Hi everyone, the driver's seat cushion in my Subaru Forester has collapsed, and there's also a small crack in the leather on the right-hand side.
I'm looking for the best way to fix this—any advice would be appreciated.
Has anyone had experience sourcing a replacement seat from a wrecker or eBay and installing it yourself?
Alternatively, can anyone recommend a good car seat repair shop in Sydney?
This is for Subaru Forester Premium XT MY2014.
Thanks in advance!
Don't forget there's an airbag in the seat.
A seat repair shop would be well aware of the issues that creates.
the seat has electric adjustments, heater and airbag.
Take it to a profesional
Replacement seat wont be cheap by the sound of it. Might be cheaper to get an upholsterer to redo the base.
Alternatively, i bought an old car years ago that when i tried to move the seat, found a block of wood propping it up from underneath. Maybe you can pack something under if you dont move the seat much.
2nd alternative, i swapped passenger and driver seats in another old car. It required some some part swapping and the levers ended up on the wrong sides. If you are cheap, handy with tools and dont use the pass seat much it might be worth investigating.
2nd alternative
They’re airbag seats.
Swap the backrests?
Duly noted, buy a German car if you're a heavy set gentleman. Thanks for the advise.
There had to one part of a Cherman car that lasts.
Go to a dedicated motor trimmer / upholsterer.Fixing this sh*t is what they do.
can you recommend one in Sydney?
Nope. Go review hunting, or ring around some resto places and ask for some good names. Once you line up a few in the same direction, follow your nose
Too hard, tell them exactly where to go and what to do.
Swapping a seat isn't difficult, it's 4 bolts and a couple of wiring plugs. Disconnect battery after unbolting the seat but before disconnecting the seat wiring harnesses (because you usually need to move the seat forward/back to access the bolt holes).
And then marvel at how heavy the seat is.
Heavy and awkward.
How many youtube tutorials have you watched?
.
I've got a Subaru Forester XT 2014, drivers seat has cracked too. I purchased some leather or might be fake leather and covered the cracks to prevent them from cracking more.
How is it holding up?
These guys do excellent work and are no badly priced. They fixed my Lexus with better than OEM leather:
https://www.blackneedle.com.au/
Leather Doctor, I assume you have them in Sydney. Your Subaru seats are most likely some sort of synthetic thing, which they can also do.
Find a suitable one at a wrecker.
Me and a mate replaced the foam and cover (fake leather, but high quality) on the driver's and front passenger seats. You can do it too! All you need is all the materials, a few days to a week and an engineer's mind. I hope you back is good. Ours are not.
Or pay someone. Unless you love doing things yourself, for the love of dog pay someone!
Following, similar situation on another car. Thanks for posting OP