Replacement seat covers

[The_Hawk]

170k in and the driver seat isn’t looking the best anymore. Does anyone know if you can buy replacement seat covers for the Multivan?




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[ozgti]

I need to know this as well...

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[Sunny43.5]

Depending on what part of the seat is worn any Motor Trimmer can remove the cover unpick the worn part and restich a new piece in its place , now obviously there may be a slight colour difference but compared to original parts a hell of a lot cheaper . I should know I spent 50 years doing this as a motor trimmer [retired ] so dont ASK !

[Seano]

Miller Canvas do a very good seat cover for all species of VW Transporter from T4 up
TRANSPORTER

[The_Hawk]

Thanks for all the replies.

Sunny: I was hoping to find some OEM (or OEM+) off the shelf replacements at a reasonable cost rather than paying a trimmer. But using a trimmer is likley to end up being the plan. I should hunt someone down and get a quote... maybe it's won't be too bad! (and something I should really do before it wears all the way through and makes me want to rush to fix it).

Seano: I have seen a whole range of seat *covers*, that is things that go over the top of your existing seats to either protect the original trim or often to hide damaged trim without the effort of re-trimming them properly. I hate covers, they never quite work as well as you'd like and tend to look like a cheap cover thrown over the top rather than a properly fitted unit. As for that link you've shared, that appears to be Transporter only, not Multivan.

[Sunny43.5]

You are right about seat covers over original seats Hawk , during my time doing trim work we used to see so much damage done by seat covers . One of the worst ones back in the old days were two examples the old stretch towelling covers which would allow fine dirt particles through the fabric , this would then get into the original fabric and would act like sandpaper causing more damage than it would save . Sheepskin was another they were good as they would not allow dirt through but would leave permanent crush marks on the velour trim as they were made up from many parts to get the correct shape . I remember a dealer bringing an expensive Fiat to us to remove the sheepsking covers that had been fitted when new , we removed them and found all the original velour trim in tatters . They ended up retrimming the car to bring it back to original before reselling . Most trimmers would be able to repair any damage but unfortunatley getting the original trim fabric can be very difficult as manufacturers will not sell the fabric by the metre only complete new factory covers . As yours is a Multivan finding any fabric for one would be almost impossible , the Standard Transporters are sometimes ok as there are companies who manufacture aftermarket rear seats here in Australia and some of those have gone to the trouble of sourcing original fabrics from Germany . Like I said VW will have replacement covers in matching trim but the cost could be scary , fiitting them is a breeze it only takes 30 minutes to remove the covers as the cushion part is just clipped into the seat base and the joints for the inserts and sides are just wires hooked to the wires that are moulded into the foam , same for the squab {backrest} Might be worth a chance to check on one of the VW specialists in the UK , they seem to have more acess to stuff like that .

[ozgti]

How much would it be to fully retrim a multivan in leather?

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[Sunny43.5]

[QUOTE=ozgti;1257552]How much would it be to fully retrim a multivan in leather?

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Excuse my incredulation but even myself as a trimmer would never put leather into any vehicle I own . There are personal reasons why I would not do it but there are places who can do leather retrims . Cost wise I would estimate depending on how many seats ie two front buckets and two rows of rear seats that you could easily spend upwards of around $3 to $4 thousand . I could be wrong but thats about what is charged for an 4WD 7 seven seater . Many long years ago on this very Forum I got into a huge argument over my opinion on aftermarket sunroofs and leather trim and nearly left the site forever . Look leather is a personal choice but a lot of people go in with out doing some research , I used to hit my customers with several questions so they got an understanding of what they may face down the track . If they had small kids they would need to be absolutley vigilant with shoes school bags pens soft drink spills etc . leather marks quite easily with scuffs etc . Next in Australia's climate we have some of the highest UV in the world , leather was a living skin from an animal and as such once the animal is dead the hide no longer gets the nutrients to keep it supple and conditioned . The tanning process can remove quite alot of that natural oils etc so you need to apply conditioner upto a minimum of 3 times a year , if allowed to dry out it will shrink and crack quicker than a mans libido ! . The other issue is that many leathers are varying in quality , back in the 70,s and 80,s we did massive numbers of leather conversions to high end European cars as it was all the rage as customers and dealers found ways around dodging luxury car tax . They would import base models with cloth trim and sneak under the threshold for the tax , once landed and sold they would do a leather conversion to beat the tax . Now back in those days we used to use Connolly and another brand leather from Germany this was the preferred leather for Rolls Royce Mercedes and BMW and others as they had the best in the world , these days you have to be so careful as there are thousands of cars being fitted with aftermarket leather by specialist companies in Australia who import the kits from places like China Indonesia and Thailand and Malaysia . The main problem is the tanning is pretty basic and crude but even worse I have seen many instances where the leather is sourced from Water Buffalo !
To give you an idea how it works when a new model is released here these companies will remove all the covers and air freight them to the various factories in Asia region . They will then copy and make new trim in leather and return them in under 10 days or so . Once they have the patterns those companies can order and receive a set in under a week in any colour and design .
Most times it will take them less than a day to fit the new trim , I know for fact that for a small 4 door sedan a full kit will only set them back around or less than $1000 or so before fitting so the coversion will be done for around $1800 to $2200 to the dealer then the mark up at the dealers to the retail customer is enormous . Please don't let my expert and enormously biased opinion against leather put you off but it is my experience based on over 50 years in the industry . Howard

[LogicprObe]

Post of the month!

