golfdawg11

I've got a 2011 IS250 with heated and cooled passenger and driver side seats, so they are perforated. the driver seat was already showing a LOT of wear when I bought it in May, 2013, with only 30K on it, and now the driver seat back ripped and is torn. The seat bottom doesn't look like it's going to last much longer either. Rather disappointed that it wore out that quickly, as I got leather conditioner when I bought the car, and when it wasn't parked in a covered spot, I kept a windshield shade on it anytime in the hot sun (since that's in Houston TX, that's about 8-9 months of the year).

I had the driver seat redone, but it was a bad job. Tore after 5 months in the same place. So I want to get it done right this time, for either keeping it myself or if I sell it. To complicate matters. I got some water in the floorboards during the Tax Day flood here, and they said it had some water underneath on the electrics underneath the seat, so I got a brand new passenger seat. That sounds good, but now it *really* shows how poorly the driver's side seat is.

I wondered if others have had the problems with the perforated seats wearing and tearing early, and what do you do as far as fixing? I'm looking at another well-rated body shop / upholstery shop, and the guy said it would be hard to match the color. He said about $650 for real leather for the entire seat, which nearly caused me to fall down. I've even looked around for a used seat, but haven't seen anything in good enough shape to purchase.

Thanks for any help!

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Alright... I have to ask... what are you doing to that seat?

I have never seen a vehicle that new with holes ripped in it as a result of normal use.

Heck, my IS-F is a 2008 and the seats are as good as new.

VTsuckah

iTrader: (1)

The side bolsters look to be in decent shape, which typically are the high wear areas. By the looks of the larger rip, something punctured the foam padding like a knife of sorts. My 2010 black leather has the standard slight creasing on the side bolsters, but the perforated section looks brand new. What you've shown is uncharacteristic with what has been shown on this forum. Puzzling...

golfdawg11

The picture shows the "new" upholstery, that lasted all of five months. This area is the exact same spot that was torn on the original leather. If you look at the bottom seat cushion (which *hasn't* been redone), the area near the front where the left leg rests is also nearly torn and already worn out and cracked. It's just a matter of time for it to go also. No knife, I don't wear any belts with studs or metal pieces on them. And this was already worn somewhat when I bought the car at 30K, when it was about 2 years old.

And, yes, I'm VERY disappointed that the leather wore out this quickly. I've owned two other cars with leather, one a Mitsubishi Diamante, (remember those?) and the leather never tore when I sold it after 8.5 years. And another car I had the leather was fine after 7 years. And even though I had the Extended Warranty because it was a CPO, it didn't cover the seats.

I"m sure because it's perforated for the heating and cooling (which is a joke for me), that may cause it to wear more quickly. But to buy a Lexus and have the leather seats worn out after 70K miles and 4.5 years is very disappointing.

Any recommendations as to what's the best fix? Try to find a used seat at salvage or online? Bite the bullet and pay $650 for real leather upholster? With the new passenger seat, I can't even sell the car until lit's repaired, so I have to get it done, no matter what.

Clutchless

Try ebay or rancho cordova used lexus parts for a used seat or seat cover. I have seen just the leather outer skin for sale.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-SEAT-L...xWAujw&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-OEM-LEXUS-IS250-IS350-SEDAN-IVORY-LEATHER-SEAT-COVER-HEAT-LH-DRIVER-2014-/281572780954?fits=Make%3ALexus%7CModel%3AIS250&hash=item418f0bab9a:g:XisAAOSwnNBXbI0X&vxp=mtr

golfdawg11

I've been watching eBay, and have a few on that link on my Watch List. Still haven't got a good match yet. I'll check the Rancho Cordova site also.

golfdawg11

And I"d LOVE to find just the leather outer skin for sale. Checked Rancho Cordova and nothing there either. Based on what an upholstery shop wants to charge here in Houston, I think I'm better off being patient and finding something on Ebay or another salvage site.

golfdawg11

I thought the seats were more worn than normal when I bought the car at 30K in May, 2013, and it's a 2011. I have looked pretty much everywhere ,and I did find on one site they actually stated that the seat is a highly sought after part. This tells me the leather on these seats are wearing abnormally fast. I've had cars that were nowhere in the class of Lexus that had seats that lasted 7-8 years without tears or cracks. This one made it about 4.5 years.

NicoleM

golfdawg11

I posted the original post about my leather seats wearing out after about 30,000 miles and 3-4 years. It's not covered under the original warranty, which makes no sense. I had the driver's side reupholstered, but made a poor choice to do the job. I looked online for quite some time to attempt to find a salvage seat on eBay and elsewhere, but had no luck. My guess is that this is VERY common, and people buy any salvage seats in the light tan color as soon as they come on the secondary market. I *thought* I found one and bought it for about $500, but it was actually a light gray color, though the pictures made it seem it was the light tan. The seller was not sympathetic, and I had the seat installed and drove it that way for a time. I just recently had the original driver's seat reupholstered with vinyl for $500. Leather would have been $700. The auto upholstery shop is very reputable in the Houston area (a friend of mine had his entire Mustang Cobra, about 20 years old, renovated from top to bottom there, and they did a great job). It was very difficult to match the original color, which the shop said was not uncommon, as the auto manufacturers try to make their colors unique. Still, the shop finally found another supplier that could match the original color. I had it done, and it looks great, vinyl or not! I'll note also that the passenger seat that was replaced due to water damage (and original Lexus passenger seat) is also deteriorating on the side next to the driver's side, even with me using leather cleaning and conditioner fluids (you can try that frequently to see if it will stop the deterioration). Bottom line, at least on these perforated seats. Lexus uses poor quality leather, They won't cover it under the original warranty ( I have no idea why not) and they won't admit it's inferior or improve it. You'll have to do like me, do a search on eBay, but I think you're going to find it difficult to find a matching seat. I'd try to find a good auto reupholster shop and get prices for vinyl and leather. I just had to suck it up and get it done. Because I want to sell my car in about another 1.5 years, and I can't sell it with the seat leather all torn up. I wish I could give you better news, but there wasn't any for me.

BruceinFla

What Ceramic are you using?
Bruce in Fl too