Recaro Seats - premature wear & new custom seat covers

[privera302]

I've experienced two separate instances of premature wear on the drivers seat bottom. It looked like some one had rubbed velcro on the seat and the fabric looked worn. I purchased this car in May 2013 and it currently shows 2,500 miles. I took it to my dealer who replaced the two panels under warranty after presenting the issue to Recaro. I'll post the pic's I took for the dealer as soon as I can locate them. Has anyone experienced anything similar?

I plan to drive some DE events in 2013 and had planned on buying some seat covers even before the issue above surfaced. I just purchased a set of custom covers from "Seat Covers Unlimited" out of Meza, AZ. ,
http://www.seatcoversunlimited.com (1-888-410-5050) , for $198 (includes shipping to Florida). I installed them yesterday and the quality and fit exceeded my expectations. The lead time to manufacture and ship is about two weeks. Here are some pic's I took which really don't do much justice to the covers.

 

[four-walling]

The seats have aribags built into them. Have you ever witnessed an airbag firing?

That is a terrible and possibly fatal idea to put seat covers over them.

Just sayin'...

 

[orng302]

Man that sure is ugly.

 

[privera302]

The seats have aribags built into them. Have you ever witnessed an airbag firing?

That is a terrible and possibly fatal idea to put seat covers over them.

Just sayin'...

Good observation Kerry. That's the first question I addressed with their sales consultant before buying. Their website, under FAQ's addresses the side airbag question. You probably can't tell from the pic's I posted but the side of each seat cover that coincides with where the airbags deploy is velcro'd and not sewn and should not impede deployment.

 

[four-walling]

The seats have aribags built into them. Have you ever witnessed an airbag firing?

That is a terrible and possibly fatal idea to put seat covers over them.

Just sayin'...

Good observation Kerry. That's the first question I addressed with their sales consultant before buying. Their website, under FAQ's addresses the side airbag question. You probably can't tell from the pic's I posted but the side of each seat cover that coincides with where the airbags deploy is velcro'd and not sewn and should not impede deployment.

Sorry, not buying it. Airblags deploy in a violent and ear deafening manner. Nothing should be in their way.

 

[F.D. Sako]

Sorry, not buying it. Airblags deploy in a violent and ear deafening manner. Nothing should be in their way.

if the airbag can tear through the stock seat covers, which are sewn, it shouldn't have problem prying open a velcro. now i dont know if velcro's "sharp" side would affect the airbag or not.

 

[four-walling]

Don't know how Ford does it, but when I toured the Porsche factory, the side airbags were sewn by computer-the tolerances were that important.

 

[chefron50]

I had the same problem at 1,000 miles.Dealer took pictures and sent them to ford.Less than a week later ford replaced the bottom seat cover,now with 800 miles more the seat bottom shows wear again? Next oil change I'm going back to the service dept. and complain again.

 

[unrealford]

Heres my seat cover, yes, ugly but I use it for days at Drag strip where I am getting in and out the entire day..$29.99 LoL, In this picture its not fastened down, just pulled over to get a idea how ugly but useful!

 

[big red one]

Sorry but that looks like shiznit

If your really concerned about having pristine seats for when you sell the car on, get some aftermarket ones for the time being

 

[CaliMR]

Everyone and their grandma makes seat covers that work with airbags, and I have never heard of a problem with them (though I never really looked either).

I have wear on the shoulder where the seatbelt slides over it, I think because I sit with the seat pretty straight. The bottom has some bunching from sliding over the butt bolster to get it, but it doesn't look like it is actually damaged and I can stretch it back to shape.


Ford replacing them is pretty nice, either on their part or Recaro depending who is footing the bill. I had the very common wear on the seats in my X5 within a few thousand miles and BMW told me to go piss up a rope.

 

[jimprw]

Personally, I wouldn't mess with seat covers on the seat backs because of the air bags; plus they would cover the Boss 302 logo, I have red seat covers on the seat bottoms and headrests only and they look pretty good with the black seat back. I expected that the seat bottom would be where the wear would happen rather than seat backs.

 

[askjeffro]

I would appreciate some pics of the premature wear you guys are experiencing when you have a chance to post some.

 

[unrealford]

Sorry but that looks like shiznit

If your really concerned about having pristine seats for when you sell the car on, get some aftermarket ones for the time being

I agree it's not eye pleasing, but I don't care its not a show car.
I'm not spending $500, because it's ugly. I it does what it's supposed to.

 

[Cjmclean31]

Mine is doing the same thing at 4000 miles. Has anyone tried seatbelt pads or whatever those are called?

 

[Darth Boss]

I've had my car literally for a week and I'm experiencing the same thing you described. It looks. Little fuzzy and worn. They were able to replace just part of the seat upholstery?

It's stressing me out. I know wear and tear is normal, but it has only been 1 week. Should I take it in to the dealer?

 

[VoodooBoss]

Darth welcome to BMO. Yes I'd take it to your dealer and have them look at it. I'm very careful to pull my shoulder belt using both hands so the strap is not rubbing as much on the seat. Regardless this is going to be a high wear item in these cars.

 

[privera302]

I've had my car literally for a week and I'm experiencing the same thing you described. It looks. Little fuzzy and worn. They were able to replace just part of the seat upholstery?

It's stressing me out. I know wear and tear is normal, but it has only been 1 week. Should I take it in to the dealer?

Yes, definately take it to your dealer. Fuzzy & worn is exactly the kind of wear I experienced on two separate ocassions. The first time it was the seat bottom support area to the right of the seat bottom. The second time, about five hundres miles later, it was on the left side of the seat bottom itself. Yes, they will only replace the portion of the seat affected. As I mentioned before, I took it to my dealer; they took pic's which they submitted to Recaro; Recaro then apprv'd the repair (took a couple of days) and they shipped the piece to be replaced. I also have some wear where the seat belt rubs but it is relatively minor. I have shown it to my service advisor and mentioned that I will be back if/when it gets worse.

It is frustrating as you would expect this to happen over time & use but not in less than a year (actually six months) and with relatively low use.

 

[ace72ace]

What you are all describing sounds like the damage to my own seat bottom I observed first hand on my own car when when I was installing the signal processor for my amplifier. The cargo shorts I was wearing had velcro pockets in the back of the shorts and the velcro was hooking into the Recaro fabric. Think carefully about your wardrobe and see if the seat bottom damage matches where your pockets would be sitting behind the wheel.

 

[privera302]

What you are all describing sounds like the damage to my own seat bottom I observed first hand on my own car when when I was installing the signal processor for my amplifier. The cargo shorts I was wearing had velcro pockets in the back of the shorts and the velcro was hooking into the Recaro fabric. Thing carefully about your wardrobe and see if the seat bottom damage matches where your pockets would be sitting behind the wheel.

I wear cargo shorts most of the time and the pockets all have velcro so my initial thought was that that was the cause but the location of the velcro on my shorts does not coincide with the location of the wear. Obviously the wear is caused by the contact with our pants; whatever the material. That's why, as much as I love the look of the Recaro seats, I decided to buy the seat covers which I will use for daily use and track days and then remove for any Mustang Club cruise-ins, shows etc.