I have a question regarding Daniel Pinkwater’s comments about getting into and out of the New Beetle. I have a '99 New Beetle, which I just love, and yes, it is easy to get into and out of. That’s not really an issue for me, since I’m not particularly heavy. However, since I’m only 5’4", I do keep the driver’s seat pretty far forward so that I can reach the foot pedals.
Unbeknownst to me, every time that I get into the car, and because of the seat position, my back is rubbing against the back of my seat on the door edge. Over the years, this has caused me to wear a very large hole in the seatback upholstery. I have taken it to somebody who will re-upholster it for several hundred dollars, but then I think that I’d only start wearing a hole in it again. When the re-upholstery guy saw the hole, he asked me if it was caused by a pet, which it wasn’t–we don’t have any pets, but that’s what it looks like.
Plus,if I do re-upholster the back, it won’t really match the seat upholstery, which doesn’t bother me a bit, but my husband wants to have the seat reupholstered as well, which would get way too expensive.
What should I do, if anything?
I have the exact same problem – right down to our heights, year and make of vehicle!
I’m going to sew a cute patch on it. Sounds tacky, and my husband will hate it, but it beats spending big bucks on new upholstery. I thought I’d find something that kind of matches the car and looks purposeful (almost).
Another idea is to search out wrecking yards and pick and pull type places. They might have a wrecked beetle with your same upholstery color. You could take the seat of the rollers and replace the whole seat. I’m assuming the upholstery guy would need to remove the seat anyway. I’m not sure how difficult it would be. I had an OLD bug (68) years ago and this is what I did. It came with horrible cracked vinyl seats. I fixed it up and didn’t want to cover them or buy new ones. So I found an oldie at a junk yard with some descent cloth seats and replaced them. The year wasn’t even the same, but they fit. I did it all myself and I was only 18 years old (that easy)!
A Volkswagen Dealer Should Be Able To Order The Exact Seat-Back Upholstery For Your Car.
The material should be the entire covering for the seat-back and would probably have to be professionally installed. Be prepared for a possible shock when given the cost of each. Be sure you’re sitting down.
The only other option I can think of is to find a gently used, low miles, complete seat at an auto recycling (salvage) yard. The seat would have to be a match for your’s, mechanically (manual/power/heated, etcetera) and aesthetically (color/fabric), minus the worn out spot. I’m guessing that higher mileage cars would have a worn spot just ike your’s does. A seat from a car newer than 99 might work if the same style and upholstery “ran” for several model years. A recycler may be able to tell you. Switching the seats shouldn’t be a big deal. A dealer could tell you how difficult it is and what is involved.
Make some calls to a VW Dealer about the covering and an upholstery shop that does cars for installation (The dealer can maybe refer you). Call some recyclers for ideas on a like-new previously-owned seat.
P.S. You might have to alter your ingress and egress routine. This could involve moving the seat back during egress and moving the seat forward after ingress.
If it does not have side air bags built into the seat, you may be able to switch the two front seat covers.