[UrQuattro]

Hey all,

I just re-read my post.. It isn't a Porsche sport seat that I had upholstered, it is a Sparco Milano Alcantara seat.

Thank you for the support and the confidence building information.

I have a couple questions for Scott and Ms. Vroom.

When i was on the phone with the owner, when i called him after i got home from leaving the car there, and i realized that i wanted something done with the seat, during the conversation, i said that i'd like to have the upholstry on the seat replaced in order to reverse the damage done to it. I was trying to be reasonable, and said that i just wanted the sections that were beyond repair to be replaced. His response was a somewhat sarcastic, "are you wanting me to replace the seat?!?", I replied that, no, i did not expect the whole seat to be replaced, but that i did want something done with it, as i no longer have the ability to bring it somewhere else that has more experience with alcantara and have them work on it...

So, to you guys, do you think it is better to request a replacement seat, or to have the seat cover material replaced? I am really not a demanding person. I generally am pretty soft, and i tend to avoid confrontation, so this is kind of new territory for me to be demanding regarding something that could go either way. With the pieces that were physically broken, etc, there is no question, those get replaced. But the seat seems to be a "soft" point... Yes, it was damaged when i brought it to them in that there were spots of mold/miildew on it. BUT, I specifically told the person who checked the car in to their possession that the company that makes alcantara specifically states in their stain cleaning guidelines that steam cleaning should be avoided. I told him that they recommend using ethyl-alcohol on the fabric on some stains. I then asked if they had experience with this material, and he said yes. I then said, ok, then i will not presume to instruct a professional, and said that i trusted them. I also made it clear that the most important part of this whole job was that seat.

So, should i ask them to replace the seat, or just re-cover it?

Beyond that,
I am really angry with the attitude of the owner. In my opinion, he was insulting and dismissive of a lot of the issues because the car is, "an old car" and "these cars are always headaches", "if I were here, I would not have chosen to work on the car". I ended up having to go on the defensive about the car because of a few things.

1. The starter is not working - i found out about this mold issue because i had set it up with a friend to take the car down to his shop where he has a really nice lift and install the used starter that i got from on the board here. The car would push start with no issue, but I decided not to drive it over to the detail shop because i was worried about being in a car with a bunch of mold visible. So, I had it towed over to the detail shop, after confirming that it was ok, and letting them know that the starter wouldnt work.

2. It IS an older car, and it does in fact leak water. I would imagine that most older cars that have a moldy interior are generally cars that are not taken care of and are in poor condition overall, with various broken pieces, etc..

3. Apart from the mold, the car was dirty. The outside needed a wash and wax. The wheels needed some serious cleaning and the lips needed some work to clean them up. (they are gold centered BBS style basket-weave wheels). And, the interior was dirty - apart from my Sparco seat, everything in there is original. I did not have any floor mats in there, as i have been using the car without them until i get this leaking issue resolved ( i just ordered one of the correct front targa seals from Dan at cars inc., which im going to have installed once i get my car back and have the starter installed.) so, without the floor mats, it makes the car look more "dirty" and less well taken care of.

3. His employees told him that it was REALLY dirty when it came in, etc etc...

4. I had inherited this car from my father when he passed away. When he was really sick and unable to drive much, someone broke in to the car and stole the stereo head unit - meaning that the already exposed wiring under the dash became a significant amount of loose wiring in the passenger footwell...

So, put all that together and it is easy to see how one would get an impression that this was a junker that cleaned up decently well, and the owner is now trying to take advantage of a screwed up situation...

Fortunately, i have pictures that are about 3 months old, and they show the car in very good shape. yeah, the wiring is all over the place, but the pieces that are now broken are present in the car. So, when i told the owner that I have pictures from before that show that these small parts that have been broken were present, he said that he wanted to see them... They also show the condition of the sparco seat when it was pretty much new - a few months after i had it installed...