehicle not just Toyota.

They should have offered the option to get the Special Edition Cloth seats which IMO are FAR better than any leather in every way.

Mine are over 9 years old and except for a couple of wrinkles still look like new, cooler than leather in the summer, warmer in winter, you don't slide around when offroad and they last 10X longer.
I would pay extra to get the SE cloth.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I am going to get this replacement from the ebay seller next month. looking forward to it but have to save up.

leather is great, I dont know why people with seats constantly post "cloth is better" in threads about leather. it is not like people with leather seats post around exclaiming that cloth sucks. I have leather and prefer it but if you like cloth more that is fine too.

forgive my grammar, sent via droid.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I am going to get this replacement from the ebay seller next month. looking forward to it but have to save up.

leather is great, I dont know why people with seats constantly post "cloth is better" in threads about leather. it is not like people with leather seats post around exclaiming that cloth sucks. I have leather and prefer it but if you like cloth more that is fine too.

forgive my grammar, sent via droid.

Too each his own of course, but "people with seats constantly post "cloth is better"" there might just be a valid reason for that or people would not "constantly" be saying it.

Personally between myself, my wife, several friends and family totaling some 30 or more cars over many many years I have yet to see a set of leather seats last more than 10 years before they start completely falling apart. In fact that is what this thread is talking about leather seats that fell apart and needed recovering.
My old Jeep had cloth seats and was treated like a Jeep, pretty rough, top down, rained in it several times, dirty muddy dawgs jumping in you name it. The cloth seats were 17 years old and still in great shape except for a couple of stains.
My 4 runner which is new to me but little over 9 years old has cloth seats and are basically like new still.
My wife Lexus has leather seats and we treat it like a Lexus, I clean the seats with leather cleaner, use leather conditioner on them, put a sun shade in the windshield and the damn things cracked years ago and it is only 11 years old with far less miles on it than the 4 Runner.
The parts that cracked were of course the "vinyl" so far, which all leather seats are part vinyl for the past several decades unless you are talking about a very high end vehicle.

Odds are high that the OP that just had his leather seats recovered with leather, those seats will fall apart before my already 9 year old cloth ones will.
Just the way it is, if you prefer leather then thats great, but the fact is that leather seats just don't last unless they are VERY high end.

But like you say, what ever you prefer is whatever you prefer.
I just stated what I prefer and why is all, did not mean to offend.

 

[trailmix]

glad i stumbled across this thread, i just decided to check ebay for covers minutes before finding it and im glad to hear they are a great match and fit. Ill be ordering some here within the next couple weeks cause my new 3rd gen i just picked up has cracked and torn leather on both front bottoms.

 

[VOLSFAN]

seat covers

I went with Wet Oakole set covers and could not be happier with them. They are worth ever penny IMHO. 7 out of 10 people think they are custom seats.

 

[93toy]

Guys, I finally ordered the leather covers from Mr. Lee (as seen on EBAY). I will be putting them on in about a week. I got the seat base and seat back for both front seats. They look incredible sitting here!! I'll post before and after pics when I'm done.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Guys, I finally ordered the leather covers from Mr. Lee (as seen on EBAY). I will be putting them on in about a week. I got the seat base and seat back for both front seats. They look incredible sitting here!! I'll post before and after pics when I'm done.

Awesome. Let us know how it goes.

Can you post a link to the ones you bought?

 

[BrianSD_42]

I thought about doing the wet oakleys but then I realized the cost $250 for the black and tan (is that right?) and dont want to spend that much.

the ONLY cracked leather on my seats is the drivers side. despite the posts here I would not trade it for cloth, quite the opposite actually. my interior is near mint, all the seats but the drivers are in impecible shape.

I plan to get the ebay seat replacement, the seller is legit. the pics above look incredible and only a slight diff in color. that shading difference is probably due to the dirt caked into the leather.

I have understand nunya's point that only lexus and benz leather is good but dont agree. I have been in plenty of those vehicles and many had cracked terrible leather - I was a valet for 2 summers while in college. IMO the toyota leather is very very nice, especially if has been taken care of. it all about how you treat it. I have had my windows tinted for 7 years and always apply leather conditioner when I wash my truck. As far as hot seats go, well since I have tint and usually,crack my rear window and sunroof, I dont have any issues with seat temps.

forgive spelling, sent from droid.

