Worth it? Leather upgrade at 149000 miles

[Johns06yota]

Im relatively new to the forum but I have done a lot of research over time and am considering to do a leather upgrade for my 06 4runner. I have replaced all the fluids except for the transmission fluid, have replaced the alternator, all filters, battery, brake system is new, all pulleys and tensioners on engine are new. The car is in overall great condition but am trying to figure out if the upgrade to leather would be worth it.

Any suggestions would be really helpful!

also I would be doing the work myself and would be replacing the original factory cloth if I do it. Here are some pictures of my rig to give an idea.

 

[Crave4runner]

150k? Thats nothing man... I would upgrade if thats what you wanted. The truck is just getting broken in. Looks clean, upgrade.

 

[TacoRunn0517]

At that mileage maker, one can safely assume there is a lot of life left in the Runner. If you want it, and know who can do an excellent job, it will be worth it to you.

 

[SAC-CA-Runner]

Why not do Katzkin? In the TW Group Buy forum there is a thread and you can get a quote on whatever you want. I'm going to upgrade mine in a couple of months after I get all my other stuff sorted. My bolster padding in my driver seat is gone so if i'm replacing those I may as well recover. Not to mention my SE seat cover is ripped from previous owner.

 

[Johns06yota]

Appreciate the replies!

But yeah I do my best to keep it clean haha. I had looked at several different options. One being the Katzkin leather, another was leatherseats.com, and the last was clazzio but decided that paying 600 for slip of seat covers was not going to happen. At the moment I am leaning towards leatherseats.com because I could pay 789 for black leather with a contrast fawn stitching.

 

[pDubs]

I have read a lot of reviews on this site for Clazzio leather seats being the best replacement seat covers. My 4th gen only has 82k miles on it and is in way worse shape than yours. I would absolutely say it's worth it if you want leather.

Clazzio Seat Covers - #1 Trusted Site - Customizable Leather Seat Covers

 

[Johns06yota]

Appreciate the input! I'll have to go give the clazzio covers another look

 

[earl84]

I don’t personally like the feel of leather, but if you like it, you should absolutely do it. I really like the look of leather, for sure. One thing I’d make sure you do while you’re in that far to the seats is add seat heat if not already installed. I did that a couple months ago, and it is SOOOO nice.

 

[JeffMerr]

I wish I could do the opposite and replace my leather with cloth.

 

[bassmacka]

I think leather is a good idea. It will make the interior brand new looking . what I would do is go ahead and take the seats out when you do the leather, drop them off at a place to have the new seat covers installed. This is going to give you a chance to take out the carpet and insulate the floor with dynamat or other rubber sound deadening material. Seats dont come out that often so its a good chance to get 2 birds stoned at once. Then get weathertech with the leather. " I recommend black leather"

 

[RAD4Runner]

Truck looks clean!

Depends on how you want to use your car.

Like leather shoes, leather will last longer and will withstand wear better than fabric but it needs to be taken good care of; You need to try to keep sun and sweat of of it (salt kills leather), or promptly wipe it off, regularly clean it (cloth moistened with clean water, then wiped dry is fine), and moisturized (I like to use Lexol on leather)

Leather feels and looks luxurious so it's great when you're dressed up., but it does not feel comfortable when your bare skin touches it (i.e., when wearing shorts in the summer) or sitting on it cold in the winter).

If you're gonna use as it a real S.U.V - a workhorse for overlanding, outdoor sports, camping, hauling sports equipment, and wet passengers - you're either gonna have to clean it more often or cover it. If you're gonna cover it, what's the point of getting leather?

Therefore, in my opinion:

If using it as Soccer-mom Utility Vehicle, go leather.
If using it as a workhorse, keep the old upholstery or get less expensive fabric and get a rugged cover for it.
If it came new with leather, cover the leather when getting rough and dirty.

 

[BMeister]

I'm almost at 200k and about to replace my seat with leather covers. The driver side has seen better days.

 

[CookieRoe]

My DD 07 Civic sedan has 240,000 miles.

Just finished installing (help of a professional. He did the front seats, and I completely did the rears).

Seeing how your 4Runner is totally clean, go for it!

Good luck!

 

[ThShowzOver]

Looks clean man.

 

[Johns06yota]

Thanks everyone that has given advice! It is very much appreciated! These are all great suggestions. I was planning on adding the heated seats if I went through with it along with probably adding some sound deadening in the floor. And for my vehicle its not really been off road so I don't worry about the leather getting that worn. I would be sure to get a leather conditioning kit. I have been making some calls so once I decide the direction I am planning on going I will let you all know!

 

[Johns06yota]

Also does anyone have any color suggestions? I really like the idea of black leather but I'd love to hear what you all have to say about it.

 

[Elan750]

Well from a different perspective, who cares if your sitting on a cold dead cow. 700 bucks is good money toward getting your suspension upgraded. a better ride feels much better than leather.

 

[Johns06yota]

Well from a different perspective, who cares if your sitting on a cold dead cow. 700 bucks is good money toward getting your suspension upgraded. a better ride feels much better than leather.

I may do suspension in a couple years. For now it is fine for me. I did a 2 inch leveling kit up front and before I bought it the previous owner 4 years ago had the suspension replaced with oem parts. I may later look into some bilstein 5100's in the future though.

 

[Johns06yota]

Update:

I just ordered a kit from leatherseats.com and will be posting a in depth thread when it comes in and I am able to install it. It will cover the entire process along with how to install aftermarket seat heaters in the factory location. It will be several weeks before the kit is ready but will update you all soon!

 

[simple]

Update:

I just ordered a kit from leatherseats.com and will be posting a in depth thread when it comes in and I am able to install it. It will cover the entire process along with how to install aftermarket seat heaters in the factory location. It will be several weeks before the kit is ready but will update you all soon!

Nice, please do so. I’ve been eyeing a kit on there for a few weeks now. I have factory leather but the driver seat is pretty bad and the back has tears. I have a sport set of cloth OEM seat covers I was going to swap out, but maybe some perforated leather would be nice instead. Did you go with the Felix, premium or 100%?

Thanks