Seat Leather(ette) Cracking

[ski_sa]

The car is 3 years old and out of warranty. All other seats look like brand new except driver's seat (only bottom left side). Is this leather or leatherette? Also, is it worth buying leather/leatherette repair kit for $20 to repair this? What are the other options.

Thank you

[Titansaab27]

i believe that specific piece is pleather, leatherette... the only parts of the seat that are genuine leather i think are the center seat panels. someone correct me if i'm wrong

[Fmr12B]

TitanSaab is correct - leatherette/vinyl.

Only 2 pieces of the seat are leather. The lower back and the part your butt sits on.

[Vectorized]

I believe the 2003s are fully upholstered in leather (including armrests and door cars) except the back panel and the seat sides. 2004+ are considered leather "appointed" upholstery.

[ski_sa]

Thanks for replies. Does anyone think the leatherette repair kit can fix this?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Fmr12B

TitanSaab is correct - leatherette/vinyl.

Only 2 pieces of the seat are leather. The lower back and the part your butt sits on.

[Energy_AZ]

I dont see why not?

Perhaps give it a shot and share your thoughts/experiences? I am sure several people may find it useful

[Ridenbaugh]

Yes, if you try it out let us know. My seat is not cracked but its almost as if the color of the leather has worn off and left an off white/gray... Seems pretty cheap for a car that only has 60,000k on it... but who knows maybe the previous owner got a little wild on that sucker!

[JMarkert]

I'm gonna say 'no' . I tried on on a former car and it was hard to get a good match. Even worse, that piece flexes a lot so I think it won't hold too well.

[Fmr12B]

I'd contact a few scrap-yards and buy a replacement seat or take it into a upholestry shop and see what they say about repair.

[JMarkert]

I wonder if anyone sells just the lower seat skin? We're all gonna need one in a few years. I don't think I'd ever want the whole set since the upper part contains the airbag and I wouldn't want to mess with it. But getting the lower off is probably pretty easy.

[DanS]

That would repair pretty easy with a vinyl repair kit. Even if you just fill the cracks and force some underneath, it wouldn't look too bad.

[kevinr1916]

Originally Posted by JMarkert

I wonder if anyone sells just the lower seat skin? We're all gonna need one in a few years. I don't think I'd ever want the whole set since the upper part contains the airbag and I wouldn't want to mess with it. But getting the lower off is probably pretty easy.

It's no big deal to take the seats apart. The airbag is not part of the upholstery, it's a module attached to the seat frame. The WIS instructions for removing the seat are to disconnect the battery and wait a couple minutes. While some caution is needed, the airbags are not exactly vials of nitroglycerin either. You have to remove the seat to take out either the upper or lower anyway.

I had my seats completely apart to install seat heaters last weekend. I couldn't find a left-over '08 Sportcombi with both seat heat and a six speed manual, it was easier to add the seat heat than to add the transmission.

-Kevin

[Dave 37]

I have a 2005 9-3SS sedan (saloon) in Linear trim. In some countries, this may mean clothes seats but U.S. versions have leather. In my seat, that area is leather, not vinyl. However, there are other areas that are vinyl.

If you feel it carefully, you can tell what is vinyl. Just touch the known vinyl areas to compare. In my car, that includes the rear center seat, front sides, one of the lateral or medial panels like in the original poster's photos except perhaps on the other side. I know my piece of the seat shown in the photo is leather because it is starting to wrinkle and I put Zymol Leather Conditioner on it 2-3 times last summer and then put a sheepskin seat mat over it to protect it from the sun and possibly distribute weight a tiny bit.

However, looking at the photo, it could very well be vinyl.

[Ravenous666]

I got a 2008 9-3 Vector and the whole front of the seat is leather not just the center part. Only the outside and back is vinyl.