Time for new upholstery...Leather or Vinyl..?

[SanJoseSteve]

After 23 years, the re-upholstery job (tan vinyl) I had done is starting to fail on the driver’s seat cushion. At first I thought I’d just have the cushion reupholstered but the sun has faded most everything to a degree and that matching would be very difficult. A closer look at the boot cover reveal that it in particular has really faded over the years. I’ve decided to re-upholster the whole thing and dye my door cards to match.

The vinyl has held up well, but I thought I’d spring for leather this time. A neighbor suggested that I may not be happy with the upkeep demanded by leather in a convertible car, and suggested maybe a “synthetic leather” as is in his Mercedes. I believe it’s called MB-Tex. Anyone have anything bad to say about leather in a 124? Any chance anyone has re-done theirs with the MB-Tex material? Kids have long since stopped using the back seat, but we do on occasion toss the dog back there for a drive. No issues doing that with the 23 year old vinyl seat. Any thoughts……..? -Steve

[joelittel]

I have leather seats in mine. They require a bit of maintenance but nothing that isn’t enjoyable.

If I had to do it again I wouldn’t hesitate to go with leather.

[TheBender]

I went to leather about a year ago and couldn't be happier. Love the look and feel of them. My backseat was in good shape, so I left it vinyl as my dog is the only one that rides back there too. I also did the boot cover with leather too.

[SanJoseSteve]

That was my 1st thought.... Leather is better. Did you guys buy a ready made kit or have a local shop make it up from scratch? Lots of kits out there and they all seem to cost less than having it made locally. (Like everything else in the SF Bay Area.) Having one made from scratch may give access to better materials though. Just curious what you did...... -Steve

[toyfiats]

I had my interior redone completely in leather (seats, door panels, consoles, dash, etc). The only thing I wouldn't do in leather if I had to do it over (which I hope to never do) is the dash - the sun tends to shrink it (but then modern Ferraris have the same problem, so I don't feel so bad).

I had a craftsman in Germany made mine from scratch. Since he used to vacation in California every year he came to my house and installed the covers on my frames. One thing I didn't realize at the time (and am glad I didn't try myself) was that leather doesn't stretch like vinyl does, so it was a bit of a struggle getting the upper piece over the wide hip section towards the bottom (the Spider 2000 may be a bit different in this aspect), and in fact he split one of the seams installing it (better him than me!).

While there are definitely some success stories of individuals having a go at installing kits, if it were me I would just resign myself that it's going to be expensive and then find the best local shop and have them take care of making a kit from scratch. If I recall your interior is black so probably don't have to worry about exactly what shade to get, but you will likely have better materials from which to choose.

[MIGHTY 8]

Leather all the way!
Fancy as it is, even when it gets weathered (sun), or damaged even (dogs), it’s called patina!

I would suggest avoiding ready made kits. A bonus of going to a shop to make it from scratch is not only choosing the color, but have fun and choose a different stick pattern for example.

I had an amazing shop do mine all in leather and couldn’t be happier. I can’t figure out how to post pics here, but happy to email if you’d like.

Gabriel
GAVILLAN@HOTMAIL.COM

[TheBender]

That was my 1st thought.... Leather is better. Did you guys buy a ready made kit or have a local shop make it up from scratch? Lots of kits out there and they all seem to cost less than having it made locally. (Like everything else in the SF Bay Area.) Having one made from scratch may give access to better materials though. Just curious what you did...... -Steve

I went with autoberry.com I am happy about the quality, color and fit. I also had them do red stitching on the seats and enjoy the subtle touch. I would use them again in the future.

[TheBender]

That was my 1st thought.... Leather is better. Did you guys buy a ready made kit or have a local shop make it up from scratch? Lots of kits out there and they all seem to cost less than having it made locally. (Like everything else in the SF Bay Area.) Having one made from scratch may give access to better materials though. Just curious what you did...... -Steve

I went with autoberry.com I am happy about the quality, color and fit. I also had them do red stitching on the seats and enjoy the subtle touch. I would use them again in the future.

[DieselSpider]

I have not had good experiences with leather where I live. Its too hot in the summer, mildews way to easily and those organisms once they get into it will consume it much faster than you would like to believe leaving you with much worse than just a patina.

Marine grade vinyl or marine grade fabrics are better choices for me with the fabrics being the coolest and most comfortable.

