Leather re-trim advice?

[A19quattro]

I have recently purchased an A3 S-Line with half leather and wanted to get the centres of the seats done in similar or contrasting leather. Should i get an old school upholsterer to replace the cloth sections with leather or should I try to purchase a new leather cover kit and get someone to fit it? If so where would be the best place to buy these. There is a Transcal locally who may be willing to supply but I suspect they will be expensive. Any advice appreciated.

 

[TDIQ]

Buy full leather seats from breakers/eBay, save money.

 

[shady-ninja]

why not get the centres retrimmed in a different colour and save yourself some hassle.
most of the sellers of leathers ive seen on ebay are just idiots who butcher seats out
of cars while they were probbably on drugs then try to sell them on for top dollar once
they get sober.
the wires for the airbags might even be different, in that case you wont not get a refund.
thats from my experience. the final decision yours.

 

[Foxmeister]

Why are the replys to swap seats? The guy asked about having his own centres retrimmed to full leather, sure theres no need to rip the whole lot out if his are fine.

I would try a few trimmers to get some quotes, most can source the material you require cheaper than you can.

 

[A19quattro]

Cheers for the replies, particularly enjoyed the image of 'guys ripping interiors out whilst on drugs and sellimng them once they are sober' I can totally identify with that. Decision is now reached, I have manged to find a trimmer who has a good reputation and talks a lot of sense. Still ended up with a few too many decisions/dillemas, however as I speak they should be getting worked on now, estimated finish time Monday coming, so approx 3 days. Going for a full re-trim to keep all the leather the same, original is Nappa leather which is expensive and difficult to match, not impossible though but there are issues about the way the seats are stitched, so labour costs were heading skyward to do just the centres. This way I get a full re-trim, brand new leather and all matching, so fingers crossed it all goes well.

 

[shady-ninja]

plus your car will smell nicer

 

[A19quattro]

Hadn't even thought of that yet!

 

[pod_4]

any pics of the retrim? which trimmer did you use?