Has anyone here actually purchased/installed a seat cover kit from either lseat.com or Master Automotive Upholstry on ebay? If so, how would you rate them?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16639828198...mis&media=COPY

https://www.lseat.com/products/2001-...ers-front.html

 

Lots of folks here have used TopsOnline www.topsonline.com Good service and their kit includes the seat back, bottom, headrest, and center console. They specialize in Jags so the colors match well with the remaining interior.

 

But there is about a $1,000 dollar difference.
500:1500
I'm going to give them a try this winter, purchasing for a xk150. I have not seen anyone on these forums show the seats after installing LSeats.
wj
btw, I watched topsponline raise their price from 695 to 1200 to 1500 in one years time . Their peragative but it feels wrong to me

 

Which are you trying? Topsonline or lseat?

Yeah, its the price diff for me... I just cant justify spending nigh-on 2k on seat kits you have to install yourself. I can get my drivers seat (which is the one that needs it, but id rather do both at once) professionally repaired/reupholstered for that much and not have to pull the seats out of the car myself.

I know a lot of miata owners whove done their seats with lseat, but I think the miata kit has simply been iterated on more and has a bigger market, so its ended up better. Its the way with a lot of miata stuff.

I think ill take a gamble on the lseats for 350. Not too much money to set on fire if they are totally crap. Better than my almost worn-to-torn drivers seat bolster is now. I got their leather swatch sample already, their ecru white is very close to oatmeal already and I have a ton of jag oatmeal leather dye to get it the rest of the way.

 

Will try l seat unless you have bad experience.
wj

 

I did, and I would recommend it. Very easy to install and just like the original leather. I had them on my XJ6 for a few years and although I did not drive that car that often they were still in good shape when I sold it.

 

I pulled the trigger on the lseats, will post final results here when obtained. Ecru White seems their closest match to oatmeal based on the swatch I ordered, Ill see how it looks but as I have lots of oatmeal dye I may dye the seats once the covers are on. I'm assuming that makes more sense than dyeing the covers before I put them on due to folds/wrinkles etc.

 

Yes I think so. I was planning on doing this over the holidays which would allow some extra time for the 'dye matching' to 'cure' a bit.
Their color for the xk150 is off a bit and I have already redyed the oem fromt cushions once. The dye held up well which leads me to go this direction. The car is not a 'for ever car' which limits my willingness to spend extra for leather.
wj

 

Not for my XK8, but another old timer.
I purchased front & rear seat covers for my Porsche 928S I am restoring, from Iseat, and had an upholsterer fit them.
Given that the 928 are a difficult multi foam piece design the end result was excellent.
He did comment that there was a couple of minor trimming and cutouts because of the design of the seats and hardware, he rated the product totally acceptable.
Probably my only minor critique was the shade of burgundy which was ever so slightly different, brighter. I put that down to new leather v the 40 year old sun dried dirt ingrained leather.
When you look at the completed interior, which is all burgundy it presents, as new and the slight shade difference, un-noticeable.
Covers were an exact replication of original including perforation in the correct positions.
I actually purchased fronts first then a couple of months later went back for the rears as I was happy with the results of the front.
Price was good, turn round time really good, packaging good vacuum packed, postage considering I am on the other side of the world good.
In fact as a result of the experience my grandson purchased a set for his E36 M3 and the outcome was the same.

 

yeah, they dont have an exact match for my oatmeal interior, so I have gone for as close as possible and will contemplate dyeing the whole seat when the kits arrive.

Still being manufactured, so I don't see myself having "after" pics until after the new year.

This will leave me with a mint condition original Jaguar Oatmeal right hand seat cover set that I will list for sale in the UK and bring over with me next time I fly over. Gotta be someone in the UK with a mint left hand seat who just needs the right re-upholstered. My drivers seat is a mess but the left seat is almost perfect.

 

Have you tried to contact Lseat? Something not right with them? I looked at reviews and there are a lot of people saying if you have any issues you get ghosted. They list a phone number for customer service and ordering so I called this to confirm I can reach them and to order. No answer. I emailed and asked about the number and said I’d like to order via phone. Wow, the response I got was beyond unprofessional, it was rude. They told me I was paranoid and wanting the unexpected. Because I wanted to order on the phone number they posted??? So anyway. If this is the customer service. I’d be careful with these bozos.

 

I can't say I tried talking to them, the seat covers arrived as expected but I haven't had a chance to try putting them on yet. Finish/precision of the stitching looks about on par with the photos. I'll see how they look when they go on. I've dealt with lots of small scale fabricators/auto parts businesses... customer service/civility is rarely their strong suit lol.

 

Would you be so kind as to take a few. close up detail images of the face and back of some stiching?
Thanks
WJ

 

Hi WymJym,

Like the Sinclair ZX81 I might not be fast, but I get there in the end.

Here are some pictures of the seat before and after re-skin, and some photos of the back and face of the stitching on the passenger seat skin that I need to put on. As you can see from my seat before I did it, it is an improvement.

I also have some photos of my (good) passenger seat for comparison with OEM. Obvs, LSeat.com is no-where near OEM quality but for $300 I am pretty satisfied. My car is a daily and I intend to drive the wheels off it, so it is good enough. Considering an upholstry shop or a much better upholstry kit would be $1200+, and I am not in a position to spend money like that on upholstry right now, I am satisfied. The new leather is also a lot grippier and I slide around a lot less.

Also someone in the UK is gonna get lucky cos I will be going there in May/June and fully intend to pass my good condition right-hand seat OEM cover (oatmeal) onto a good home for a reasonable-verging-on-robbing-me-own-granny price.

I will say, I feel like these look a lot better in the light of day with the top down than they do in photos. Cameras tend to bring out every flaw. I am glad I had re-done some miata seats before taking these on. I did not use hog rings, instead I used zip ties, and I regret nothing. Took three attempts to get the cover on satisfactorily. Passenger seat will be much quicker.



Old seat. cracked and worn.

bolster worn almost through the leather. This seat has been repaired before; it has not lasted.

cracked squab.

OEM passenger seat. Much better condition. I hope this will make a nice driver's seat for someone in the UK.

another passenger seat for comparison

re-upholstered driver's seat in daylight.

squab close up

full shot of re-upholstered drivers seat. Night time, so the colour difference is more pronounced. I might dye these, I might not. Its not really noticeable in daylight.
Now some detail shots of the face and rear of the replacement covers before install.

 

Well done....

 

Thanks for the time and effort!
I'm going to give them a go on my xk 150.
wj

 

You should be able to get rid of the wrinkles in the seatback with a heat gun, maybe a hair dryer.

 

nicely done!!!

 

yeah it was 8pm by the time I finished and my fingertips were bleeding, but I'll give it a go. I was also gonna try going to lunch and parking it in hot sun with the top down

I also managed to forget to put the wooden board back in the back of the seat but I'd clipped up the seat by then and decided it could wait.

another thing I found helped was working up and down the seams and making sure they all sit evenly on one side or the other of the foam so they don't get that wiggly appearance.

also when attaching the covers to the seat foam with zip ties (instead of hog rings) I alternated from side to side to ensure they were uniform, and fed in the zip ties beforehand so they would be easy to thread through and ensured the clips faced out so I could snip them and rotate them round to the back of the seat. zip ties are also great cos you can hook everything up and cinch it down progressively. I did that three times before I got the technique down right. passenger seat should be much quicker.

I took some video and when I do the passenger side I'll have a buddy take some more photos and try to make a proper guide out of this.