Tear in Leather Seat
 

I just found a tear in my passenger side seatback. It's L shaped about 3mm on each side. Any ideas on best way to fix it? Thanks.

When I bought my 2008, I noticed a small star shaped hole in the passenger seat and the dealer had a upholster guy fix it. I do not know what he did but I can not tell where he did it. I would take it to a good upholster in you area.

I am currently fixing a small hole in my drivers seat and having some very good success. First I used a quality, sandable leather filler, then applied some matching interior dye. They best method for the dye I have found is using my figure and lightly smearing; wet sanding with 600 grit between. The filler I used was :

https://www.leatherworldtech.com/Lea...ler-p/lwlf.htm

It would be done, but I have one little dimple left I want to fill and sand. It is coming out very good, almost unnoticeable, but it takes patience and time!

And if repairing the tear doesn't do it for you, you can buy all of the upholstery still. It's less expensive than you would think.

Thanks, I'll look for an upholstery guy in my area.

Getting it repaired and looking like it was never there is one thing. Getting it to stay looking like that is another if you plan on trying to fix only the bad spot. Your best bet would be to try and find the material that matches the seat. Get enough of it so the entire sewn in area where the bad spot is can be replaced. Then take it to an upholstery shop and have them replace the bad area.......good luck.

Thanks.

:iagree:

I have used their products to repair a torn/worn seat bolster on my C4.
I have used on other cars too for re-dying leather seats. My only problem with them is that the color match was hit-or-miss.
I sometimes had to modify the color to get a better match. Yours should not be too bad since it is on the back of the seat and won't be as noticeable.

Agree to the first part. The paint/dye is more delicate and also vulnerable to solvents than the OEM finish, so if it's in a high-wear area or anyone uses typical interior cleaners on it, you'll end up redoing the repair. Most of the time these kinds of repairs are done for dealers reselling the cars. But if you're careful you can make them last. Black is the easiest because other colors tend to vary more with age and wear so OEM color-coded dye usually needs to be tinted to blend in.

Second part, the trouble with replacing just a panel (unless it's black) is the same reason stated above. Plus the cost of a new set of skins isn't that enormous on these cars, and the labor is less, because either way the skin has to come off and go back on, but you won't have the labor to r&r a single panel.

These were some pictures I had of of the torn seat bolster. I actually ended up blending the final color a little darker to match, but I didn't have another picture of it.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...bc34f7b4f8.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...7ed435ae9c.jpg

Do you have to put in a filler piece to get those results ? Then blend that in ?
That looks pretty good IMHO :thumbs:
NSF

Yes, a patch is glued on the inside of the leather and then the remaining seam is filled with a white filler paste. After that, it is a matter of re-dying and texturing the leather.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...171006d3dd.jpg

Place patch INSIDE the tear so that it is behind the leather.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...0edb1b1363.jpg

Glue the seam closed.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...879b5acbc2.jpg

Fill the remaining seam before blending and re-dying

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...130c771139.jpg

get the color match and test before applying. I had to adjust it darker.

I understand what you're saying, but a few things to consider. Since you would probaly only want to buy one new skin for coast reasons, then the chances of that new skin matching the old is slim. Sure the color will be the same factory color....but the new skin won't have the wear and fade to it so it won't match....ask me how i know....:( And it is fairly easy to take a new panel that has been replaced and work with it until it matches the rest of the seat as far as adding wear & tear if you want to call it that. Of course all of this is just depending on how one wants the finished product to look. I personally am anal on these things so I want it to look correct. Thats why I know (and after a lot of experience) that these patch-fill & dye kits do not have very good results regardless of what some members say. Sure they look OK....for a while, but their over-all success is poor......:flag:

the new replacement piece from G.M. is less than $200.

yes you can order from any G.M. dealer but have a look at the online dealers that are much cheaper.Cultrag is a forum vendor on here.did a tu-tone color change to cobalt red and ebony on mine a while back and cost just under $1,000. for both seats.they had the embroidered crossed flags on the head rests and red stitching on all pieces

https://www.cultragfactoryparts.com/. I can't remember the exact price that I paid, but I recall it being under $200 for the upper for my Cobalt red/ebony seat upper/outer. that is the part where everyone's wallet rubs getting in and out. I was happily surprised that a two tone leather part was so inexpensive. Makes it pretty much not even worth repairing. My 2008 with 68k just wore a hole through the size of a dime, and this being 2017, that amortizes out to pretty much a brainless decision to just buy new. I'm sure that I'll never own the car long enough to do it again.

This is almost identical to the process I used, a process even pros use on home furniture. You have to ask is it worth about a $40 investment and time or simply jut go spend $700+ for new seat covers? My approach was try the $40 investment first and if it didn't work I can always buy new seat skins!

:iagree:
If you buy the right products from a leather repair site (not the junk at the auto parts store), it is worth trying and, if you get it right, you will get a great sense of satisfaction from it.

Try a dealer, any marque.
Ask who they use for trade-ins they intend keeping & selling on vs sending to auction.

ALL dealers use a service for repairing dashes, seats and any other interior defects. Find out who they use, probably be the same outfit all local dealers use. :cheers: