Screwed over by upholstery shop. need options

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
I had my seats reupholstered. They were stiff and wearing out. New leather looks very nice; seats are very comfortable. I'm very happy with their appearance and fit.

Not sure how, but somehow I didn't think to check the heaters. Then the vehicle sat for a little while while I was using my other ride. First cold snap comes and no heat from my seats.

So, after some investigation, turns out the new upholstery has no heating elements! The guy offers no excuse other than heated upholstery was no longer available. And my original seat covers are now long gone. I could sue the guy in small claims court, but at best that would just get me back a few hundred dollars, not give me heat. So I'll think about what to do with the business later, but in the meantime I need to deal with my lack of heat.

I don't want cheap aftermarket crap or tacky added switches. What options, parts, etc are available? thank you
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Small claims would unlikely award any more than what you paid for the work, may not be worth the time, expense, stress, etc.
I drove for 40 years with no bun warmer, have them now, they are nice. I was unawares there was such a thing as heated upholstery, you would think leather would handle it fine. The seats do come out fairly easy, don't know if you can get to the pertinent bits.
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Oh I know. I'd be out time and money taking him to court, etc. It's just so frustrating. Even more so is the fact that he just could've told me and I would've just done something different. He made things worse - he removed a helpful working feature! I don't have to tell you that it takes a while for a diesel engine to warm up. Those seat heaters are a nice thing to have.

oem replacement elements are incredibly expensive, providing I can find the correct ones (based on my preliminary searching). sourcing salvage yards seats are a gamble because I don't know if those will work, or if all the elements will. and then this a$$ still ended up with my money. incredibly frustrating.
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
The only leather seat "covers" that had heater elements in them that I have removed to work on were in the wife's Cadillac SLS. Those tiny thin high resistance wires are/were bonded between the leather and a cloth backing material. I would guess/imagine the seat material would have to be sourced to work with somewhat similar sized seats and maybe wasn't any longer available to the upholstery guy. But, regardless, he should have let you know before getting along with deciding to order non-heated material and continuing with the job.

Guess I didn't offer any solutions/options. Sorry, but unless you can find some "universal" type heat elements to go under your new skins I'm not sure what will help. I think the reason for the "laminated" wires in the leather backing material I worked on was to keep them from moving/breaking/bunching up and breaking. At that time heated leathereplacement seat covers in matching factory colors were available on "x-bay" for a fraction of dealer price.
 
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mjydrafter

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Location
dsm, ia
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
I know it's not really what you had in mind, but I was looking around the frost heater site the other day and noticed he has heated seat pads available. Looked like they plug into the lighter.


IIRC only $30-40.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Look for some one parting out an mk 4 with heated leather seats. Even Passat seats will fit if you change the frame.
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
Look for some one parting out an mk 4 with heated leather seats. Even Passat seats will fit if you change the frame.
Is there a cut off on years? The initial reading I've done suggests there are relay boxes and thermostats that vary throughout the years.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I used 2003 Passat heated, power, leather seats into an 05 Golf and the connectors snapped right together. I’m thinking if it’s the 01 in your signature you may want to check that out first or be prepared to cut and splice.
 

mrfiat

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Location
Los Ranchos, NM
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI (Reflex Silver) , 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon (Black)
I have replaced the bottom leather seat cover on my Jetta and it was time consuming, but not too bad. I would think you could try getting some used seat covers from the junkyard and then removing the heating elements from them. They are glued in somehow, but maybe you can remove them without hurting them and then attach them to the new seat covers.

Has anyone tried this before?
 

jackbombay

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Location
Diesel knows best
TDI
A4 Jetta
The elements are sewn into the bottom side of the seat covers, well, they are on the velour covered seats. I have never taken apart a leather seat cover.
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
Did you're contract with shop say he was to install the heaters?

If not I think you'd be wasting your time going to law. Might even end up owing him for legal fees.
 

Lanp900

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2011
Location
PNW
TDI
ALH Golf 2001-Bert
Seat Heater Circuit Output Specifications?

Does anyone have data on amp output for the 5-position dial heated seat switch on the MKIVs?

I can't help but think that you might be able to get some success out of hooking a universal heated seat element kit up to the OE wiring, though the efficiency of the elements may be too far out of line to work.

To see what I am talking about, try searching for "Water Carbon Seat Seater" or "Dorman Seat Heater". Some of the water carbon ones even come with their own 5-position dial switch.

If we could get some technical specs on this, that would help a great deal. Regardless, I am planning to order a kit and test it this winter as I have been missing heaters, too.
 

mrfiat

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Location
Los Ranchos, NM
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI (Reflex Silver) , 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon (Black)
If the wires are sewn into the seat covers, then it should be just a matter of cutting all the stitches and sewing the wires into the new seat cover. (A pain in the butt to do, but doable)
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
The guy said replacement covers with heater elements were no longer available for him to order and I'd have to go aftermarket. He didn't bother to state that at the time of the installation. I wouldn't have had him do the job if that were the case (I'd have sourced replacements myself). and he essentially took no responsibility for the situation. I am out the money. Court would be a gamble at best and still not solve issue; it would only be a refund and still leave me without heat.

I've considered the aftermarket element route, but not sure about the specs. If there's too much resistance I'll burn holes in the leather like happened to some of the stock factory VW seats.

I might just start from scratch and see if I can cobble together different NOS pieces from eBay, ECS, etc.
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
If the wires are sewn into the seat covers, then it should be just a matter of cutting all the stitches and sewing the wires into the new seat cover. (A pain in the butt to do, but doable)
I think on the leather covers the wires are laminated between the back of the leather and a thin cloth backing material. These material(s) are usually bonded (glued?) together enough to make it very difficult to remove the tiny heater wires. I was able to find the broken/burnt wire in the Cadillac and splice it, but can't imagine "transplanting" an OEM heater.
 

jackbombay

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Location
Diesel knows best
TDI
A4 Jetta
I like heated seats, I added aftermarket ones to my sprinter ($20 per seat), and my jetta had them from the factory, but the drivers side has not worked in my Jetta for ~7 years now, I don't miss it all that much...
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
I've considered the aftermarket element route, but not sure about the specs. If there's too much resistance I'll burn holes in the leather like happened to some of the stock factory VW seats.
I thought the dash control shorted and burnt the seats.
They replaced both my controls in the dash.
They didn't replace both of my seats, only repaired the one that had a hole in it.
 

ToxicDoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Location
Virginia, US
TDI
2001 Jetta, S7, .216
I thought the dash control shorted and burnt the seats.
They replaced both my controls in the dash.
They didn't replace both of my seats, only repaired the one that had a hole in it.
The seat element itself isn't the issue, but the calibration to the controls would be.
 
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