 

[Perrone]

I know this may be a little off-topic, but my leather is looking pretty bad too and I don't like leather anyway so I was thinking about getting cloth to replace it. Anyone have suggestions for replacing the leather with cloth?

 

[Nunyabiz]

I thought about doing the wet oakleys but then I realized the cost $250 for the black and tan (is that right?) and dont want to spend that much.

the ONLY cracked leather on my seats is the drivers side. despite the posts here I would not trade it for cloth, quite the opposite actually. my interior is near mint, all the seats but the drivers are in impecible shape.

I plan to get the ebay seat replacement, the seller is legit. the pics above look incredible and only a slight diff in color. that shading difference is probably due to the dirt caked into the leather.

I have understand nunya's point that only lexus and benz leather is good but dont agree. I have been in plenty of those vehicles and many had cracked terrible leather - I was a valet for 2 summers while in college. IMO the toyota leather is very very nice, especially if has been taken care of. it all about how you treat it. I have had my windows tinted for 7 years and always apply leather conditioner when I wash my truck. As far as hot seats go, well since I have tint and usually,crack my rear window and sunroof, I dont have any issues with seat temps.

forgive spelling, sent from droid.

Might re read what I said then, because ALL leather is crap to me "except" on VERY high end vehicles like ROLLS ROYCE, BENTLEY etc.

My wifes Lexus leather seats even after being treated like they were made of rice paper started to fall apart in less than 8 years.
I have conditioned them from the day we bought it and did no good at all, also use a sun shade. Our back seat looks pretty good still but it gets virtually no use and very little sun.
Benz is no better, if you paid less than $200,000.00 for it then chances are very good the leather seats wont last 10 years tops because they are not all leather. Most are vinyl, Pleather & leather mix.
That is what is falling apart on my wifes Lexus front seats, the vinyl/pleather parts around the sides, now the ignorant thing is just how much would it have cost them to just use real leather on those parts? Maybe an extra $15? Inexcusable especially since you usually pay a premium for leather seats.

For instance, Rolls Royce leather "seat covers" not the real thing but just Ebay replicas are around $3000.00 even on Ebay.
Those would probably be decent leather seats, but directly from Rolls Royce and the real mcCoy I wouldn't even know what they would cost, but I bet $10K plus just to recover the seats.

I guess I just have a bad taste in my mouth from allegedly leather seats.
Cost more, don't last nearly as long, not as comfortable, slide around on them off road, harder to take care of and on & on. Every set I have ever had fall apart and look like somethins arse in no time.

 

[93toy]

Awesome. Let us know how it goes.

Can you post a link to the ones you bought?

Sorry man, I just contacted him directly and ordered, didn't use EBAY. But he sells the package I bought on there- both bases, both backs.

Nunyabiz- I agree with you in a lot of ways. I had your exact 4runner seats in my 97 Tacoma. (Swapped them out of a wrecked 02) I LOVED them. Never seemed to age or deteriorate.

As a part time detailer, nothing drives me crazier than cracked leather. However, when you buy a 4runner (used) with leather, then what? Ours has the oak interior. So finding OEM replacement cloth like yours isn't an option. And to the best of my knowledge there was NEVER a 3rd gen oak cloth option, or am I wrong?

I had Wet Okoles (bought them new) in a 93 pickup one time. Fit like a glove and looked incredible! (Black and gray) But the first time they looked a little dingy/soiled, I was done. Steam cleaning isn't recommended. So I bought the whiz bang cleaner from Wet Okole, didn't have great results. Would not buy them again because of the cleaning experience.

So while I agree with you on the good points of cloth, when you have oak leather, I think the options are limited.

Incidentally, I asked Bruce to send me a swatch of the leather before I ordered and he was more than hapy to do so. I will say you'd be hard pressed to find a better color or grain match.

 

[93toy]

Got mine installed!

First pic shows passenger seat done, drivers seat original. You can't really see how cracked the bolsters are, but they were shot as well as the entire base of the drivers seat. Old leather was also discolored and almost had a shiny look to it.

Second pic shows them both completed. Note how the passenger seat leather smoothed out (specifically on the seat back) after a bake in the sun. Also, the headrests are original, so that gives you an idea of color/grain match.

And reinstalled. Note the color match to the original rear seat and original door panels.

Initial impressions: Took me about 7 hours to do it in my basement. It's not rocket science, but some of those hog rings were really hard to reach with my big hands!

