Spec B Seats

My drivers seat wore out in a spot after only 5K miles. Subaru shipped me a new seat cover under warranty which which I had installed by a quality seat shop at Subaru's cost ($150). When we inspected the worn seat they told & showed me that the material had no leather in it whatsoever. Subaru sells a $35K car in today's market and fabricates that it is "leather trimmed"? I'd like to know where the leather trim is on the seats. Trust me, 'it ain't'. They want to compete with big names at their pricing, but cheat on the parts. Shame on them.

I called SOA customer service to voice a complaint that the were using false and deceptive adverstising claiming that the seats had leather trim. Their customer service rep said that he sticks by their claim that the seats have leather trim. It was like talking to a brick wall. I told him I'd never buy another Subaru. I have an '08 OBXT & an '08 Spec B and owned 3 others (LGT/OBXT/OBLTD) in the recent past as daily drivers 4 myself and my wife. The rep said he was sorry to hear that. End of story.

My Porsche & BMW claim leather, but are leather. What a scam by SOA. Anything to make as fast buck. I feel totally ripped off at the price I paid for faux leather, and this SOA rep just galled me.

The shop said that the new seat is likely to wear out as quickly as the old one. When I'm out of warranty I'm stuck with shit seats to be replaced at my cost and expense. Not happy as a very loyal customer and very vocal Subaru advocate. Actually this sort of has me sort of shocked.

08 SpecB?

 

I replaced bottom seat cover on my 05 LGT. The seating surface is genuine leather and so is the bolster surface facing the door. However the surface facing center console is faux leather.

I had an '05 GT. The seats were leather (perforated). They wore great during the years I owned the car, which was preowned. Thus my surprise that the top of the line Spec B has fake leather seats, whereas my LGT had real leather.

Quite a weird discovery!

08 SpecB?

 

I replaced bottom seat cover on my 05 LGT. The seating surface is genuine leather and so is the bolster surface facing the door. However the surface facing center console is faux leather.

 

Unclemat where could I source a new bottom seat cover of a 05 LGT like you did?

Try there?

Just out of curiosity, what part of your seat cover wore out? I had a similar issue covered under warranty with only 4800 miles.

I'm curious too, my seats are fine

Doesn't the 08 SpecB have some sort of suede-type inserts? If so it's no surprise that the centers weren't real leather.

you joking something as stupid as not having a 100% leather seat would make you stop buying the cars and you wasted the time to call subaru just to whine, when we all know they arent going to go make you a custom set of real leather seats? Sounds like you need to get a grip.

 

Plus how do you know its not leather, if its not leather then what is it? Last I checked every legacy I saw with leather had leather and the rear was vynal

Doesn't the 08 SpecB have some sort of suede-type inserts? If so it's no surprise that the centers weren't real leather.

 

Alcantra inserts.

 

They are a synthetic suede.

the seats in my 08 spec B are great. the material is just fine. I could use a little stiffer side support, but other than that I really like them.

I'm gonna guess it was the seatback side bolster closest to the driver's door, yes?

 

My wife's 08sB was starting to wear too and I beat it into her head to hit seat program button 2 (my memory setting) to move the seat much further back from the wheel when exiting the car. She's only like 5'6" and I'm at 6' so the extra distance kept her from sliding across the bolster each time she entered/exited the car.

 

I've also recently had the fake tissue paper/crap leather shift boot replaced AND the parking brake lever boot swapped under warranty. The replacement pieces were both black(instead of dark grey), but was is an obvious quality jump over the old crap and it matches the slick "leather" on the seat instead of the Alcantara. When it was really cold out and the car's interior hadn't warmed up, the shift boot sounded like a person was crushing tissue paper each time you grabbed a new gear with the shifter. Nice cold weather testing SOA did there .

this thread makes me happy

i like the lightweight spec b interior, thank god they went cheap here

if you want a car made from dead animals get a mercedes.

 

the weight is so negligable i probably wont even gut it for racing

this car is about suspension hardware, wich costs alot more than seat covers

Id gladly replace them if i cared that much

I'm gonna guess it was the seatback side bolster closest to the driver's door, yes?

 

That's where mine was.

I'm gonna guess it was the seatback side bolster closest to the driver's door, yes?

 

 

I have had it replaced twice with warranty. The second time they replaced it they did something to the seat and this one is lasting longer.

 

I am pretty short (5'6") with a very nice beer gut. I have to keep the seat pretty far forward to press the clutch in so when I get in and out I (my butt I guess) brushes/rubs up against the seat and it wears it out.

Mine was in that same place too. No where near where I touch or even where the seat belt lies.

28,000 miles and no problems....I love them, they dont heat up like black leather seats in the sun