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The best way to replace upholstry


astonmartini03

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Who's replaced their seat covers and how? I was thinking about going to a custom upholstery shop because our dealer wants a small fortune for each 'skin' and I'm tired of him always nickel and diming us. I believe the custom shop's material would be better and stronger anyway. And by the way, Malibu admitted our seat covers were defective, but wouldn't replace them. Thanks a lot Malibu.

It's a 2000 Escape LSV and the skins have been coming apart for awhile.

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Who's replaced their seat covers and how? I was thinking about going to a custom upholstery shop because our dealer wants a small fortune for each 'skin' and I'm tired of him always nickel and diming us. I believe the custom shop's material would be better and stronger anyway. And by the way, Malibu admitted our seat covers were defective, but wouldn't replace them. Thanks a lot Malibu.

It's a 2000 Escape LSV and the skins have been coming apart for awhile.

Haven't changed mine, but need to on two cushions.

Curious though on the price difference between you dealer and the local guy?

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Haven't changed mine, but need to on two cushions.

Curious though on the price difference between you dealer and the local guy?

When i worked at a Malibu dealership we had a few local upholstery shops order skins through us. The upholstery shops could not match the vinyl patterns. If you are replacing everything your local shop would be the one no issues with matching.

Edited by CRASH
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I went local and had them done by a local shop. Labor, materials, everything $1550. I checked with 3 shops, and that was the cheapest (little ol' lady and her sewing machine, her husband did the labor). The highest was over $3,500, with no guarantees that they wouldn't find something that would increase the price. There are some small imperfections, but hey, that's cheap. And I changed the whole color scheme to something I liked better. So if you can get lucky and find someone cheap and good, I'd do that. Otherwise you have some options:

1. Have your local guy make and install the skins (probably most expensive)

2. Order skins from Malibu and have your local guy install them (any problems with install and he'll blame Malibu. Any problems with material and they'll blame the installer).

3. Order skins from Malibu and install them yourself (probably save a grand, plus you'll know it's done right. It's not rocket science)

Good luck.

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I had the seats not the back rests on my old boat done at a local shop. He does a lot of custom cars and hot rods.

He ordered the vinyl and I had him order a very hi grade foam for boats cushions.

He did his own pattern on the seats to match the backs but a simpler pattern so we had less seams on the seats. The seams were the only thing that was coming apart. 9 cushions under $1,000 and look very good.

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  • 1 month later...

Who's replaced their seat covers and how? I was thinking about going to a custom upholstery shop because our dealer wants a small fortune for each 'skin' and I'm tired of him always nickel and diming us. I believe the custom shop's material would be better and stronger anyway. And by the way, Malibu admitted our seat covers were defective, but wouldn't replace them. Thanks a lot Malibu.

It's a 2000 Escape LSV and the skins have been coming apart for awhile.

I don't know if you have received an answer back or not, but I got the skins from a malibu dealer and am having them put on by a local upholestry shop.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went local and had them done by a local shop. Labor, materials, everything $1550. I checked with 3 shops, and that was the cheapest (little ol' lady and her sewing machine, her husband did the labor). The highest was over $3,500, with no guarantees that they wouldn't find something that would increase the price. There are some small imperfections, but hey, that's cheap. And I changed the whole color scheme to something I liked better. So if you can get lucky and find someone cheap and good, I'd do that. Otherwise you have some options:

1. Have your local guy make and install the skins (probably most expensive)

2. Order skins from Malibu and have your local guy install them (any problems with install and he'll blame Malibu. Any problems with material and they'll blame the installer).

3. Order skins from Malibu and install them yourself (probably save a grand, plus you'll know it's done right. It's not rocket science)

Good luck.

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This past season I ripped one of the gunnel panels on the Port side. I asked my local Malibu Dealer (B&B Marine in Smithville MO)to order the new skin and have it replaced. After almost 6mos of waiting they now tell me Malibu will not sell the skin any longer. My boat is an 06'; is it true you can't get a new skin any longer for a 4yr old boat? Is there someone at Malibu I could talk to directly?

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This past season I ripped one of the gunnel panels on the Port side. I asked my local Malibu Dealer (B&B Marine in Smithville MO)to order the new skin and have it replaced. After almost 6mos of waiting they now tell me Malibu will not sell the skin any longer. My boat is an 06'; is it true you can't get a new skin any longer for a 4yr old boat? Is there someone at Malibu I could talk to directly?

Do a search for a guy named Chee, he works for malibu and has the patterns and colors for your boat.

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I had mine completely replaced last spring. Excellent job by a guy in Tennessee. Are you in the Southeast? I might can point you in the right direction.

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  • 2 months later...

Shon23XTI, When I was looking into replacing our skins, our dealer contacted Malibu. They said that not only were our skins defective, but they threw out the patterns. We could get new skins through Malibu, but the dealer would have to remove the old skins, retrace their patterns, and send in the new skins to Malibu. This would be a couple month process and would need to be done over the winter if we wanted the boat for complete summers. Such quality service for a $50,000 machine...

We ended up having a local upholster do it. I'm in DC and our boat is with my parents in MI so I'll post cost, quality, etc. when I go back up there in a couple months.

Also, you can find the exact colors here: http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/page/articles/color_codes

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I just finished replacing all of the skins on my '97 Sunsetter. I ordered the skins from Chee and replaced them myself. I had a lot of help from a friend that does upholstery. I am glad I had the help, it's not an easy job. It takes a lot of patients and skill, but it was worth it. Interior looks great, well worth the trouble! I got a price from a local shop to install the skins, approximately $1,000.00 with me removing and re-installing all of the pieces.

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Besides tears I just picked up 2002 Sporty LX (Yellow) and the seats are in great shape no tears but every seat has a stain of some sort or another. My thoughts are mold from the inside of the seat, they are discolored some small some large but it is definately nothing that wipes off. Is the vinyl poor quality? Is there a trick to cleaning it or getting it back to white? Are there these SKins everyone is talking about available for my boat?

Edited by Scotty's Sporty
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This past season I ripped one of the gunnel panels on the Port side. I asked my local Malibu Dealer (B&B Marine in Smithville MO)to order the new skin and have it replaced. After almost 6mos of waiting they now tell me Malibu will not sell the skin any longer. My boat is an 06'; is it true you can't get a new skin any longer for a 4yr old boat? Is there someone at Malibu I could talk to directly?

Your first mistake was to even try to do any business with B&B, they have (had) a long standing reputation for being A-holes to deal with. Thankfully and deservedly they're now out of business (or so I'm told).

Ed

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Before you change all the skins due to stains, try at least one thing first. Leave them out in the sun for a day or so and see what happens. Amazingly, some stains will just tend to dissappear with the sun's rays. IF you try some chemical treatments, make sure they won't really dry out the vinyl, there are posts here detailing experiences with that problem (seams splitting, cracking).

As mentioned, contact Chee at Malibu to skin replacements, yes he can duplicate your pattern with the boat VIN.

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If you are on the East side of the country, contact Chris Phillips at the Malibu Tennessee Factory. He does great work and he has the older patterns too.

Chris Phillips

865-388-2742

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