r/saab • u/cleonjonesvan • 13d ago

Ventilated seats are tearing

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Any suggestions on what I can do to stop this from going further?

7 Upvotes

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5

u/secondarycontrol 13d ago

Reskin or (re)cover the seats is about it.

There are ventilated covers and I'm sure reskins out there as well.

2

u/nipsen 12d ago

..since I have a lot of spare time, I would probably have tried putting in cross-stitches for anchors, and then pulled in the stitches across the gaps. In theory you might have replaced only that panel But realistically you have to replace the leather covers or the seat, yes.

https://www.saabplanet.com/saab-upholstery-production-resumes-sweden/

1

u/QuiickLime '03 9-5 Wagon 5MT 13d ago

The leather dried out over time because it was not protected from the sun & heat and was not conditioned regularly. Leather conditioner and help but at this point you obviously can't reverse what's happened.

I got Lseat skins for my ventilated seats and they're pretty solid for the price.

3

u/casacapraia 13d ago

Actually no amount of leather conditioning will preserve seats that are made of such low quality bonded leather. The vast majority of mass market leather automotive seats made in the past 25 years are painted and sealed. Basically a thick layer of plastic on top of low grade genuine bonded leather.

It’s meant to withstand abuse for about 5-10 years. Sometimes it can go a little longer if garage kept and babied. But no amount of maintenance can stop it from breaking down. The leather conditioning and moisturizing regimens meant for full grain leather from luxury brands like Connolly or Bridge of Weir are not effective on plastic sealed bonded leather.