Auto upholstery NYC: the dark leather cab of a black SUV at night in the city

For drivers, operators & fleets

Seats Wear Out in the Same Four Places

Auto upholstery NYC drivers and operators book to fix those spots: cars, black cars, vans, trucks and buses, worked where they park.

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The wear map

Four Spots, Every Vehicle

A seat almost never fails in the middle. Catch these four early and auto upholstery NYC work stays a repair instead of a recover.

A worn, cracked outer bolster on a dark driver seat — **The door-side bolster**Every entry and exit drags across the same corner. Scuff repair.

A scuffed aisle-side edge on a bus seat — **The aisle edge**Bags and shoulders scrub the seat nearest the walkway. Scratch repair.

Shoe marks on the back of a vehicle seat — **The seat back**The row behind marks it with shoes and knees. Scuff repair.

A bright rub mark left by a seat belt buckle on vinyl — **The belt line**A buckle polishes one bright line into the surface. Vinyl restoration.

What we work on

From One Car to a Depot

Same trades, different seats. Each one fails in its own place and is fixed a different way.

Front leather seats in a car with the door open

Cars & SUVs

Fails at: Bolsters and the driver seat
Fixed by: Panel repair or one new panel

Panel replacement

The dark leather rear bench of a black car

Black cars & limos

Fails at: Rear bench and armrests
Fixed by: Recolor, or recover the bench

Leather restoration

Two rows of vinyl seats inside a passenger van

Vans & shuttles

Fails at: Outer edges and grab points
Fixed by: Vinyl panels swapped seat by seat

Vinyl repair

Worn vinyl bench seats in a box truck cab

Truck cabs

Fails at: Seams and the seat base
Fixed by: New foam and a heavier cover

Foam replacement

Transit buses

Fails at: Cut seats and burns
Fixed by: Insert panels, or the whole run

Bus reupholstery

School buses

Fails at: Splits along the seat top
Fixed by: Sewn or replaced covers

School bus seats

Blue seats down the length of a coach interior

Coaches & charters

Fails at: Fade and wear across a roster
Fixed by: Vehicles rotated through in batches

Fleet reupholstery

Three sizes of job

Cut, Panel or Cover

Most quotes come down to which of these a seat needs. Photographs usually settle it before we drive out.

A torn black bus seat with the foam showing

RepairOne cut, one burnA single tear is filled and grained, or closed and sealed. The rest of the seat is untouched. Seat repair.

A vehicle seat with one replaced panel blended into the rest

PanelOne panel, not one seatWhen the damage covers a panel, that panel is cut out and a new one sewn in to match. Panel replacement.

RecoverThe whole seatWhen the surface is cracking everywhere, the cover comes off and a new one goes on the same frame. Vinyl seat restoration.

One driver seat

Out, Recovered, Back In

A typical auto upholstery NYC job on the seat that wears first, in four moves.

A driver seat unbolted and standing beside the open vehicle door

01Seat outFour bolts and the seat is on the bench, where the back can be reached.

The same seat with its cover off, foam and frame showing

02Cover offThe old cover comes off in one piece and becomes the pattern for the new one.

New foam and a new side panel ready to fit on the seat

03Foam and panelCollapsed foam is replaced, then the new panel is fitted and pulled tight. Foam replacement.

The finished seat refitted in the vehicle with the door open

04Back on the railsThe seat is bolted back, the belt checked and the cab wiped down.

Materials

Built for the Vehicle

A shuttle seat and a black-car bench are not covered in the same thing. Vehicle interiors also sit under the federal motor vehicle safety standards — see NHTSA’s FMVSS.

Close view of black automotive leather grain — **Automotive leather**Cars, black cars and executive vans. Top-grain leather.

Close view of heavy commercial vinyl — **Heavy vinyl**Shuttles, trucks and everything on a roster. Commercial vinyl.

Close view of woven transit seat fabric — **Transit fabric**Bus and coach seats that have to hide wear. Performance fabric.

Close view of high-density seat foam cut clean — **Seat foam**Cut to the original shape, not a flat sheet. Custom cushions.

Before & after

Same Seat, Back in Service

Two seats kept on their own frames. More in the before and after gallery.

A shuttle seat with split, cracked vinyl

The same shuttle seat recovered in new vinyl

Shuttle seat. Split vinyl across the seat and base. Recovered on the same frame, in a heavier grade.

A car driver seat with a worn, cracked bolster

The same driver seat with the bolster repaired and recolored

Car driver seat. A worn, cracked bolster. Repaired, grained and recolored without touching the other panels.

Downtime

We Work While It Is Parked

A vehicle earns nothing on a lift. Seat work happens in the hours it would be standing anyway.

Overnight, at your yard. Seats come out and go back the same night. See overnight service.
A few vehicles at a time. The roster keeps running while we work through it. See fleet reupholstery.
Paperwork first. Your certificate of insurance arrives before we arrive.

Questions

Auto upholstery NYC questions

What does auto upholstery NYC work cost?

Auto upholstery NYC work is quoted per seat after we see it, in person or from photos. A single panel and a full recover are different jobs. We do not quote off a list. Start with a free estimate.

Do you come to the vehicle?

Yes. Most seats are worked at your yard or garage, and only a full recover goes back to our shop through pickup and delivery.

Can you match the seats we are keeping?

Yes. Color and grain are matched to the untouched seats with color matching, so one repaired seat does not stand out.

Do you work on private cars as well as fleets?

Yes. One car, a black-car pair, or a whole roster of buses.

Repair or recover?

Repair one cut. Replace a panel when the damage covers it. Recover when the surface is cracking across the seat. See seat repair.

Do you do boats too?

Yes — that work has its own pages. See marine upholstery.