Leather Car upholstery - Karlsson (Bangalore)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by chetan

Any Duster folks here with Leather seats done at Karlsson ? Especially for the woodland brown ?

Two friends of mine have gotten their leather upholstery done by Karlsson. Though the vehicles in question are not Dusters, the work done is very good indeed.

[stormsearcher]

Who are the other leather upholsterers for cars in Bangalore? I went to Karlsson for a quote and it was ridiculously expensive.

[deetjohn]

Upholstery with genuine leather is quite expensive. Affordability wise, I think Karlsson is much better than Stanley. Why don't u try artificial leather in areas with less contact, like seat back and all. That can bring the cost down to great extend.

Originally Posted by stormsearcher

Who are the other leather upholsterers for cars in Bangalore? I went to Karlsson for a quote and it was ridiculously expensive.

Also try Imperial leather near Bannerghatta road. There is a thread with details in the directory. I find them great VFM considering the fit and finish.

[yosbert]

Got my car upholstered at Kärlsson about a month back. They have introduced Napa leather recently, and were offering a (relatively) good deal as an introductory offer. Went for the tan color since it matched quite nicely with my car color.

Since mine was the first Grand i10 they were doing, they needed an extra day to get the templates for the seat. Dropped it on a Friday morning and picked up the next day. Workmanship is top notch, but that is to be expected given the price. Extremely satisfied with the final end product.

Note that Mr. Sajith no longer deals with the customers directly and a person named Mr. Suresh is the point of contact. I will let some pictures do the final talking.

The rear seats.


The front seats.


Kärlsson.


And finally, a picture of my beauty.

[premc44]

About 18 months back, i got the Karlsson treatment for my Pearl Black VW Vento. The seats were done in Beige Scandinavian leather. Not only has it enhanced the looks of the car, it is practically maintenance free. In the last 18 months, I have applied Megs leather polish twice, that is all. More than anything else, these leather seats are quite comfortable, especially with extra thigh and lumbar support padding. Looks good as new even now. The 35 K may be a bit expensive, but good leather is always expensive. A wallet costs almost ₹1000, may be even more for designer brands. No regrets for me. Let these two photos do the talking.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...e-dsc_0006.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...e-dsc_0009.jpg

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by premc44

About 18 months back, i got the Karlsson treatment for my Pearl Black VW Vento. The seats were done in Beige Scandinavian leather. Let these two photos do the talking.

And talk they do! Awesome work - it looks like OEM leather for a premium car! Nice colour choice too - it blends well with the beige and black interiors.

[ckmraja]

Purpose : Wanted a Nice seat covers to protect OEM Fabric Seat from Dirt / Stains – Budget of 10K

Background:

1. HONDA Aftersales Fabric Covers – Cost 6000 INR, was worried about the fit and finish. NO display piece also, have to wait for 1 Month to get the stocks

2. HONDA Aftersales PU Covers – Cost 8200 INR, Did not like the quality, was worried again about the fit and finish. Only one display piece available – No Stock

3. Looked at other shops for Good seat covers, visited many shops in General patters road in Chennai and was not satisfied with the quality – I mean the sluggish fit and finish

4. Moved from Art PU Leather to original leather option, I was willing to stretch my budget as I had to compromise on reverse camera and navigation (to postpone the purchase)

a. Looked for Ceralli, I was impressed with the website content, not sure about their familiarity with Car seats, more into Sofa’s
b. Stanley – a very costly affair as per my friends view
c. Read the reviews of Karlsson in Team Bhp, was very much inclined towards it , as the review gave Thumbs-up for the dedication in work to detail, experience in doing automotive seating for a long period, have done for a wide range of cars (you could see from their website)

Floated a request email for the Leather options and cost, within few hours got reply from Mr.Sajith –Proprietor of Karlsson.

He suggested me to go for Nappa leather over Scandinavian Leather, as nappa is more suitable for Chennai weather condition, quoted me 49 K INR for complete Nappa in both contact and non-contact areas. He also mentioned the original cost as 59K and gave me a discount of 10K, as the price was hefty asked for better competitive options, he advised to go for 1st grade Nappa in Contact (seating and backrest areas) and 2nd grade nappa in non-contact (backside of the seat) for which he quoted 40K,

In the package of 40K INR the below activities were covered
1. Remove the OE Fabric and fit it with Nappa leather for all the front and rear seats
2. Paste Nappa Leather on the fabric insert in Door Trim (all 4 Doors)
3. Plastic Arm rest in all 4 doors – to be covered with Leather
4. Remove and fit with leather around the Gear Shift Lever
5. Complete Leather cover for the Steering Wheel
6. Leather cover for the Handbrake lever
7. Front ARM REST (between Driver & Passenger) Seat covered with Leather

Finally decided to go with Karlsson (eventhough beyond my budget)

Fixed up a date for the fitment and told that I will chose the colour and pattern on the day I visit the shop, he immediately said they need one complete day for the fitment, the day before I have to choose the colour and pattern. I was OK with that.

Schedule for one Friday to visit Bangalore, started early in the morning from Chennai and reached Bangalore at 10 AM and directly went to Karlsson.

