Vinyl replacement/repair and boat value questions

[MOA_Chaser]

Hi, I just found this site after spending a couple years on The Other Site.

I have some seat #vinyl that needs repaired or replaced.

They are the factory seats, with the sewed-in ridge around the edges.

In my previous boat, I just had the vinyl replaced and had them delete the ridge... my thinking is that one solid piece of vinyl is much stronger than taking that piece and perforating it by sewing in that ridge. That's where all my tears are happening.

Do you think getting all the seats redone as solid benches instead of the way they come from the factory would have a negative effect on the value of my boat? Would it be a negative for you to buy a boat that has had #re-upholstery done in this way? I am probably going to get all the seats done at once, because there is some discoloration and staining on all of them. Re-doing only a few will likely be very noticeable forever, until they are all replaced at once.

 

[txav8r]

The piping and two tone is standard and I have read of some guys just going plain. It certainly takes the design style out of the boat and if I was comparing, I don't know how I would feel regarding factory original vs new that was less dressy. But it may be a factor in value, just don't know how to gauge it. And as far as a negative, well, it might be to some, but the new vinyl may be more important to others.

 

[Julian]

For a 2004, I can't imagine new vinyl reducing the value of the boat. I'd think if someone were looking at a 10 year old boat, having new vinyl would be a plus.

 

[MOA_Chaser]

I'm going to call my vinyl guy tomorrow and see what the price difference is for the piping vs. a flat install... I just can't help but think that making the piping weakens the vinyl considerably and gives it a much, much shorter lifespan than without.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

We are about to roll out a vinyl replacement kit for that boat. I will shoot some pictures of the one that we're refurbishing and if you like it we can sell you a kit and send the fabric to you or your installer. We have patterned the old vinyl so you can have the original styling, but wanted to update ours a bit so it does not look like the original from a style standpoint.

We think that patterning and having our CNC cut the fabric in large quantities will help save the end user some bucks since the upholsterer won't have to measure and cut each panel. He'll just need to assemble the kit and install it on your cushions.

To save money you can remove all your own cushions as this is not hard to do.

 

[MOA_Chaser]

That sounds great!

Looking forward to the pics and estimated price.

 

[Detonate]

@JetBoatPilot Will, I'm about to do a replacement on a 2005 AR 230. Can you send me details as well!!! Very interested, as I'm visiting an upholstery guy today!

Here is my thread... Want to get my upholstery redone... Suggestions?

Also, not sure if you saw this. But I posted a message in your vendor section about a boat cover I saw on your facebook page.
Boat Cover

 

[JetBoatPilot]

@Detonate
I will post here when done as well as FB and YouTube. We quit making boat covers as they were very expensive to build and were losing us money. Nice cover but would not bring the $1500 that they needed in order to make it worth the time and effort. Custom sunbrella covers cost $1500 plus routinely.

 

[maboat]

@JetBoatPilot I am interested too. While we're waiting for it to be ready, can you fill us in a little more about which "original style" you are duplicating? We know the 2003-2006 230 series has the same shape seats, but they do not have the same material and style. Note in the other thread by @Detonate how his 2005 upholstery is different than my 2006 even though the boats are otherwise almost identical.

 

[Christy]

@JetBoatPilot, can you give us a rough estimate on when you plan to have your kit ready? As @Detonate mentioned we are looking to get our boat reupholstered very soon....

 

[JetBoatPilot]

@Christy I don't have an estimate at this time. We are still working on getting ours completed. Maybe in a week or so I will have more info.

@maboat the 2003 upholstery was a bit dated in my opinion and we wanted to give it a newer look. The pictures that I will send over will be of the 2003 that we have refurbished. The 2005 and 2006 upholstery will have to be patterned from in order to match the same look. Otherwise the first kits that we sell will look a lot like the 2003 that we're refurbishing.

Moving forward, if someone wanted to fast track this process they could strip their boat of the skins, send those to us for patterning and then we could in turn offer a discounted price on the kit when completed in exchange for those patterns. The skins would need to be sent in an organized way with tags to inform us as to each respective skin's location on the boat.

This will obviously be a learning experience but hopefully something that is useful when the project is completed.

 

[Detonate]

Dang, would love to take you up on that! Already have 100% of my cushions out of the boat. But I'm wanting to get mine done before boating season starts.

Plus, I think you'd rather pattern the 2006 model. It by far has the nicest look before they changed hull designs in 2007.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Ok, sorry about that. We ultimately want to be able to offer OEM looking vinyl for all years so I am sure I could use the 2005 version as well. The patterning and cutting would probably take about two weeks.

 

[maboat]

Ok, sorry about that. We ultimately want to be able to offer OEM looking vinyl for all years so I am sure I could use the 2005 version as well. The patterning and cutting would probably take about two weeks.

@Detonate sounds like you should tell the upholsterer to keep your old skins so you can send them to @JetBoatPilot for year-matching. Since the shape of the cut is the same for all the 03-06 230 series I suspect Will would only need a sample of the colors/pattern and not all the skins?

@JetBoatPilot How soon can you post pics of the 2003 refurb? If your new style is even 'classier' than the 2006 OEM style, I may go for the full set too!

 

[Detonate]

@maboat Maybe we both send @JetBoatPilot our skins and he makes us both an identical set!!!

 

[maboat]

@maboat Maybe we both send @JetBoatPilot our skins and he makes us both an identical set!!!

@Detonate I want to see the pics of his 2003 refurb. If they are nicer/cooler than my 2006 oem style then that's a big 10-4.

So how about it @JetBoatPilot ? Show us pics and you may have your first two buyers with the possibility to get 2005 and 2006 skins in return!

 

[maboat]

@Detonate here are pics of my upholstery. Damn I forgot how good it looks especially for an 8 year old boat

I guess I'll just have my few torn cushions repaired. I'll send those to you so you can show to the upholsterer when you go.

I also forgot that my back row seating has extra bolstering in the top of the cushion. I don't think yours has that. That might make the skins different for the 2006 models (on the back row seats only)

 

[JetBoatPilot]

@maboat We will have the 2003 done by end of this week or first of next week. The skins would need to be a complete kit so we can make sure we have all necessary patterns. If your upholsterer will send them we could certainly use them to add to the catalog! Thanks!

 

[Port0222]

@JetBoatPilot -- To bring up an old thread... Did you ever finish these? I do not see them for sale on your site. Would they fit a 2006? Based on comments -- It does not sound like it. Any thoughts on offering more?

 

[Glassman]

@Port0222 , thanks for shining a light on this one...I missed it the first time around.

I would like to freshen up my boat as well. The vinyl is fine except for one 1/4" tear at the bow. I like the newer materials they are using too.