2000 Acura Integra
Kids have been kicking the front seat apparently - a 9x5 inches area is now exposed and the sponge inside is spilling
It is closer to where feet rest.
What product, brand works on it?
Called Kragen - they asked me to go to Michael’s for it
It is easy to iron without removing the seat - I am being told of the iron-on patch as the solution?
Any other tips? I want to fix it asap - I don’t normally delay repairing things - this one escaped my attention for all these time and got bigger.
Remove four bolts and the seat comes out, most likely. I would then take off the upholstery and sew in a patch- an iron-on isn’t going to stay on for long. Can you post a picture of the damage?
Unless you’re planning on giving the kids away for Xmas, you might as well just get a ready-made horse blanket seat cover and have the upholstery repaired when they get older.
I had one of those covers in my old pickup, and they’re super rugged.
In my area, those seat covers tend to identify those drivers who are too poor to pay for an upholstery repair, let alone take care of their car mechanically
The type of repair that the OP is contemplating should be considered to be only a temporary/emergency repair. When it comes time to sell/trade this car, a patch (of non-matching material) on the seats is likely to decrease the car’s value by many more dollars than a proper repair would cost.
I like mountainbike’s suggestion of using some extremely sturdy seat covers until the kids grow a bit older, at which time a proper repair should be done.
@db4690…I know what you are talking about but it’s basically just a “stereotype” because the people that think that way do not have x-ray vision. I know people who put nice seat covers on brand new seats.
Db, you made me laugh. Isn’t it strange that people are afraid of being perceived as poor but they’re perfectly comfortable being seen as pompous. Some of my favorite people are poor. Like ME, for example!
I drive a pretty mediocre car, and look like a slob, because I buy clothes at Costco and tend to hang onto clothing way longer than I should. I probably couldn’t even donate some of my clothing
However, there are plenty of “poor” people around here who tend to drive flashy cars, which they can’t truly afford
I will say this, though. Even when I did have cars with torn up upholstery, I never used covers
What screams poverty louder?
The torn up seat, with the coil springs poking out?
It kinda depends on what kind of seat cover you choose, I have a friend with aloha print seat covers and another who took a concert t-shirt and installed it on the seatback of the drivers seat of the car. Most buy the covers to personalize the interior,i’d rather have that than look at a ripped seat. Repairing the damage might not cost that much.
I have gone to an automobile trim and upholstery shop and have found the prices quite reasonable. I have had new inserts as they are called for the front seat and I think at the time the price was less than $100, but it has been some time ago. I had a new headliner installed and I think the price was around $125 at the time.
Here is one way to find a trim shop that does good work at reasonable prices. Talk to the used car manager a dealer when the manager isn’t busy. These managers that I have encountered are friendly and a wealth of information on where to get these things done. Why? They prepare the trade-ins for resale and often farm out work like this. They know the shops that do good work for reasonable prices. I had a transmission problem and talked to the used car manager at a dealership. I found out that rather than do the work in-house, he farmed out the work to an independent transmission shop. The used car manager has to show a profit and the independent shop did work for less than he could have it done in-house. I went to that shop for my work. I would bet that a used car manager can steer you to a reasonable trim shop.
"But appearances can be deceiving . . . " @db4690–Back in 2006 I went to our local Chevrolet dealer in search of a minivan. The dealer had an advertisement in the paper about some Uplander minivans that were “program” vehicles and the prices were good. I had on my old work clothes and was driving my battered 1978 Oldsmobile. I stood around 15 minutes before a young salesman came up to help me. I told him what I wanted and we did go for a drive in the Uplander. I stopped on the drive and picked up my wife from her office at our university where my wife had a high level administrative position. When we got back to the dealership, I told the salesman that I was shopping, but would probably be back. The next day I came in my 2000 Ford Windstar and in my dress clothes. I was barely out of the car when a salesman was right there. I asked by the name for the salesman I had talked to the previous day and was told that it was his day off. I got back in my Windstar and said that I would come back the next day. Suddenly, there was a mistake and the first salesman I had talked to was there after all. I bought the Uplander straight out for cash.
“Good point about the poor people in flashy cars. That’s one of my biggest beefs about leases…they enable people to drive cars that they can’t afford.”
+1
A perfect example of this syndrome is an old acquaintance of mine from high school days, whom I see occasionally. While our salaries during our working years were very similar, and our retirement benefits are almost the same (his actually a bit higher than mine), our financial positions are very different.
I pay cash for my mid-priced cars, maintain them better than the mfr specifies, and tend to drive them for 9 or 10 years–by which time I have saved enough to pay cash for my next car. This other guy gets a new Cadillac–on lease–every 3 years or so.
My mortgage is paid off–early.
He rents a small apartment in a sketchy neighborhood.
There are other differences, but suffice it to say that I am in a much more comfortable position than he is.
What made the difference between my situation and his?
He has had the “gambling monkey” on his back for at least 50 years, and I would rather eat dirt than go to a gambling casino, whereas he goes to casinos at least a couple of times each month.
This guy can no more afford the fancy car that he drives than he can afford any other luxury, but, as he told me…“When I pull up to the hotel in Atlantic City, it is very important that I am driving a flashy car”. And, as you probably guessed, Atlantic City is where he leaves most of his money. But…he gets to drive away in a flashy car, even if he has no money in his wallet when he leaves.
It all comes down to a question of values, I suppose.
Db, in my area people would just think you are paying too much attention to other peoples stuff. Of course in my area it is quite common to have what is referred to as a “work” car of “winter” car which is a piece of junk that has delayer going to the junkyard for a couple of years so it can get you to work and back and to let it be eaten up by the winter salt or dinged by the fender benders during snowstorms.
