Background
Typical front seat wear (2004 Turbo S)
Seat upholstery, a vulnerable interior element, often shows its age well before plastic panels, headliner fabric, or even carpet.
In our Turbo S model, the real leather seats became stiff while sewn seams on the backrest frayed and split. Volkswagen created 112 different seat coverings — a central part of New Beetle marketing — in a variety of colors and materials. In addition, seat functionality ranged from very basic to complex: our special Turbo S seats have racing style side bolsters and deep bottom buckets with lumbar support plus heaters and side air bags.
New Beetle heated front seat upholstery kit
Ten-plus year old Beetles often suffer from cabin odor due to two likely culprits: (1) the carpet together with the carpet under pad especially in the foot well area and/or (2) the upholstery. After removing the rear seats along with the entire carpet and its under pad, the Turbo S front seats still contributed a musty odor due to years of repeated moisture and temperature cycles. Furthermore, the leather side stitching was compromised enough to warrant replacement. As a final smell test, the inside odor disappeared after taking the front seats out.
