We get lots of calls every week of people wanting repairs and yet not fully understanding the technology that lies beneath providing safety and comfort.
Seat Repair Fact: There are many types of seats with multiple options when considering seat repair. Knowledge is key to reaching expectations, that includes OEM safety performance.
Meaning the variation of how a seat is repaired can vary different even among a single manufacture.
Does it have a seat heater?
Is it a bonded seat cover?
Does it have airbag or sensor connected to the airbag system?
The list can go on and on.
Understanding what is inside the seat can be more important to ensure your safety that what you see on the outside.
All good things to consider in choosing the right repair shop to return your seat to visual appeal while maintaining OEM safety performance. That should be one of your expectations.
As a consumer, it probably isn’t always a clear as to what these items mean or do in the bigger picture. Asking questions and testing repair shops to make sure you get OEM safety after the repair is more important than ever with today’s technology on the inside of your vehicle.
Some of today's technology is there for your safety, others for your comfort, what I am saying is; have all the information necessary to make an informed repair decision for OEM safety and comfort in the years ahead.
Asking questions and getting actionable knowledge to understand that the repair shop of choice has your expectations in mind when they give you an estimate. If this was 15 years ago, you could get away with simple repairs, that is not how seats are produced anymore, they are part of the overall vehicles safety systems and should be cared for / repaired that way.
Do all shops understand the concept of the airbags and the other safety equipment?
A shop that doesn’t understand how these systems works will jeopardize your safety others riding with you.
If there's an issue, is the shop able to solve it correctly without sending you down the road only find it out at an inopportune time that your safety system was not tested, and repaired properly.
Having specialized equipment (OEM scan tools ensures safe repairs / operation) to diagnose such issues that arise.
Sometimes this may even mean it might cost more than you expect as not to compromise built in safety features that protect you in the event of a collision. Be wary of ways to cheat in this area, this is the last place to cut corners.
So what else lies under the cover? You may want to also look at the seat pad. This is an opportune time to perform repairs on this item.
Addressing this issue at this time not only makes good sense, given the fact the cover is already off and it will cost a lot more to do this at a later date.
It could mean a better fit of the cover, prevent future wear problems and also sit as it did when it was new.
To best describe what happens to foam is it slowly sinks to the point that you might feel like you are sitting in a hole or crooked. In either case very uncomfortable. Foam pads are comprised of many little air pockets or balloons. Over time those balloons pop and the foam compresses, thus giving you the effect of sitting in a hole.
This can also happen when getting in and out and sitting on the edge first, quite common with trucks where you need to step up to get in. This can also leave you with a sore back from bad posture or constantly leaning to compensate. This is a slow process that happens over time and one day your body can’t take it any more and you notice the seat is now uncomfortable / something is wrong.
What about the other options like seat heaters, sensors, seat belts and many options that make your seat tilt, move forward, backwards, up and down? Yes this does requires degree of knowledge of the many wires and connectors along with a feel for 12 volt circuits.
Remember new technology inside cars just isn’t located in one area, it’s everywhere. Just like the concept of the airbags and the safety equipment, having specialized equipment like an OEM scanner will help solve many issues that a generic scan tool cannot. This is why we choose the more expensive approach to repair and reach OEM performance or better for all vehicles repaired at our shop.
Not all wires are the same, many carry different levels of voltage not knowing that leads to potential problems if repaired incorrectly.
Because safety systems are almost all interconnected throughout the vehicle, an improper repair can cause electrical issues elsewhere in the vehicle, what worked on one model creates problem with another, so getting it right the first time matters.
A fully equipped shop will also have access to a database that outlines procedures, diagrams, and safety concerns for OEM repairs.
We live in the Information age, therefore it is even more critical for repairs to follow a specific procedure outlined by the OEM to ensure safety in the event of an impending crash. Today’s vehicles are only as good as their weakest link, a poor repair might look OEM, but if the system isn’t tested during and after seat repairs, you won’t know until it is supposed to protect you at the moment of a crash.
The days of a simple forward and back seat with minimal wires are gone. If they can make cars that can drive themselves, what makes you think they will leave the seat alone. In some cases ”the black box” which every car now has, involves multiple sensors in the seat that determine weight and position of the seat for maximum safety.
Finally, the covering, this also something that is not always as it appears. All though this is the part that you see it can also have some hidden agenda. Earlier I wrote about airbags, many of these when deployed will burst through a seam in the cover of the backrest.
Now the majority of them will come out the outer edge of the backrest cover meaning the seam that faces the door. They just added inner airbags that pop out of the inside of the backrest between the driver and passenger.
Why should your repair facility know all this?
This requires a special thread that will give way when deployment happens.
Seat Repair Fact: Using the wrong thread or sewing that seam incorrectly can have devastating results.
if the airbag is deployed in the wrong manner it may not protect you, and it might even physically hurt you. The idea of having an airbag in the cushion portion to elevate your body is becoming more common. This is in the lower area of the cushion, all thought it doesn’t pop out of the seat it needs to be properly reinstalled.
On to the materials, the most common are leather, vinyl and cloth is a close 3rd. Many people have a hard time distinguishing the difference between leather and vinyl.
Vinyl has come a long ways from the past and I can see where the difference can get confusing. It is easy to understand why sometimes customers of ours are shocked that their “leather seat” are not as much leather as they might of thought. Areas like the seating areas (where your body touches) are normally leather, However, side panels, bolsters and backs of the front seats are commonly vinyl.
And their are times that in a car with leather interior may have a the whole rear seat in vinyl. This is sometimes known as “leather trimmed.” Even Cars like a Mercedes and BMW may have vinyl interiors mistaken for leather, they are that good.
Cloth interiors generally don’t hold surprises like the leather/ vinyl interiors do. When it comes to repairs, most but not all materials are available for every car and sometimes buying a new cover is the only option.
In the repair process, when fixing a cover, seams are opened up and the warn or bad pieces can be replaced individually for a cost savings and in the case where a replacement part is no longer available it can also breathe new life into a worn seat.
This is where the knowledge comes to play, understanding how the seat is constructed and why some are built one way, and others are different.
A skilled craftsman will replace the damaged parts, replace the stitching as original, including decorative top stitching and construct the cover back to OEM standards to ensure many years of use.
This only works if all of the above is followed and understood. Repairs are never complete unless safety is followed and done the OEM standards.
As the automotive industry evolves, the interior along with everything in the car is getting more sophisticated and needs a higher level of understanding and thought process to ensure OEM performance and satisfaction.