Bruce Lee's (made the covers) work is VERY impressive. I'll be anxious to see how they wear, but I must say the workmanship is top notch! This is the closest thing you'll find to rewinding the calendar to the year 2000!

Already gave them a good coat of Lexol conditioner, I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

Benz is no better, if you paid less than $200,000.00 for it then chances are very good the leather seats wont last 10 years tops because they are not all leather. Most are vinyl, Pleather & leather mix.

Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell are you on?

You can get ANY Mercedes-Benz vehicle with Leather. Be it a C-Class or any other class.

There are 4 common options for Mercedes-Benz seating arrangements (in the US). You can get MB Tex, which is what you're calling "pleather," which is not leather, but an imitation leather that still looks and feels great, but is much more durable. Any vehicle equipped standard with this option is strictly for cost reduction. Leather is, in fact, a highly purchased option.

You can get leather in ANY Mercedes-Benz you'd like. Real leather, and good leather. No offense, but it will kick anything out of Lexus or Toyota's lots. Any leather interior not cared for or left in the sun, be it a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maybach, or Mercedes-Benz, will crack and fade. It's cow skin, it's not magically durable based on price.

The most expensive option is Designo Leather. Designo is a company that takes Mercedes-Benz vehicles before they're sold and reupholsters them with fine leather.

The last is cloth, which is insanely rare. I've seen it in some ML's, though.

Sorry bud. Whether it's a $40,000 C350, a $70,000 E550, a $215,000 S65 AMG, or a $545,000 Maybach Zeppelin, they'll all have options for the best leathers to be equipped in a vehicle.

I just took a quick venture outside to show you a few interiors.

Here's a Maybach 57S. A $450,000 standard equipped car, it has the same quality leather you'll get in a well equipped C300, C350, E350 and so on.

57S:

CL65 AMG: ($215k+)

E350 Cabriolet, equipped with MB Tex. Still feels and looks great. Will last longer, too, contrary to you saying they'll wear out faster.

Designo equipped Pre-owned 2009 SL550 (Barely $110k new). 2 years and 25,000 miles.

Even this Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster we have on our lot:

So, all in all, Mercedes-Benz leathers are one of the best leathers available.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell are you on?

You can get ANY Mercedes-Benz vehicle with Leather. Be it a C-Class or any other class.

There are 4 common options for Mercedes-Benz seating arrangements (in the US). You can get MB Tex, which is what you're calling "pleather," which is not leather, but an imitation leather that still looks and feels great, but is much more durable. Any vehicle equipped standard with this option is strictly for cost reduction. Leather is, in fact, a highly purchased option.

You can get leather in ANY Mercedes-Benz you'd like. Real leather, and good leather. No offense, but it will kick anything out of Lexus or Toyota's lots. Any leather interior not cared for or left in the sun, be it a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maybach, or Mercedes-Benz, will crack and fade. It's cow skin, it's not magically durable based on price.

The most expensive option is Designo Leather. Designo is a company that takes Mercedes-Benz vehicles before they're sold and reupholsters them with fine leather.

The last is cloth, which is insanely rare. I've seen it in some ML's, though.

Sorry bud. Whether it's a $40,000 C350, a $70,000 E550, a $215,000 S65 AMG, or a $545,000 Maybach Zeppelin, they'll all have options for the best leathers to be equipped in a vehicle.

I just took a quick venture outside to show you a few interiors.

Here's a Maybach 57S. A $450,000 standard equipped car, it has the same quality leather you'll get in a well equipped C300, C350, E350 and so on.

So, all in all, Mercedes-Benz leathers are one of the best leathers available.

Didn't say you cant not get leather in a Benz just said they aren't really any better than any other leather seats, be it Lexus/Toyota, or any standard American car, my old 1977 Porsche 930 Turbo had decent leather seats but it was a 1977 car.

The only decent leather I have seen in cars newer than 1990 are in insanely expensive vehicles like Bentleys & Rolls. Basically you just said about the same thing except you seem to think the lower end Benz has great leather which they do not, some over the 100+K mark might but that IS MY WHOLE POINT.
You can climb down off your pedestal now, I just don't like Leather in any car that I can afford is all.
Especially in a truck that I offroad on occasion, cloth to me is just far superior to leather in many different ways.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

Didn't say you cant not get leather in a Benz just said they aren't really any better than any other leather seats, be it Lexus/Toyota, or any standard American car, my old 1977 Porsche 930 Turbo had decent leather seats but it was a 1977 car.

