My leather looks bad. Has anyone redone their leather seats?
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gm350reratliff
New member
Check out the leather kits from Roadwire. Find a good shop to install it for you if you are not familiar with leather or don't have the tools. Most of the OEM leather is crap anyway.
KellyJ said:
I hear you. The rear seat and passenger seat are ok but the seat on the drivers side is "stretched" out and the quality of leather suks. My fiances 3series BMW has nice soft leather. Her car is 5 years old and the leather still looks awesome and is top quality.
Im actually thinking about doing all new quality leather but I have no idea of the price. If anything, Id like to get my drivers seat fixed/restored. The "wing" on the left side of the seat that you must roll over to get out of the car has lots of strange little wrinkles in it.
Barefoot said:
Not sure about OEM or not but It's a loaded SE with sunroof, JBL 10 speaker system, etc. I bought it off a lease so not sure if its stock or not but regardless, I really want to know if anyone has had their leather seats redone and how much it costs? Also, did they use a quality leather or just take it to Toyota?
Loki_4Runner
New member
The only 4Runners to my knowledge that get on the boat from Japan with leather in them are the Limiteds. Everything else ships from Japan with cloth.
However, you can order an SR5 or SE 4Runner with leather. This just means that the distributor will install the leather when it gets to port. Or you can take any 4Runner that the dealer has and get them to install leather. But either way, an SR5 or SE with leather has what amounts to after-market leather. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
In terms of leather recovering, I went with Katzkins. My understanding is that the base model katzkins (quite a bit of vinyl used in the production; backs of the front seats and most of the back seats are vinyl) is what you get if you "order" an SR5 or SE with leather. I got the upgrade level which is mostly leather (I don't care for the way vinyl ages). I did a combination install with some other things, but I could have done the whole install from my upholsterer for $1300. You can find a premium leather katzkin kit online for about $900; you can probably find someone to install it for $400 or so. I can provide links if desired.
I really like the quality of the Katzkins. I went with light gray. It's actually very close to slate colored rather than light gray. Should be a good balance between heat rejection and ability to say looking nice (my experience with light leather is that it gets dirty quickly).
Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm happy to answer them.
However, you can order an SR5 or SE 4Runner with leather. This just means that the distributor will install the leather when it gets to port. Or you can take any 4Runner that the dealer has and get them to install leather. But either way, an SR5 or SE with leather has what amounts to after-market leather. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
In terms of leather recovering, I went with Katzkins. My understanding is that the base model katzkins (quite a bit of vinyl used in the production; backs of the front seats and most of the back seats are vinyl) is what you get if you "order" an SR5 or SE with leather. I got the upgrade level which is mostly leather (I don't care for the way vinyl ages). I did a combination install with some other things, but I could have done the whole install from my upholsterer for $1300. You can find a premium leather katzkin kit online for about $900; you can probably find someone to install it for $400 or so. I can provide links if desired.
I really like the quality of the Katzkins. I went with light gray. It's actually very close to slate colored rather than light gray. Should be a good balance between heat rejection and ability to say looking nice (my experience with light leather is that it gets dirty quickly).
Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm happy to answer them.
Thanks for the info. Is there anywhere I can go to actually see/feel the texture of the leather ill be getting installed? I want to know what Im getting if I redo it and Id love some "quality" soft leather if possible. The price $1300 is about what i expected to pay and wouldnt want to pay much more.
Are there auto upholstery shops specifically that do this time of thing? Thanks in advance. Im looking into Katzkins now but dont want to order until I feel the quality. Thanks
Are there auto upholstery shops specifically that do this time of thing? Thanks in advance. Im looking into Katzkins now but dont want to order until I feel the quality. Thanks
Loki_4Runner
New member
Katzkins has a pretty wide distribution network. I'd contact them and get a list of distributors in your area. Or just call around to some upholstery shops in your area.
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I recently conditioned the sh#t out of my seats to soften them up a bit. It's really just my drivers side Left. (Kinda of that wing you roll off of getting in and out) that's all wrinkled. Ill look into it. i spoke to customer relations at the dealer and had I know about 1000miles ago, it wouldve been covered under the warranty!!!!!!!
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