ukchris Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 I have a 2013 Caterham SE that I’m thinking I’m going to sell, the body is bare aluminum and while it is in good condition it certainly isn’t shiny, similarly the original cloth seats are very sun-faded and the drivers seat has a hole cut for a harness strap. Given some people like their 7’s shiny and fancy and others like them more *natural* I’m debating whether I should have the seats re-covered and the body polished before advertising it - yet the other half of me things it’d be better to leave those choices to the buyer, they may want different seats and not want to take on polishing duties etc. For those that have bought and sold what are your thoughts? I’ve been quoted over $1,000 to have two seats reupholstered which seems a little crazy when I could buy two Kirmes seats with covers for that. Would love some insights thanks, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Shine it up and fix the seats. People judge books (and cars) by their cover:). How many times have you seen a worn looking car for sale and the comments are always negative,e.g.: If it looks that bad, imagine what the condition is of the stuff you can't see, etc. IMHO, of course.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Yes, people are drawn to shinny objects. It also depends on who you are looking to sell it to. Shinny and clean cars are better for the street, C&C, car shows and track cars not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Makes sense on polishing it up, how about seats? They are solid but faded, have them covered (est. around $1k) or replace with something like Kirkey rave seats? Again it seems people have very different desires but looks are important too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 At todays' exchange rate, a new pair of cloth seats from Caterham is -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 I hear you but similarly for someone who wants race seats it’s like throwing $1k away isn’t it? I’m not going to pay $1k to have the seats re-done, may as well buy new if it’s that much or try Kirkey or some others from Jegs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 You're the one who brought up spending $1000 to recover the seats, I was just providing another option at a similar cost I do think that spending money to go non-stock, and do so in a way that isn't highly popular, will narrow your market. For better feedback on the seats, it might help to post some photos. The consensus may be they fine as they are, or it could be they are a major problem and you need to do something. My guess is the former, but we really don't have anything to go by. -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Let’s see if this will work from my phone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 They dont look all that bad to me. What engine/suspension/transmission does it have (i.e., how likely is it to become a track car?). As you note, the seats will be a replacement item if it will see significant track duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 I could always get a pair of these https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1130r?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwn7j2BRDrARIsAHJkxmwC-0ZWF7iSko4aPI3YjW6qyrvctIAspCFz2ddn2DG0vlDft_nsYNsaAlbXEALw_wcB to tidy thinks up. It is a 2013 SV, 1.6 Sigma with individual throttle bodies, 6-speed, LSD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Hard to tell if the passenger seat is far more faded or if that's just the lighting in the different photos. I'd be tempted to give both seats a very thorough cleaning and proceed from there. If the fading is inconsistent and it looks like the seats don't match but the fabric is in good shape, I'd investigate upholstery sprays that restore faded cloth, or speak with a good detail shop in your area. That could bring the seats back to a level where they don't stand out even if you decide to go down the polished aluminum path. I'd also speak with the upholstery folks to see what they would charge to properly finish the edges of the crotch belt cut (or practice on an old shirt or rag and see if you can do it yourself.) If $100 makes it look finished, it might be worth it. Regardless, I don't think they look that bad. Someone may decide they want to replace them, but they are at least serviceable. -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papak Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 How much do you figure it will cost to polish out the aluminum? 22” wide seats will be a very tight fit (if at all). Try Kirky drag seats (same as the road race style but without the shoulder wings) with covers. Much more cost effective,and they will definitely fit width wise (17-19”). They are actually quite comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 (edited) I'd be tempted to give both seats a very thorough cleaning and proceed from there. If the fading is inconsistent and it looks like the seats don't match but the fabric is in good shape, I'd investigate upholstery sprays that restore faded cloth, or speak with a good detail shop in your area. I'd also speak with the upholstery folks to see what they would charge to properly finish the edges of the crotch belt cut They are better than I expected. The Caterham cloth seats always faded badly. I would not replace them but: 1) Remove them from the car and give them a thorough clean 2) Get a pro upholsterer to do a repair on that belt hole - probably $100 if you take the base to him. 3) If the fading still looks bad after cleaning and repair then look for Dupli-color Fabric Coating (used to be known as Fabric Color by Mar-Hyde until 3M bought it out). Its a spray dye for refreshing seats like this. You mask up the non-fabric areas you do not want to touch (e.g. edge piping, logo, etc) then spray them. Surface prep is critical. Very light coat then wait for 10-15 mins then repeat cycle again and again. Let cure for 2 weeks before using. Patience. Rustoleum has a similar product but I never have used it. I used the Mar-Hyde product on faded black cloth Caterham seats close to 15 years ago - worked well and no-one ever noticed. You can buy this stuff on Amazon. https://www.duplicolor.com/product/vinyl-and-fabric-coating/ If the spray treatment seems too much for you then I bet a good auto detailer would know how to bring it back too with some other product. If it was me then I would just do steps 1 and 2 and leave step 3 for the buyer unless it still looked really bad. Edited May 27, 2020 by Croc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamericano Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Definitely polish and clean the seats (see above). It occasionally amazes me how much looking good affects buyers, when purely cosmetic and easily remedied. I certainly would not change the seats out. If the buyer does not like your new choice, it's wasted money, as others have said. A good detailer can work miracles. We sold a 30 that anyone would say needed a repaint. The detailer cost about $100 and easily added $10,000 to what we got. Get references and talk to a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastg Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 I worked in the car trade, so this is my opinion. Tatty interiors always hurt sales, it show lack of interest, lack of respect, abuse. The rest of the car needs to be clean, very clean. A nice interior and clean can is you best return on your pre-sale investment. There are some detail shops that work on exactly this, there used to be a shop in Chicago called Carnica, I guess that were taken over by Dent Wizard. Every Monday morning we would inspect and clean all the cars we had taken in trade over the weekend. The ones we were going to keep we would line up, a small van would arrive and he would work most of the day. He would fix paint chips and scuffs, small dents faded seats and carpet. The difference me made to a car was nothing short of staggering. So try and contact you local detail/dent repair shops and see what you can find. Make the seats look good/better the cheapest way you can and clean the rest of the car, detailed cleaning. That will give you the best resale value for the lowest cost. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Understood and agreed, I just shampooed the seats which while cleaner made little real difference, i don’t think I said but they are black, or were anyway, there are still a few unfaded areas. Looking into hole repair and dye options now while they dry out completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukchris Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Started dyeing the seats and they look 100x better, have a slightly “crispness” to them but after two coats I’m very pleased at this stage. Some before and after comparisons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Wow - what an amazing transformation. I have used that product before but even so this is a big before/after comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastg Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Wow is right, that is going to make an amazing difference to the way the car presents, even the pictures are going to look much better Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 they look 100x better Usually when I see a comment like this, I think someone's hyperbole generator has been turned up to 11. However, this time, I'm not sure it's even on. Very impressive result! -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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