Had two colour option – Danish Cream or Champagne Beige, Preferred the Danish Cream as Champagne beige was not going well with the interior plastics colour of ANHC 2014. With regard to the pattern, there were lot of design to choose from, I choose the Sunrise pattern as it gave a better look. Left for the day and came the interesting day the fitment day

Went sharply at 9.30 AM, Sajith and his team were on time and ready for the fitment. The fitment team consist of two people (Altab+1) and a supervisor – Sathish,

they directly went it to the job removing the seats and other parts, within 30 mins my car was in completely dismantled condition (really painful to see your car in such situation)

By around 4 PM, my car was ready and completely furnished with Original Nappa Leather, will let the pictures do the talking

[ckmraja]

Some more pictures taken @ the time of removing the seats and Door Trims

[Seran Manian]

Very nice work. Are you able to feel any difference with respect to sweating? I mean Synthetic verses Nappa leather? It would mean a lot to us in Chennai.

[ckmraja]

Originally Posted by Seran Manian

Very nice work. Are you able to feel any difference with respect to sweating? I mean Synthetic verses Nappa leather? It would mean a lot to us in Chennai.

No sweating at all, really comfortable. Nappa leather is a breathable leather and more suitable for weather condition of Chennai.

On the other hand i have a Ford Figo with artifical leather for 5K done with guy in GP Road Chennai, can really feel the difference. I sweat a lot while driving for longer distance, particularly if you park under the hot sun and drive immdiately

[pdma]

Originally Posted by ckmraja

Some more pictures taken @ the time of removing the seats and Door Trims

Very Nice , in fact $$$ is visible . The work and the quality definitely looks premium.

Originally Posted by Seran Manian

Very nice work. Are you able to feel any difference with respect to sweating? I mean Synthetic verses Nappa leather? It would mean a lot to us in Chennai.

Hello Seran Manian ,

How are your seat covers keeping up with the temperatures, I did like the look and combination of the ones on your Red Bull as well.

Also just for some fun , I am attaching a post from a fellow BHP-ian on the choice of seat covers below , Iam sure you will be in splits after reading it .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...hread-562.html

cheers,
pdma.

[Seran Manian]

Originally Posted by pdma

Very Nice , in fact $$$ is visible . The work and the quality definitely looks premium.



Hello Seran Manian ,

How are your seat covers keeping up with the temperatures, I did like the look and combination of the ones on your Red Bull as well.

Also just for some fun , I am attaching a post from a fellow BHP-ian on the choice of seat covers below , Iam sure you will be in splits after reading it .

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...hread-562.html

cheers,
pdma.

Hi pdma,

Thanks for the link. Had a goog laugh. He sure has a lot of comedy sense and is blessed with wonderful flow. Loved every bit of that post (of course with a dictionary in hand ). I sure went for the artificial leather seat cover to make maintenance a better thing and I knew well about the short coming the sweat issue.

Now coming to artificial leather, it sure sweats during highway trips and iam seriously thinking about using a turkey towel or the beads.

[sridhu]

Folks

I got my Duster done in beige Napa leather as the Karlsson owner claimed.

Now, for the last 2 weeks, something has been bothering me.

The sides & the bottom of the seats feel very rough & not like leather at all. I asked the owner and he claimed that it is also Napa but it is thicker and hence it feels like that. Sounded reasonable so I dropped it.

When I gave the duster for its 10k service I asked them to pop out the rear bench as the seat belt buckles were not out and I wanted them out. At that time, the Renault service guy made a comment like "why have you put art leather on the sides, it looks much better with full leather like in your Honda".

Ever since I am wondering - how do I know I have leather & leather only? And if it is not leather, what options do I have?

[ckmraja]

Originally Posted by sridhu

Folks

I got my Duster done in beige Napa leather as the Karlsson owner claimed.

Now, for the last 2 weeks, something has been bothering me.

The sides & the bottom of the seats feel very rough & not like leather at all. I asked the owner and he claimed that it is also Napa but it is thicker and hence it feels like that. Sounded reasonable so I dropped it.

When I gave the duster for its 10k service I asked them to pop out the rear bench as the seat belt buckles were not out and I wanted them out. At that time, the Renault service guy made a comment like "why have you put art leather on the sides, it looks much better with full leather like in your Honda".

Ever since I am wondering - how do I know I have leather & leather only? And if it is not leather, what options do I have?

Hi Sridhu,

It depends upon what you have chosen, if have chosen 1st grade nappa in the contact areas, you should not have issues of hardness in the seating area.

Since you are in Bangalore you can drop yourself to Karlsson and get the car checked for any fitment issues - like the spring in the frame protruding and that making the seat hard.

Please dont go by the advise of SA, they just dont know what they are talking about

[blacksport]

Originally Posted by sridhu

Folks

I got my Duster done in beige Napa leather as the Karlsson owner claimed.

Now, for the last 2 weeks, something has been bothering me.

The sides & the bottom of the seats feel very rough & not like leather at all. I asked the owner and he claimed that it is also Napa but it is thicker and hence it feels like that. Sounded reasonable so I dropped it.

When I gave the duster for its 10k service I asked them to pop out the rear bench as the seat belt buckles were not out and I wanted them out. At that time, the Renault service guy made a comment like "why have you put art leather on the sides, it looks much better with full leather like in your Honda".

Ever since I am wondering - how do I know I have leather & leather only? And if it is not leather, what options do I have?

Its quite easy to spot artificial leather.

You can do a visual test first. The grains on the art leather would look very artificial. Also, there would be a slight color difference between the two leathers, as they would be manufactured by two different companies.

You may also do the feel test. Art leather feels rougher and harder than leather. Pinch on both the surfaces and see whether they are equally soft.

Then there is the smell test. This is something I rely on, but it needs some familiarity with the smell of leather. Art leather has a very neutral smell, while pure leather has that distinct, well leathery, smell.

Talk to Karlsson and find out what package you got. It is okay to have art leather in non-touch areas, but if they conned you intentionally, I would be really furious.