2010 DC/LB Leather/heated

Saw a pic posted by another member here and have decided to look into Katzkins and if find out if they have heated leather seats for the Tacoma. Found a place in Charlotte that sells and installs Katzkins and plan to visit with them Monday morning to see what they can do for me. If I decide to go with leather, I will spend the xtra nickles to add heat. (I think I like the gray and black combo) I also want to find out if they will also cover the center console and both door armrests. I will post what I learn. We have leather and heated seats in our V-6 Accord and they are awesome during the cold months. (will post updated pics after install)

I read an article somewhere years ago about safety and heated seats. The writer was talking about winter driving and how heated seats contributed to driver safety. The article went on to say;
if your backside and core are warm than you were more apt to focus on safety during cold weather driving opposed to being distracted or thinking about how cold you are. Makes sense. Either that, Or it was a great sales pitch for heated seats <grin>. Funny, I never forgot that article. This will be the first truck I have ever had leather heated seats in.

 

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I installed Katkinz but I used the heated seat kits from http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/index.html as they were a lot less expensive compared to the ones that Katkinz sells.

 

Heated seats in my area not a good idea but A/C cooled seats would be nice to try.....

 

Everything you need to know is right here:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/89333-diy-leather-interior.html
Best of luck!

 

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If I could go back and do it again, I'd've gone for custom leather rather than WOs.

 

BLKTRD6SP-

Thanks for this info. I have printed it off and will be taking it with me to the shop tomorrow. I like the switches used in this application vs the switches that are located on the side of the seats themselves. Need to be able to see them.

Thought about WO's but for a little more $$$ I think I'll be happier with permanent heated leather long term.

 

That's my same conclusion after having the WOs for a year. I have them, so I'm gonna kill 'em, but once they die custom leather is going on.

 

X3, WO's are so ridiculously expensive that I decided to just get leather.

 

CST does heated and cooled seats. The cool part is very expensive.

 

Cooled seats felt lke my ass was wet 24/7 on the Navigator. Id avoid at all costs.

The ONLY way Id do cooled seats is if I used them with remote start to cool the leather as I walked up and they would stay off during driving. Just using the AC to cool the interior and good tint is enough that I think cooled seats are kind of a waste.

 

Yeah I've heard that before from folks who had cooled seats. One friend says it scares the hell out of him everytime he uses it...

 

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Went to CSI (Charlotte Sunroofs Inc) this morning and met with Kerry Bragg who is the Operations manager. Told him I was interested in doing leather in my Tacoma. He gave me a brochure loaded with samples and then he grabbed a handful of Katzkin samples and we went out to have a look at my interior. After comparing a few different samples that were close, the color that we both agreed that matched the dash, upper door panels, steering wheel and shifter, is katzkin dark graphite. I gave a two tone light gray and dark graphite a hard look for the seats, just did not care for it. The dark graphite really brings the interior all together IMHO and I think it won't show any discoloration as lighter color leather sometimes can.
All four doors will get dark graphite arm rests. Note; two tone is not a bad thing, its just not for me.

I opted in on the katzkin heated kit which is $100.00 plus $100.00 for install or $50.00 per seat. It was a no brainer for me, if your going to the trouble to do leather than you might as well do the heating elements. I guess my way of rationalizing the xtra $200.00 for heat. I saved and budgeted for 1200.00, so not so bad.

I pointed out to Kerry exactly where I wanted the individual heat seat switches to go on the console, ergonomically friendly and where you can see them), just below the shifter and aligned on each side. note; the heated seat switches are a little long on the underside, so we popped the console and made sure there was clearance and there was plenty. Kerry located the exact set of katzkin leathers for my truck in California. So, yes, they still make Katzkins for the Tacoma's. I am on schedule to have the install done Wednesday morning starting at around 8:30.

I will post pics Wednesday evening after the install. My suggestion; if your going to do leather, go with the heated element for the xtra $200.00

Katzkin seats with heated option and the 4 door armrests covered in matching leather
- $1300.00-otd- includes tax.

Could I do the install? probably, would it be as well done as the pro's that do this everyday for a living? mmmmm.....being honest, probably not, so I will leave this one to the pro's.

pics and more to follow wed evening.....

 

Cant wait to see the results!

 

Did you go with solid leather or perforated?

 

Did you go with solid leather or perforated?

I ended up doing perforated center panels.

 

Solid...Kerry with CSI did not reccomend perforated for long term durability in the seat area, not sure if they have had issues or not. I wanted solid from the start so it really was not an issue. Personal preference really....I think both look good.

 

Ask about the gel cell oprion too. Your picture looks just like mine same color combo gel'd and heated.