Leather seat recovered?

[DougX]

I had my seats re-connolised about a year ago by a local leather restorer. Unfortunately, he made a 'pigs ear' of it, to the extent that I had to take the seats back twice as they were showing cracks after just a week and the colour match was terrible!! I am now thinking of having new leather inserted on both the drivers and passenger seats on the outside edges, and maybe rear seats if I change the colour of the surrounding area (seat bolster areas). I have seen a company on 'Car SOS' TV program who, I believe, are in the Midlands, that appear to do great work with leather seats. Anyone know who they are and if anyone else has recommended companies that can do this work?

[Andy P]

Hi Doug,
I think the company you are referring to are called Aldridge Trimming.
Here's the link:
https://www.aldridge.co.uk/
They also advertise in the club magazine .
Take care.
Andy

[DougX]

Thanks A.J.P. Will get in touch.

[PPV]

I did my Mk2 when I got it with a kit from Woolies: https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/product/ ... vation-kit.
It worked great. There are other companies who do kits also like: https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Easy_ ... ration_Kit and http://diy-leather.co.uk/car-interior-leather-repair/

I took pleasure in getting it right. There are articles in the magazine which covered leather restoration which are well worth looking at also.

Regards,

[DougX]

Thanks PPV, but I have no confidence in my ability to DIY. After screwing a screw through the floor boards, which in turn went through the central heating pipe at home - thought it was a bit hard, so used drill my wife won’t let me do any DIY, house or car! I’d rather get a company to do it!

[PPV]

Shame, did not find it too hard if you follow instructions!

[DougX]

Got in touch with Aldridge Trimming Ltd. Quite shocked at the price they want to charge for the recovering of my seats. It starts off at £877.80 for the front seats, then £667.36 for the rear. Then they can also fit these seat covers for meu at a cost of £936. That's nearly £2,500! and if I want to change the colours so that the bolster surround is a different colour to the original colour they indicated that there is no additional costs but would not have them back unless they were faulty as they would be unable to resell them. Why would I send them back unless they were faulty? Anyway, that seems a lot to me so either going to find someone who can do it cheaper or look at other ways to improve the look of the seats. Any suggestions?

[PPV]

Aldridge do a good job. You get what you pay for. Try BAS (http://www.car-hood.co.uk/saloon) as an alternative for a start perhaps.
Regards,

[DougX]

PPV will have a look at that website, but just found this company while surfing. Anyone had any dealings with them?
https://www.theseatsurgeons.co.uk/shop/ ... ke-design/

[PPV]

I did see these some time ago but thought they were concentrated on newer models which can have different construction and they may not have the patterns/skill for older vehicles.
No experience of them.
I used Martrim in Sandbach for new carpets but was not too impressed as they threw away my originals without asking and the quality of work on the new ones was poor (did not fit as well). However, others had good experience of them.
Someone local would be best in my opinion to discuss and keep an eye on/see examples.

[DougX]

PPV: I have sent them an e-mail, so awaiting their reply. Although they do not list an XK8, they do show an XKR which has the same seats as mine. I will see what they have to say and post their reply here.

[DougX]

I have also been in contact with Andy Ffolkes at Leather Smart in Andover, Hampshire.
www.leather-smart.co.uk.
Has anyone had him undertake leather works and if so, how good is he? When I spoke to him on the phone today, he seemed to know what he was talking about and how to remedy leather issues.

[DougX]

PPV - Just so you are aware, BAS do not do seats, only car hoods. I have had a reply from 'Seat Surgeons' of York who states, "The price of £880 includes the front and rear seats fitted in standard leather however we strongly recommend going for Premium Nappa in your vehicle. You already have Nappa in there and to downgrade to standard leather isn’t common practice and it won’t match the current interior.

Premium Nappa is priced at £2160 + vat."

I have also spoken to Andy from 'Leather-Smart' of Andover who is quoting around £300 for full front and rear repairs, subject to full inspection.

Not sure which way to go at the moment.

[PPV]

Dougx, BAS do seat covers for the MK2 at a price of about £1k per pair or less so I thought they would do your car as they provide the full trim not just car hoods for classics having spoken to them at the NEC show. Shame that is not the case for your car.
Sorry for that.
Regards,

[ptjs1]

DougX,

If the original company were prepared to just recolour your seats, I'm guessing that the leather can't be ripped or too badly worn? Can you post some pics?

It's quite possible to get really good results if you're methodical and do the work yourself. Have a look at this thread and my before and after pics:

viewtopic.php?f=385&t=10652&sid=c2e6b9c ... 3702995f14

However, if you really don't want to do it yourself, you could still get somewhere Iike Furniture Clinic to recolour your seats much much cheaper than getting them retrimmed by one of those other companies. Take some photos and give them a ring.

Good luck

Paul