Food for Thought: Leather Upholstery from CA

[Koolaba]

Hi all, esepcially prospective Skoda owners,

 

Rencently I have the opportunity to ride in one of the Premiercab Skoda Superb taxi. The leather upholstery is done locally. Prior to this, I have viewed the leather interior of a Skoda Superb which was delivered to a SOG member in early October.

 

To my surprise, the leather upholstery in the cab and the private car is provided by the same contractor.

 

The main tell-tale sign is located at the rear bench seat at the middle. There is a seam on the leather upholstery which is found 5 to 10 cm away from the seat cushion which supports the back. This is a common technique to connect 2 adjacent pieces of leather to make up for the deficiency in length.

 

The second tell-tale sign is the inclusion of leather upholstery on the door panels of the Superb, without the need for extra cash top-up. For the Superbs which have been delivered prior to Oct 2006, the original cloth upholstery is left intact even though the seats have been upholstered by the previous leather contractor, which is renowned for its workmanship and quality.

 

The third tell-tale sign is the pitch of the thread found at the seams where 2 adjacent pieces of leather are sewn together. The fineness of the pitch is related to the genuity of the leather. For leather which has a higher percentage of genuity, the distance of the pitch is finer compared to half-leather and PVC. From what I have observed, the pitch is coarser for the leather upholstery provided by the current contractor.

 

As seen by one of the new Superb owners whose leather upholstery has been done by the current contractor, the grain and quality of the leather have taken a step backwards. Workmanship has dropped considerably. There was excessive leather on one section of the rear seat bench, revealing a bulge. (Nobody has sat at the rear before, just in case anybody thinks that the bulge is a crease.)

 

According to the owner, the cost of getting leather upholstery installed has not been lowered even though the quality and workmanship are considerably poorer. To add to his woes, the leather seats of his Superb look no different from those found on the taxis.

 

To those potential Skoda owners who are keen to opt for leather interior, it could be a wise move to order a Skoda vehicle ditto leather. Besides having the flexibility to choose the colour and texture of the leather upholstery you desire, you will be assured that you will be getting your money's worth from a reputable leather upholstery provider.

 

The upgrade which is worth topping up are the rims provided by CA. Albeit they are not original Skoda rims, it is value for money considering the top-up price.

Edited October 7, 2006 by Koolaba

[Viperphoenix]

if i may add, if ur buying any new car with freebies or upgrades, write down exactly as in brand and colour of items provided cos luxury, classic, deluxe etc are too generic.

[Fluffy]

Superb only comes in classic trim in S'pore and leather is not OEM factory leather...it is done by a sub-con in s'pore.

 

i didn't know they did leather for the doors. When i was down the last time when the superb was only available in Prestige Cab silver, SE said leather only for seats, no chance to have leather on the doors.

 

sigh.....

Edited October 9, 2006 by Fluffy

[Tashi]

hi bro

I wonder if the contractor can complete the leather on the doors as well? I find the fabric not as good in tropical humid Singapore, as i prefer leather so that it is easier to clean, especially if someone else were to sit in our cars with sweaty arms and all. I wonder if the contractor can redo just the leather bits for the doors, and how much for 4 doors?

 

kindly advise?

 

bless

tashi

[Koolaba]

For the new leather sub-contractor, leather upholstery is provided for the door panels, albeit the quality is lower than the previous contractor.

 

For the previous leather sub-contractor which is renowned in the industry for its workmanship and standards, leather upholstery on the door panel is available at an extra cost.

[Koolaba]

You can ask the contractor to provide leather upholstery on the door panels of the Superb for $350. Spindoctor29 has done it prior to the delivery of his Superb.

[Tashi]

hi bro

sorry for my trivia again. So how long does the car need to be at the contractor's place for the 4 door panel work? you reckon? couple of hours (meaning, can sit and wait there), or gonna take longer?

 

bless

tashi

[Koolaba]

It should be done within half a day. I will check out the duration for you again.

[Ixus]

Hi are you refering to the old contractor or the new contractor that can do up the door panel for $350? thinking of doing mine too. thanks.

[Ak007]

Hi Guys,

I think its the wrong title to post under , but anyway can you guys help me , where i can get the arm rest for my Octy . The spare parts says its $1200 .

I checked with 1-2 stores , they say they dont have it...

 

Thanks and regards,

[Lightspeed]

Get the oem armrest from ebay or xinzhong... about $150 ...do a search ... I've posted this info several times

[Fluffy]

octy doesn't come with armrest? Czech auto shd add that in as std item. The Tour 1.6(A) is already more than $60k ....... the least they could do is the armrest....

[Simpleman]

Octy armrest is an option, non standard.

Bonnet heat insulator also dun have. Gotta sweet talk

the SE.

 

btw, is parking sensor standard?

[Lightspeed]

Different trim levels

[Koolaba]

Yes, Spindoctor29's leather interior on the seats and door panels is done by the previous contractor which CA has engaged.

Edited October 9, 2006 by Koolaba

[Cccs]

TOMO LEATHER definitely can do up the panels for the Superb. Previously my family owned the VW Passat 1.8T. It was done by tomo leather too. I highly suspect the Superb TDI's leather is done by them too.

[Koolaba]

CA could have possibly implemented some cost-cutting measures. I also have doubts that the current leather upholstery for new Skoda vehicles is done by Tomo. Having sat in 2 Skoda Superb cabs in the past week and having seen Viperphoenix's one week old Superb 1.8T, I am very sure that CA has engaged the same leather sub-contractor to provide the upholstery for taxis and private vehicles.

 

Like I have mentioned in the start of this thread, there are so many similarities found between Viperphoenix's ride and the taxis with regards to the leather upholstery. The seam which runs across the centre rear seat is the most significant tell-tale sign. The sag in the leather upholstery is another give-away.

[Try_conti]

Soli, parking sensor oso dun have !!! You have to sweet talk more.

 

Actually, not too sure if bonnet heat insulator is a good idea since the engine is so hot. Maybe the absence of insulator is a good idea, sort of like a heat sink ?

 

Hmmm, talking about arm-rest, must go find one .....