Wtf are you talking about? I spent my last post describing that you CAN get leather in ANY Mercedes! If you're even trying to compare a 77 930 and a domestic waste of an interior to a current Mercedes-Benz leather, you're on the wrong planet!

The only decent leather I have seen in cars newer than 1990 are in insanely expensive vehicles like Bentleys & Rolls. Basically you just said about the same thing except you seem to think the lower end Benz has great leather which they do not, some over the 100+K mark might but that IS MY WHOLE POINT.
You can climb down off your pedestal now, I just don't like Leather in any car that I can afford is all.
Especially in a truck that I offroad on occasion, cloth to me is just far superior to leather in many different ways.

Again, you're completely missing the point. You're completely oblivious to what I posted. I suppose you're Mr. High Roller, got a Continental GT and a Drophead Coupe in your garage to compare to your 4Runner! We're not talking about what interior is better to offroad in (though a stock G550 will DESTROY any stock Toyota on the trail, ask Thai ). We're debating the quality of LEATHER INTERIORS.

You can get the same quality of leather in a $500k Maybach in an ML350 SUV if you want it. IT'S AN OPTION, and it is very high quality stuff, much like the stuff you'll find in a Bentley or Rolls Royce. Best of all, ML350's, even well optioned with REAL leather seats and 4Matic all wheel drive, don't exceed $55k! You're dreaming when you say $100k! You don't have to afford to wipe your ass with hundreds to afford a car with amazing leather.

So yes, you can go to your local dealership and buy a LOWER END MERCEDES and HAVE BETTER LEATHER THAN AN OUTDATED SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE FROM 2002. Fact. Hell, you can have the same leather from a freakin' $230,000 S65 AMG in your $50,000 "lower end" E350. It just all comes down to if you want to spend the money and actually open your brain to new info.

You're talking to a guy who makes a living ordering inventory of high end sports cars and extremely expensive luxury vehicles (some of which exceed the value of a 2 story house!) I've got a 2011 G55 I've recently added to inventory with a Matte Black designo exterior and black designo leather interior, and even it's leather can be had in a base model ML350 (which I have multiple of)! Hand-stitched and absolutely gorgeous, in base cars worth $50k or luxury beasts worth $500k. The E-class is now available will all designo interior trims in Coupe, Sedan, and Cabriolet models. You bet your ass that it's a popular car priced well under $100k.

Designo Porcelain leather and Piano Lacquer trim, shown in the CL class.

If you still can't push that through your skull :redbrick:, then have fun being stubborn! It's not 1977 anymore! I can't stand your type, always defending something they say with no proof. For gods sake, why would anyone pay extra for a leather interior that isn't on par with an affordable Japanese SUV from 10 years ago? That's right, they wouldn't!

 

[Ophidian]

Anyone have a link to this "Lee" guy's ebay listings? TIA!

 

[Nunyabiz]

Wow I think someone needs to take a pill and relax.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I AM BOUNCING THE THREAD TOPIC BACK INTO THE DISCUSSION

I am thinking of buying this leather replacement. I will post my pics as soon as I have it installed at the end of summer.

96-02 toyota 4runner bottom leather seat cover tan | eBay


:flamethrwoer2:

First pic shows passenger seat done, drivers seat original. You can't really see how cracked the bolsters are, but they were shot as well as the entire base of the drivers seat. Old leather was also discolored and almost had a shiny look to it.

Second pic shows them both completed. Note how the passenger seat leather smoothed out (specifically on the seat back) after a bake in the sun. Also, the headrests are original, so that gives you an idea of color/grain match.

And reinstalled. Note the color match to the original rear seat and original door panels.

Initial impressions: Took me about 7 hours to do it in my basement. It's not rocket science, but some of those hog rings were really hard to reach with my big hands!

Bruce Lee's (made the covers) work is VERY impressive. I'll be anxious to see how they wear, but I must say the workmanship is top notch! This is the closest thing you'll find to rewinding the calendar to the year 2000!

Already gave them a good coat of Lexol conditioner, I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[01KY4R]

I've been using my driver side seat bottom everyday for 5 months now and it still looks brand new. That ebay seller does great work.

 

[theizzardking]

i still wanted to say how leather was better then cloth but oh well, back on topic it is, lol,


so in that sense, what are people paying for install in their area? I'm not doing the hog rings/pliers thing again, i had weeks of that crap on various old cars and just not something i care to do.