Leather anyone?

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drmanny3

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
79
I contacted a company that does leather seating for a number of local car dealerships. I had them add some leather to my Prius in the past. He said they did not have a pattern for the Leaf as yet. He offered to do the leather on our Leaf for 1100.00 He would need the car for about 4 days to make patterns. We can pick out the color and the hides he would use. So I am leaning towards having this done. Our car is leased but I do not imagine that Nissan would mind if the leather is done well? Anyone out there have experience with a lease car? This place is located in Huntington Beach, CA.
Manny :)
 
In a lease car I would not do that without verifying it through Nissan corporate. You are supposed to return the car in it's original condition minus any wear and tear as described in the lease paperwork... one of the many reasons I purchased my car instead.
 
drmanny3 said:
I contacted a company that does leather seating for a number of local car dealerships. I had them add some leather to my Prius in the past. He said they did not have a pattern for the Leaf as yet. He offered to do the leather on our Leaf for 1100.00 He would need the car for about 4 days to make patterns. We can pick out the color and the hides he would use. So I am leaning towards having this done. Our car is leased but I do not imagine that Nissan would mind if the leather is done well? Anyone out there have experience with a lease car? This place is located in Huntington Beach, CA.
Manny :)

The answer would be (assuming you get other interest) is to have someone else (a purchaser) be the guinea-pig for the patterns. Then you could also get yours done, but then ask for your covers back so they can be refitted when you return at lease end, if necessary.

Now as for me, I would love to have mine done, but I just could not come up with $1100 spare right now. Things are still a bit too skittish for me financially. However, if we magically return to full employment during the next couple of months, which is looking to be something of a possibility, then I'm in!
 
I am anxious to get Leather. I live in Seattle, so if anyone knows of a local option, please let me know. Katzkin seems like a good choice and they will have a pattern at some point.
 
I'm on a 4 year lease and won't consider it simply because it makes no financial sense in my case: I'd get nothing back for it at the end and whatever normal wear and tear is on the seats at that point is Nissan's problem...

Skywagon said:
In a lease car I would not do that without verifying it through Nissan corporate. You are supposed to return the car in it's original condition minus any wear and tear as described in the lease paperwork... one of the many reasons I purchased my car instead.
 
You can residualize leather, but thats something that would have to be arranged at the dealer.

$1100 seems okay, as i paid $1400 for heated leather seats in my Saturn about 10 years back.
 
BTW, you might also find that someone is willing to swap seats with you at that point too!

In fact, should I not purchase leather in the foreseeable future, I would be more than happy to receive contact from someone with a gently used set of leather seats looking to swap me for my fabric ones (maybe even with a bit of cash coming from this direction). Just to put that out there! ;)
 
Is any leather seat cover company in San Francisco bay area to offer this kind of service?
 
I contacted my Nissan dealer and asked about leather. She said that I can do it. If when I turn in the car leather is more popular then it is not an issue. If on the other hand people prefer the cloth then I could lose some value. I suspect that leather will not be a problem for turning in the car.
Manny
 
Zhaohui said:
Is any leather seat cover company in San Francisco bay area to offer this kind of service?

I'm also interested in a local company in the Bay Area - I got leather for my Prius a couple of years ago for $1150, but that was through the Toyota dealer.
 
Yes, I suspect that shortly someone will have the pattern and then it will be much easier to do. I will want them to do the doors as well as the center arm rest. When I got the leather on our Prius from the factory it was still vinyl on the doors and the center arm rest. I had that changed out and it matched perfectly. It has held up much better than the factory leather. Of course we are siting on the factory leather, but I felt how much thicker the after market was. So I am looking forward to doing it with this car. I am wondering about the color. I went back and looked at the different color combinations and found that only one color interior is offered. It says it is light gray, but it looks really like a light tan. I have the red exterior and was thinking about a darker gray seating surface. The floor mats are kind of a gray brown. That seems to look nice. I can not say that the interior of the Leaf is all that great. It is certainly utilitarian. So leather if done well would really add to the look and feel.
Manny
 
drmanny3 said:
Yes, I suspect that shortly someone will have the pattern and then it will be much easier to do. I will want them to do the doors as well as the center arm rest. When I got the leather on our Prius from the factory it was still vinyl on the doors and the center arm rest. I had that changed out and it matched perfectly. It has held up much better than the factory leather. Of course we are siting on the factory leather, but I felt how much thicker the after market was. So I am looking forward to doing it with this car. I am wondering about the color. I went back and looked at the different color combinations and found that only one color interior is offered. It says it is light gray, but it looks really like a light tan. I have the red exterior and was thinking about a darker gray seating surface. The floor mats are kind of a gray brown. That seems to look nice. I can not say that the interior of the Leaf is all that great. It is certainly utilitarian. So leather if done well would really add to the look and feel.
Manny

Manny, could you post up some pics of what your Prius leather seats looks like, just to get a feel for what we would expect in a Leaf?

