So you guys just take the harness plastic off and stitch the fabric together? You get rid of the staples all completely?

 

I'm curious about this as well. Any pictures? I'd be concerned the thread would just tear through the fabric? How much room did you guys leave between your thread hole and the edge of the fabric?

 

I don't have the staple issue, but it would make me nervous with the airbag being there that it might not work properly if I tried to fix it.

I would love to just get a nice set of leather MR seats... they are supposedly MUCH better and I can just plug them in and the airbags and such will work just fine... right?

 

giz raises a good point. Did anybody that stitched the fabric together notice any longterm issues?

 

hmm im gonna take my staples out and see if that works, ill get back to ya'll

 

I've been wanting to fix mine for a while, and didn't want to spend trying to get it repaired by the dealer. Thanks for the repair tips!

 

Best solution IMO

 

..but will it last? Will it eventually rip the fabric?

I question this solution as being a good longterm one.

 

It's more likely to rip the foam than the fabric. I stitched mine together and the foam cuts like butter with any type of thread. But still that was maybe 20k miles ago, and I havent had any problems since.

 

If the only issue with stitching is possible the threads cutting into the foam (makes sense), then I will just put something under the threads to not allow it to touch the foam. Think this would work? Keep in mind, I haven't taken the harness plastic off to see exactly what I am dealing with.

 

Fixed.

After further inspection with the plastic harness off, I found the fabric would be strong enough to hold up to stitching, so I gave it a go. The results were much better than I expected, the stitching is tight enough to hold up against to the downward pressure that would normally pull the fabric down.

Below are the pics (crappy iPhone pics) from different angles showing how I went about stitching, mainly from front to back. The main trouble area was in pic 4 on the right most side. This area would constantly be exposed with even the smallest amount of pressure, but not anymore. I tested it a few times, and it held up great. I also left the staples in for added security, but they aren't needed with the stitches. The last pic just shows the finished product with nothing exposed. I may stitch the other side of that seat, and then the drivers seat if I notice a problem in the future. Glad I got this resolved, it was bugging the hell out of me.

If anyone in the NJ/NY area has this issue, and needs a hand, I could help you out.

 

Do the 2010 Evos have this problem too?

 

Don't know the answer to that, I asked that same question, which I am curious about. My seats were from 08, but I am going to assume other model years were impacted too.

Maybe a list should be started.

08 - staple issue

 

How hard is it to get the plastic pieces off. Did you need to stick anything in the crack to pry or did you just pull?

 

I would think that RECARO now knows of the issue and either added more material or added a better adhesion. This was a pretty common problem and I am certain that RECARO does not want to lose the MITSU account for supplying seats. I would not worry at all about the '10 seats.