Factory vs Dealer Installed Leather Seats and Trim - GreenHybrid

BoomerangThree · #1 (**permalink**) 07-21-2007, 12:40 PM

New owner of a TCH (Desert Sand, Nav, Leather), best car I've ever had (several Honda Accords, Nisson Maxima, Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep, VW, ect...) and love the 38.5 avg MPG so far.

Question: Is there a difference between factory vs distributor installed leather. On my invoice sticker, there was a charge and description under the Distributors Installed Options for "Leather Faced Seats with: the leading Edge of Comfor Technology".

Is there any difference, or is this just the way Toyota does it?

Thanks for a great resource for assistance.

BoomerangThree
Semper Fi...

gandyfire · #2 (**permalink**) 07-21-2007, 06:30 PM

Sounds like you live in the Southeast from the description. Bottom line...
If the passenger seat is not power it is not factory leather, bur installed at port.

BoomerangThree · #3 (**permalink**) 07-21-2007, 08:26 PM

Yep, Georgia. Anyone know if there is a difference in the leather. It's fine by me, just looking for some education.

jrb_nw · #4 (**permalink**) 07-21-2007, 10:21 PM

What you have may be better quality - the factory leather in Camrys seems a bit thin to me, like it won't hold up for 10 years like the stiff European hides.

BoomerangThree · #5 (**permalink**) 07-22-2007, 04:53 AM

Thanks everyone for the feedback. If anyone else has any input on Distributor installed leather seats versus, I guess factory installed leather seats, please add it for my further education.

Al Froio · #6 (**permalink**) 07-23-2007, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoomerangThree

Thanks everyone for the feedback. If anyone else has any input on Distributor installed leather seats versus, I guess factory installed leather seats, please add it for my further education.

I have the Distributor installed leather and it seems to be holding up very well but I was surprised to see how quickly the ash grey got dirty on the arm rest. I got leather because the fabric in my Avalon and my daughter's Camry wasn't too sturdy.

SanDiegoBlue · #7 (**permalink**) 07-24-2007, 10:30 PM

I had aftermarket leather installed on one of my previous cars, an Audi A4. I would never have aftermarket leather installed again. They had to take off door panels to install it, and after I got the car back there were door rattles I could never get completely fixed afterwards. Also, they scratched two of the interior chrome door handles, the armrest installation was never quite perfect despite them trying to fix it twice, the seams on the headrests were sloppy, and overall the installation didn't look as nice as factory leather. It could be that I'm just very picky, but that's my two cents.