Last time I had a car with a leather interior the family was pretty much in agreement that if I didn't put cloth seat covers over that flesh burning leather that I needed to get rid of the car. My wife and daughters had me outnumbered and I was getting tired of the extra work of trying to preserve the leather with cleaners, oils, etc with all the hand scrubbing and such however the clincher was the first time I drove the car wearing a pair of shorts and a short sleeved shirt. I had to put a towel down on the seat in order to drive the car. So the leather car was traded in on something the ladies could live with.

So the ladies were right and now I will pass over a car with vinyl and run from leather. Yes leather when new is nice to look at and has that new leather smell but is really not that great to maintain or sit on when its hot and sunny out especially if your wearing shorts plus once it gets musty that nice leather smell is history.

If I lived where the temperatures, sun and humidity are more moderate then leather might be passable however here its not going to cut it with my family.

[SanJoseSteve]

I visited a few area upholstery shops. New leather seats look great, smell great, feel great…..(In the shop.) At the last shop I visited though, I was just about to pull the trigger when the guy showed me a 2006 Ferrari he was doing a door panel repair on. [*]“Look how good these leather seats look for being 14 years old.” Ugh… One man’s patina I guess. My vinyl has 10 more years on them and looked better sans the pulled stitches. Back to square one. Seems every local shop quoted ~$6-$7K for leather and $5.5 to $6K for vinyl. (Sewn from scratch.) World charges about $1,100 for a leather kit then it’s another $1k for a local guy to install it. Samples due from World this week so I have a few more days to figure it out. -Steve

[RRoller123]

High quality vinyl for sure.

[wetminkey]

I'm in the process of installing marine-grade vinyl in my Spider right now.
I can't imagine trying to keep up with leather maintenance in a car, especially a convertible. And it's just plain expensive,...
Best of luck with your upholstery installations, y'all.
Todd.

[TheBender]

I visited a few area upholstery shops. New leather seats look great, smell great, feel great…..(In the shop.) At the last shop I visited though, I was just about to pull the trigger when the guy showed me a 2006 Ferrari he was doing a door panel repair on. [*]“Look how good these leather seats look for being 14 years old.” Ugh… One man’s patina I guess. My vinyl has 10 more years on them and looked better sans the pulled stitches. Back to square one. Seems every local shop quoted ~$6-$7K for leather and $5.5 to $6K for vinyl. (Sewn from scratch.) World charges about $1,100 for a leather kit then it’s another $1k for a local guy to install it. Samples due from World this week so I have a few more days to figure it out. -Steve

Wow. $5-$6k for leather..... $1,100 for kit plus $1k install..... yeah I wouldn’t have done leather either at those prices. For me it was $800 leather Vs $400 vinyl and the same install +$300. Factor in mine is garage kept, under 1,000 miles a year, and I’ll cover it when parked outside..... Maintenance is minimal and easy.

[wetminkey]

That's what I saw,...$1100 for leather. I do my own installations, so I don't have that cost to deal with, but that is pretty pricey, in my opinion.
Upholstery in a convertible requires a lot of maintenance,...leather even more so. And I can think of a lot of other things that I'd rather do on my Spider with $1100!

[DieselSpider]

That's what I saw,...$1100 for leather. I do my own installations, so I don't have that cost to deal with, but that is pretty pricey, in my opinion.
Upholstery in a convertible requires a lot of maintenance,...leather even more so. And I can think of a lot of other things that I'd rather do on my Spider with $1100!

I got tired of trying to maintain the leather in a sedan with much more elbow room and easier access than the Spider. Hot sun and humidity takes its toll on a car with leather that's a daily driver here in the deep south unless you have covered parking everywhere you park and even then you still might have trouble maintaining it.

My mother was really upset the first time she rode in my E-Class that stayed parked out in the sun all the time which was also much older than her (always garaged when it wasn't being driven Buick) and saw how much better the leather in it was holding up than it was in her new car. It was an awful lot of work to keep it "better" even though I thought it wasn't holding up that well. When I saw the condition of the leather in her garaged seldom driven new Buick it was deplorable already having deep cracks and other issues even though she was parking it indoors and using all the proper leather care products on it. She even was covering the seats with white cotton towels when she parked it outdoors to try and protect it from the sun.