adi

Hi everyone, after a lot of research finally I found leather seat cover replacement on ebay.
A while ago I requested a price from the local lexus dealer and the price was close to $3000(??) for each seat. Then I called leatherseats.com and the best price they gave me was $1000 for the 2 front seats and center console. I almost pulled the trigger but I still thought it was a bit high.
I recently found this seller on ebay and the whole experience with him was great. The seat covers are good quality cow leather and the colour is a tone different than the ecru(as you can see in the pics), but I like it a lot. I did the install myself and is a complex process. The major pain is to cut the heater from the old seat with a scissor. If I have known is going to take me a whole day(12 hours) I would have probably take the seats to a local shop.
The seller seems a honest person, always prompt in email responses.


http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2001-2010-Lex...#ht_500wt_1413

73446

What a beautiful job!! Congrats!

Wonder what it would've cost to have them installed?

I visited the vendor's website...intersesting, but WAAAAAY over my head installation wise. I can barely tie my shoes..

Mike.

Harold57

Wow, 12 hours. I would ask a shop also! Looks good though.

huy33

Looks really good actually.

Jefff1

A most excellent job.....I would have to opt for the seat upholsterer.....I know a woman who does great work at her place..

adi

Thank you guys, I have to explain why it took me a whole day. The process of taking the seat out and leather cover off the chair goes relatively fast 30min-1hour for a chair but since I did not have a hog plier and hog rings I had to use a regular plier and the old rings. The local home depot or lowes , pep boys does not have this item and if I was going to order it online would have take a week. So I decided to improvise. With the right tools I would say job can be done in 6 hours.

barncat

Very nice job!

NEWONE1

Hey adi......i have to replace mine also....any hints on removing the seats and the cushions...how to get them off and remove the plastic around the cushions. Anything to beware of (ie; cutting the heater wire, etc.)...any problems you encountered.....what size hog rings did you use......can you see the difference in the color match and are you still happy the way it looks

adi

Newone,
First of all, I am very happy with the new seat covers( that includes headrests and center console).
There is a slight color difference, but the match is satisfactory in my opinion. Of course, without headrest and center console I would have a different answer.
The process of removing the chairs out of the car is easy, they are very heavy and make sure your top is down while doing it , for more room.
Again, I did use the old ring hogs and a long nose plier since local stores did not cary a ring hog plier. The most difficult part is to cut the heating element pad , very close to the edge without cutting the metal wire. To stick the heating pad (bottom and back) to the new chair foam I used some fabric adhesive purchased from a local Lowes.
For a fraction of the cost my interior looks brand new,
I almost forgot. One time I drove with the passenger seat removed from the car without realizing that each chair has a side air bag. Shortly after I had a SRS light (air bag light) on the dash. Is still on today and I am not able to reset it . I might have to take it to the dealer , even though I hate it, I don't trust them. Last time I had a problem with my roof , they removed a hose without my knowledge from the emission and the engine light came on while I was driving out of their garage. I never had an engine light on since I own the car. I did not leave the garrage I put it in reverse and went back.and ask the service guy why the light is on? He took it back in the garage and 5 min. later the car was ready for me with the light off. Couple of weeks later light comes on again and then I suspected it has to do with my last lexus servise on my package tray failure.I went to autozone and I was able to find out the code and thanks to this forum someone suggested me to check the hoses under the plastic part over the engine.Good news , one hose was completely removed. This hose could not come off on its own since it had a metal ring around it(If I well remember). In order to pull it off you need to press hard on the ring and at the same time pull off the hose. Probably next time lexus was expecting me with the engine light on and all they had to do to fix it was to connect the hose. I wonder how much would they have charged me for it? Anyways I try to stay away from the Dealer as much as possible.
At the same time I pass the inspection recently with the light on the dash. ??? I guess the SRS system functions properly ,but I still have to reset the light.
Good luck with the install and post some pics when is completed.

NEWONE1

Adi .......thanks for the reply.....i have not removed the seats yet so did you have to remove any of the plastic framing around the seats (plastic back and the sides and front), or can the cushions be removed with it in place? How did you get off the top of center console? Are the small screws on the bottom the ones that release the lid? How can you remove heating pads without cutting the wire?
Appreciate your help.......

barncat

This is somewhat related to seat removal. The previous owner of my 430 was a woman who must have worn heels which scraped the carpet on the bottom seat area when she entered the car. There is a bald spot where the carpet is worn off. Can this area be accessed with seat removed? I'm not sure I want to tackle a repair of the carpet on the lower part of the seat unless there is an easy fix. Suggestions?

adi

Newone,
After you take the seat out , you will remove the headrest first, plastic back second and than you will take the hog rings out, allowing you to remove the seat cover. The heating element pad is underneath the leather ,but attached to it. You will have to use scissor and cut very, very close to the edge of the heating pad(making sure you are not cutting the heating wire). The plastic sides I believe need to be removed only partially, you will figure it out once you get there.The scews on the bottom of the console will release it and than will be some more very little screws to remove on the inside black plastic, After that, remove the metal staples. You will need a staple gun to install the new cover.
Barncat,
The bald spot you are describing is accessible once the seat is removed. I don't remember exactly at what point in the process of removing the seat covers you can take to part off , but I do remember I have seen the part in my garage removed from the seat laying around.

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

"Jaramillo Upholstery" Re upholstered My 2 front seats and center console for $600 and they installed them!
It was with Italian leather too, so they look very grand!

007

Thanks for sharing.. the workmanship looks good. I do see the color variation. Looks like the same color as my old First Gen GS 300. I got that kit via a group buy here from leatherseats.com the entire interior then was around $900 after the group buy. That included 4 headrests, center console all seats, new hog rings and hog ring pliers. Its definitely time consuming to replace the seat covers. Had you ordered some new hog rings and hog ring pliers your would have saved yourself a lot of grief and time. But never mind that, the seats look great! Big improvement !

nlebbos

the seats look great, the small variation in color is a small price to pay for that much improvement in the car look.
will try to get the seats from the same manufacturer and look forward to changing them myself. did you have to order the headrests and center armrest separately or they came with the package??