[QUOTE=Sunny43.5;1257580]

How much would it be to fully retrim a multivan in leather?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk[/
Excuse my incredulation but even myself as a trimmer would never put leather into any vehicle I own . There are personal reasons why I would not do it but there are places who can do leather retrims . Cost wise I would estimate depending on how many seats ie two front buckets and two rows of rear seats that you could easily spend upwards of around $3 to $4 thousand . I could be wrong but thats about what is charged for an 4WD 7 seven seater . Many long years ago on this very Forum I got into a huge argument over my opinion on aftermarket sunroofs and leather trim and nearly left the site forever . Look leather is a personal choice but a lot of people go in with out doing some research , I used to hit my customers with several questions so they got an understanding of what they may face down the track . If they had small kids they would need to be absolutley vigilant with shoes school bags pens soft drink spills etc . leather marks quite easily with scuffs etc . Next in Australia's climate we have some of the highest UV in the world , leather was a living skin from an animal and as such once the animal is dead the hide no longer gets the nutrients to keep it supple and conditioned . The tanning process can remove quite alot of that natural oils etc so you need to apply conditioner upto a minimum of 3 times a year , if allowed to dry out it will shrink and crack quicker than a mans libido ! . The other issue is that many leathers are varying in quality , back in the 70,s and 80,s we did massive numbers of leather conversions to high end European cars as it was all the rage as customers and dealers found ways around dodging luxury car tax . They would import base models with cloth trim and sneak under the threshold for the tax , once landed and sold they would do a leather conversion to beat the tax . Now back in those days we used to use Connolly and another brand leather from Germany this was the preferred leather for Rolls Royce Mercedes and BMW and others as they had the best in the world , these days you have to be so careful as there are thousands of cars being fitted with aftermarket leather by specialist companies in Australia who import the kits from places like China Indonesia and Thailand and Malaysia . The main problem is the tanning is pretty basic and crude but even worse I have seen many instances where the leather is sourced from Water Buffalo !
To give you an idea how it works when a new model is released here these companies will remove all the covers and air freight them to the various factories in Asia region . They will then copy and make new trim in leather and return them in under 10 days or so . Once they have the patterns those companies can order and receive a set in under a week in any colour and design .
Most times it will take them less than a day to fit the new trim , I know for fact that for a small 4 door sedan a full kit will only set them back around or less than $1000 or so before fitting so the coversion will be done for around $1800 to $2200 to the dealer then the mark up at the dealers to the retail customer is enormous . Please don't let my expert and enormously biased opinion against leather put you off but it is my experience based on over 50 years in the industry . Howard

[Seano]

Thanks for all the replies.

Seano: I have seen a whole range of seat *covers*, that is things that go over the top of your existing seats to either protect the original trim or often to hide damaged trim without the effort of re-trimming them properly. I hate covers, they never quite work as well as you'd like and tend to look like a cheap cover thrown over the top rather than a properly fitted unit. As for that link you've shared, that appears to be Transporter only, not Multivan.

Each to its own. I've had the same set of covers on mine since 2001. Canvas. Only now wearing through. The seat fabric is fine but the foam structure is broken completely...so it's to the trimmers regardless. Probably cut to the chase and get them done in Bradmill canvas while I'm there.

Despite your deepest wishes, I would suggest that there's nothing to separate Transporter seats from Multivan seats apart from some overpriced and clearly not very durable fabric...VW are cheap and clever that way.

[Sunny43.5]

Thanks LogicProbe ! Ok I could have answered with a simple answer and an approximate price but I got carried away again !!

As I have been in the auto industry for now 50 years I have seen many things that the general public would not have knowledge of , I regularly tell my family members to always ring me when they are buying a new car . So many dealers try to sell allsorts of crap at ridiculously inflated prices or things they will never need . Like my niece and her husband wanting to buy a new Pajero some years back , now they never in a million years would take it onto a beach so I saved them from an overpriced rust prevention treatment being sold from the dealer at around $650 then the dealer tried to sell them paint and fabric protection another $900 saved and then window tinting again another $550 . The mark up is ridiculous , I tell anyone no matter what pressure dealers and their aftermarket girls put on them at sale time to ignore and refuse them just go out and organise any extras yourselves .