What's up guys. I'm a newbie to the site and just wanted to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how cool and well-informed everybody seems to be.
To business.... I've got a '97 3.0 Premium with about 60K on it and for some reason (right after warranty expiration) both driver and passenger seats developed about a 1/2" rip right on the seam where the sides stick farthest out (about waist level). It looks like they just started pulling apart or something. Not huge but very irritating. Is there any kind of patch or leather filler that would work here? I checked past posts so everybody doesn't get annoyed, but it looks like I'm the only one who has this problem. Any advice? Should I take the hammer out of my back pocket BEFORE I get in (JK)?

 

I have the same problem. The seams like let go right where you get in and it looks horriable but i have 187,000 miles on mine. I think the only way to fix it is new leather seats

 

If the leather started to rip, which is most likely what happened. You can have those sections replaced. That is what happened to my passenger seat, luckily it happened under warranty. Find some upholstery(sp?) shop and have them give you an estimate. If your leather is in good condition you will not be able to notice the new pieces after they get broken in, since most places will dye the leather to match.

 

It didn't even start to rip, it kind of came unstitched. Has anybody taken the covers off, and is it easy? If I can get them off I bet it would be pretty easy to restitch.....

 

I don't know if you want to do it yourself, it is a big pain in the ___. I don't remember there being a zipper on the back so I think you will need to rip the stitches out. If it is just a small hole you might be able to fix it with it on the seat. You can get needles that look like a hook or claw. It will be hard to get the stitches to line up but you won't be able to tell.

 

I guess it's time to see if all those home-ec classes paid off in jr. high....
Thanks for the help.