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I am seeing synthetic seat covers for our C5 cars. Sure they aren't leather but are they how is the actual quality of the covers? Do they wear and look ok in person?
These are not super good pics but I put these on a few years back and the quality was excellent and they held up fine. I recently sold the car but they still look great. PM me and I have more I can tell you.
I wasn't quite sure of the quality of synthetic leather, but from what I'v seen other Corvette owners who do have this type of seat covers in their cars, they are totally satisfied and it's a lot cheaper compared to the leather covers for our cars.
without seeing them in person, how can you tell by someone's self serving statement.
how is the actual quality of the covers? Do they wear and look ok in person?
these questions are very subjective... quality is something that is easily compromised by their cost
If you have good financial stability, you might not be caught dead with synthetic seats for your Corvette, however if all you can afford is synthetic seat covers, then to you they are fine...
You can never take subjective to the bank..
EG.. many people here have bought an exhaust system that is loud and raspy with a lot of drone.. Its has been documented.. some of those people do not know what drone is.. many think it is just a loud system, but in fact its a system that is harmonically causing white noise and at a certain RPM and frequency.. and at that frequency can cause headaches... people defending this will say things like you learn to get use to it..
If your OEM seat look like crap and you cover them with anything, they will be perceives as better.. that does mean they are of good quality or compliment the car..
Ive seen many cars with these seat covers and all I see is cheap. while the C5 OEM seats are a combination of automotive leather and automotive vinyl, they are by most people very cheap seat skins.. so anything less than automotive leather would be considered by most to be of poorer quality and look less than quality.. those defending these two virtues are only protecting their choice to buy them..
The OEM seat skins are 1400 dollars and they are of fair quality, but initially look nice...
Synthetic seat skins are 200 or 300 dollars... do you think they would be of better quality or appearance than OEM? Be very careful who you listen to here on this forum.
I know a few things because I have seen a few things
I have to agree with Evil-Twin, because it always come down to you always get what you pay for
Not to start anything but I put the synthetic leather covers on and had them on for 5 years before I sold the car and they looked as good then as they did when I installed them. They were very high quality for the 300 dollars I paid for them. I had many people at car shows comment on how nice the interior looked with the new "leather" seats skins. I would say the only downfall of them was not having the great leather smell, but, zaino leather in a bottle took care of that. My pics I put up are far from high quality so you cant judge from that. i'd say buy what you want and don't get caught up in the "if it aint leather it isn't good" Just my 2 cents
300 dollar synthetic seats or 1500 dollar automotive leather... equal ? Hardly. Since many high quality leather seat skins are in the 4 to 5,000 dollar range, the OEM seat skins are entry level light weight quality. If we at GM could put in 300 dollar synthetic seat skins we would have done it... keeping this car within budget and on time and light, would have been an easy choice. WE chose minimal seat quality for its cost and light weight. Dave put most of the money into the drive train..
IM not putting down anyone's necessity to buy 300 dollar synthetic seat skins. But to say they come close to the original seat skins just isn't true..
Did you ever dip lobster or an ear of corn into synthetic butter then say, its as good as real butter.
Did you ever eat a rib eye or a fillet` mignon , then say a butter steak or round steak was just as good but much cheaper.
Did you ever put a set of 200 dollar chrome wheels from pep boys then wonder why they bend and flake down the road but before they fail say they are as good as those 2800 dollar CCW's.
did you ever buy a 10 dollar Chinese knock off battery in your 5,000 dollar DSLR and say its as good as the 60 dollar OEM ?
Just a few thought and I will leave you with one of my clichés
"I can NOT afford to buy anything too cheap"
Bill aka ET
I know a few things because I have seen a few things
Thanks for your words but no where did I say they were equal to leather I just said they looked as good in my eyes and others. I have respect for you and your comments but to each his own. No they aren't as high quality as genuine leather but for a person on a no end income they perform very well. Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder. I do understand what you are saying tho. As I said before, just my opinion to the person that asked the question. Thanks
Thanks for your words but no where did I say they were equal to leather I just said they looked as good in my eyes and others. I have respect for you and your comments but to each his own. No they aren't as high quality as genuine leather but for a person on a no end income they perform very well. Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder. I do understand what you are saying tho. As I said before, just my opinion to the person that asked the question. Thanks
I was not putting ypou down. I said if 300 dollar seat can improve your original seats, that fine.. No con desention here. I just wanted to let people know that just because they are the best you can afford, and can easily see them as your best option., that doesn't men that other will see them as a replacement to bring their car back to its original look.
Some thing I did not mention. about 15 years ago I wanted to change my OEM black sport seats and make them two tone red and black.. One of the most popular synthetics was from a company called Wet Oaklies... 15 years ago they were 250 dollars.. they came in red and black.. had the Corvette crossed flags etc. They lasted in my car for about 6 months after the first two weeks of newness, I immediately started to hate them they looked like cheap seats.. they had no resemblance to anything OEM. I sold them for 150 dollars and bought what I should have bought in the first place.. this all adds credence to my analogy about buying anything too cheap.. so if you add the 250 dollars to the cost of the skins I eventually coast, those seat skins, the ones I have now and still look good after so many years, cost me 250 dollars, less 150 dollars sold = 100 dollars more then if I bought what I should have bought in the first place not to mention the hassle of selling and shipping the oaklies..
Mine are synthetic with genuine perf leather on the sport seat insert in the seat back and also where your butt sits. Paid $400. Put them in myself three years ago and they still look perfect. I've received many compliments on them.
While real leather is nice, I'd do these again in a heartbeat. Just my opinion...
To be fair, Wet Okole are neoprene slip covers that fit pretty well, but in no way are they comparable in looks to Oem, or upholstered covers of any kind. Their main claim to fame is their comfort. They are warm in the winter and comfortable in the summer. I've seen some nice looking vinyl seat covers offered by a number of those vendors who also specialize/promote leather. I chose leather because I just don't get along well with vinyl. I'd still rather have nice cloth seats like I see in many street rods, but my custom covers from Interior Innovations look great and are very comfortable.
Mine are synthetic with genuine perf leather on the sport seat insert in the seat back and also where your butt sits. Paid $400. Put them in myself three years ago and they still look perfect. I've received many compliments on them.
While real leather is nice, I'd do these again in a heartbeat. Just my opinion...
Two things here.. these look very nice, and they were installed properly with no wrinkles. This goes a long way to making them look good. Some of these cheap covers do not fit as well as others.. some examples here have more wrinkles then I would ever accept.. at 400 dollars I would have to see them In person.
Mine are synthetic with genuine perf leather on the sport seat insert in the seat back and also where your butt sits. Paid $400. Put them in myself three years ago and they still look perfect. I've received many compliments on them.
While real leather is nice, I'd do these again in a heartbeat. Just my opinion...
Those look great!! Where did you get them? Did you remove the seats for install? Thanks
Those look great!! Where did you get them? Did you remove the seats for install? Thanks
Thanks!
Got them from Interior Innovations, and yes - the seats have to come out. It's actually a pretty easy process. I did it myself. Do a search on the Forum and you should be able to find a few threads on it.
Got them from Interior Innovations, and yes - the seats have to come out. It's actually a pretty easy process. I did it myself. Do a search on the Forum and you should be able to find a few threads on it.
Mine are from there as well, tho' they are full leather and diamond stitched. Jjaam is right, the hardest job is fitting the new leather over new foam, which is thicker and needs certain areas to be trimmed. My original foam was too deteriorated to keep.
07-27-2017, 04:01 AM
Synthetic seat covers