Thx.
 
If the idea is to have as less of an impact as possible on environment, why would anyone want to have leather seats ? Leather processing is a very toxic activity i.e. even if you don't care about the animal cruelty.
 
Because everything is a compromise and trade-off, and some of us just happen to LIKE leather seats and refuse to worry about every darn little thing...

evnow said:
If the idea is to have as less of an impact as possible on environment, why would anyone want to have leather seats ? Leather processing is a very toxic activity i.e. even if you don't care about the animal cruelty.
 
mogur said:
Because everything is a compromise and trade-off, and some of us just happen to LIKE leather seats and refuse to worry about every darn little thing...
I'm not sure I would consider leather seats a "little thing":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather#Environmental_impact

Of course there are trade-offs, but given that the utility of cloth seats (all I have ever had in any of my cars) is pretty much equal to leather, one has to wonder how important leather seats are in the scheme of things.
 
Yes - leather has a higher probability of being more toxic, environmentally. It's a personal thing ... and the leather vs cloth debate will continue on ad nausium. Still, being a sweat monger, and an oily sweat monger at that, and having dogs with dirty feet ... and spilling coffee etc, I do like me some leather (bad grammar deliberate). But $1,000 + ?? no way. Our '04 Prius didn't have a leather option, until some entrapeneurial folks offered them up once the cars got off the boat. Within a year or 2, several other companies brought more offerings (and competitive pricing) to market. So . . . from history/experience it'd be advisable to wait a year or so. That way, the aftermarket price will come down. We waited, and got the leather (done at a skuzzy shop in a skuzzy part of LA), on the Prius for less than $700 including labor, installed.
 
removing the skin from Naugas is relatively painless, you make an incision around the anus and the neck then just squeeze..
 
mxp said:
drmanny3 said:
Yes, I suspect that shortly someone will have the pattern and then it will be much easier to do. I will want them to do the doors as well as the center arm rest. When I got the leather on our Prius from the factory it was still vinyl on the doors and the center arm rest. I had that changed out and it matched perfectly. It has held up much better than the factory leather. Of course we are siting on the factory leather, but I felt how much thicker the after market was. So I am looking forward to doing it with this car. I am wondering about the color. I went back and looked at the different color combinations and found that only one color interior is offered. It says it is light gray, but it looks really like a light tan. I have the red exterior and was thinking about a darker gray seating surface. The floor mats are kind of a gray brown. That seems to look nice. I can not say that the interior of the Leaf is all that great. It is certainly utilitarian. So leather if done well would really add to the look and feel.
Manny

Manny, could you post up some pics of what your Prius leather seats looks like, just to get a feel for what we would expect in a Leaf?

Thx.

Here's a picture of the leather on my Prius (sold!), aftermarket, awesome thick leather -

prius22_3.jpg


I wish some company in the bay area could do the same for my new Leaf.
 
I'd be interested in leather, too, so I'll follow this thread. I had a guy in Sunnyvale give me a quote and he said he could do it for $1800 but that would include front, back and armrests. He only spoke Spanish and his teenage daughter translated so I'm not sure we communicated fully, but if I got it right, he would not do just the front seats but had to do the whole job. It might have included the console or headliner, too, but it was more than I wanted to pay so I left without getting details clarified.
 
Someone named Beth is having their Leaf done in Leather at the shop in Huntington Beach this week. The pattern will then exist for doing the leaf. They quoted me two days to do the front and back seats, arm rest, and door panels (once the pattern is made) The leather is not used on the arm rest and door panels, only on the seating surfaces. However, the material is the same color as the leather, it stretches easier than leather. The color that was being done was the color of the plastic just below the seats, kind of a cream color. Same color as the top of the door just above the door opener.
Manny
 
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