What are the chances of this happening?

As some of you may remember as I’ve created several threads here regarding my searching for OEM seat covers for my 1996 Tacoma. I’ve owned the Tacoma (414,000 miles) since new and it’s in excellent condition with the exception of the bottom bench seat cover. I’m trying to keep it as original as possible.

I searched for both new OEM (oak) seat covers all over the US for several years then moved on to trying to find just the fabric to have covers made all without any success.

Finally after giving up my search, I reached out to my upholsterer who also searched his material suppliers using Toyota’s OEM #s without any success. So we decided I’d just bring the truck to him and he’d make new covers trying to match existing fabric as close as possible also having to do something with the door panels.

So when I arrived he looked at my seats (seat back cover is in excellent condition by the way) and went to his stock room where he has hundreds of rolls of fabric accumulated over his 40 years in business and in about thirty minutes he came back smiling ear to ear with a partial roll of fabric over his shoulder. And sure enough it was the exact match. He didn’t think it would be enough, but after finishing he only had a 8"x4" piece remaining.

I guess, the lesson learned here is that persistence pays off and best before searching all over ‘hell’s half acre” for something, it’s better to search in your own back yard first.

 

i would go buy a lottery ticket right now!

 

He also replaced the foam cushioning. I can't even express how much more comfortable it is to ride in.

 

I have to admit. When i saw this thread i thought for sure someone had drained their transmission thinking it was their engine oil again . Good find OP.

 

They look great.

 

Nice, now time to christen the fresh seat with a musty fart!

 

That is definitely a bluebird! I think I'm going to have my seat re-done next year to replace the foam but there is no way I'm going to keep that factory fabric. It's just a little too much like watching the Brady Bunch for me.

 

plot twist; new bench seat

 

Damn that truck looks to be in great shape!. I miss my '98. Best truck i ever had. That was the truck that started it all. We don't see them like that in northern maine. They have almost all fallen to the salt gods. They put so much on our roads they rot out fast

 

That’s fantastic!
How much was the cost?

 

Looks great! Sounds like someone needs a nice bottle of whiskey as a tip!

 

It cost $700 for him to make the bottom seat cover, replace all the vinyl on bottom and seat back covers and replace the bottom foam. The only thing that was reused was the seat back fabric.
I thought that was pretty good since the last price I found for the factory bottom bench seat cover and foam from Toyota was $775. And of course that didn't include any installation labor.

Since he had the seat completely out he also vacuumed the cleaned 24 years of dirt and grime from under and behind the seats. Great to see there's still some who take pride in their work.

 

Thats not bad at all considering the skill set and time.
Edit: and they look really good too!

 

I have a 2018 TRD Sport that's my daily driver but still drive the '96 quite a bit, as it's so fun to drive. I wonder if or how successful a new smaller Gen1 style Tacoma would be if Toyota decide to offer one?

 

What’s more amazing than finding the fabric was finding people who still do that type of stuff. Nice job