For a while I have been contemplating changing the color of the seating in the XKR to something like this although a bit darker of a red and not the front & rear headrests or door panels, those would stay black.







The attached photos are crude mock-ups to give the general idea of what it would look like finished if I did a leather re-dye. I found a very good company to do that.

The other option is to replace those inserts with brand new quilted leather as seen in Astons, Bentlys and in some XKR-S.

The price difference is 4X that of the re-dye for new leather inserts and would require tearing the seats apart of course.

Or I could just leave them as is because there is really nothing wrong with all black. But I am bored so what would you do?

I really like the two-tone/two color seating as shown. I had the two-tone leather seating in my 2012 Camaro RS and it provided a very custom European look.

In the Jaguar XKR, I think it would even look better. Go for it.

I would go for the leather dye first, then ONLY if necessary would tear the seats out.

I think if you can dye the leather it would be a inexpensive option compared to tearing out the seats.

Keep us posted.

It looks good in BMWs and Jaguar finally has done it. I have just been used to black for so long I am not sure how I am going to like the finished product.

The re-dye will be a 2 day process of stripping and sanding the leather, water based primer base coat then multiple layers of pigment and a sealer. Guaranteed to outlast the leather it self which in my car actually has no wear and still looks new. Price is only $300 versus $1200 for new leather but quilted which I think is really classy.

Decisions, decisions!

I would consider an elegant or sophisticated fabric insert rather than leather. Subtle plaid or houndstooth would be a lot richer than just a contrasting leather. Could do denim even...

I would not re-dye the leather at any cost.

If the vendor is considered an expert at dying the leather and you can see some of their past work, I would go that way.

$300 bucks is not that much to lay out.

Why not a re-dye?

It is not really about the cost although you could say there is a big difference in price. It really comes down to the quality of the finished product with either scenario and how much I want quilted leather.

I have seen pictures of cars and I watched him dye leather seat covers removed from the seats them selves. He is meticulous in the prep, masking and finishing of the product.

I expect either to look like a Jaguar produced product and not an aftermarket hack job.

The dye changes the final product of the leather and is not befitting of a Jaguar IMO. Kind of the ghetto way of getting it done, no matter how well it is done.

An alternative might be doing a contrast passion suede insert that has been diamond quilted like you desire. You would only need about 3-4 yards of fabric at about $10 dollars/yd and then perhaps a $150-200 labor to have the diamond quilting done. Many have done the suede inserts with good results.

The diamond stitching is very nice....

I did consider suede and it is still an option though leather is my preference.

But how did you arrive at that labor figure? That is considerably less than the upholsterer quoted me (labor was going to be $600-$700).

EDIT: I'll add that another shop quoted $1200 for labor (no materials) and another over $2k. The lowest priced one was actually recommended to my by a Jaguar dealer. They are a high volume shop specializing in dealership accounts.

The labor figure was for custom quilting the suede not for the upholstery of the seats. The sewing of the contrast panels to the existing surrounds plus installation should be between $200-$300 per seat. No more than that.

IMHO, the color combination looks great! As for a slightly darker red color, I suggest you consider Chancellor Red by Aston Martin. Try to visit a dealer that has one in stock - the color is much richer in the flesh than in this photograph:


This is the Chancellor Red interior of a 2014 AM Vanquish.

Hope this helps,

Stuart

And if you haven't seen forum member iamddo's amazing custom alligator interior, check it out - here's the links:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-08-xk-101601/

08 Jaguar Olson



Truly fantastic!

That color idea is sort of what I had in mind. IMHO what Jaguar did with the XKR-S is just too bright and garish.

This is Chancellor in Astons:

It's a bit different to the Cranberry colour in the older cars https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...leather-41241/