mamizana

Any other options -- besides full replacement?

Thanks,

Matt

JimR

I think it was going to be $90 to do both front seats on the A8.

TraderAlex

I was trader in the leather industry at one time, selling hides and skins to the automotive tanners. To make a long explanation short, automotive leather is drum dyed, a technique which basically means the dye penetrates through the full thickness of the leather hide. There are other proprietary top coatings that go into an automotive finish, that give it an inherent durability like no other kind of leather. Those re-dye jobs are at best a topical application of the dye, only-and it is being applied to a surface that was already designed to be resistant to absorbing stains and other foreign material. They will look quite good for a while, but the constant abrasion of getting in and out of the seats will eventually wear heavily on the appearance. The only long-lasting way to solve the issue you describe is to replace the upholstery.

jcb-memphis

Hi.

I had a 1993 S4 with even deeper seats than the current crop of cars (recaro-esque if not actually oem recaros)...and my dealer got the local leather guys to "dye" the seats.

While the TraderAlex reply is probably the correct thing...I was quite happy for two years. Given the cost of new seats, Audi dealers that have a lot of S4/S6 *Ur* customers probably have a leather dye experience or know someone good in the area. I paid 30 dollars a seat and got a 1 year warranty back in 2000. I now have a 2000 2.7T and would do the same if I needed to "fix" my seats. The cost of new surfaces was way up there, even for Audi.

Good luck.

JB

DoubleB

My only concern would be if the dye runs, if wet..you could ruin some clothes.

mamizana

Thanks for the info. Could you tell they were dyed? What was the surface finish like? Thx.

mamizana

Thanks, everyone. Of course, any pix of the results are appreciated.

jcb-memphis

It was a little more "stiff" than before, but the 1993 S4 seat was way softer than current leather...I suspect it would be less of an issue today.

BTW, are your grills painted grey?

JB

mamizana

They are silver. I took them off and sprayed em with an exterior lacquer.

DWC_2.7T

Since most of my driving is solo commuting, my driver's seat get many times the wear of the passenger side. It would be great if the seats could be rotated to even the wear on the leather. Has any one looked into this?