just got an '03 touring a/t with beaten up seats (electric and heated)

cheapest and most attractive option right now is to take the Sparco seats my dad got for his Alfa Romeo Spider Quadrifoglio (he offered to give them to me because they didn't fit his car) and get some Buddy Club rail and slider kits (total of ~$320)

my only concern is that this is an automatic, not exactly a race car, but I do plan on doing performance upgrades and eventually installing paddleshifts

would installing the Sparcos hurt the value of the car on the long run? would it make more sense to get leather wraps for it (~$550) and try to install them myself? what other options do I have in the $300 to $400 price range?

 

Who cares about the future value? It is YOUR car now, do whatever you want to it. IMO free Sparco seats sound pretty damn good.

 

I plan on selling it when I'm done paying it off, so I definitely don't want to do anything that will significantly decrease the value of the car

also need some moral support, I'm worried peeps will think it's a blasphemy to do this to an a/t, it's already blasphemy to get an a/t sports car

 

Says who??
Its your car, do what looks and feels the best.
Who gives a flying **** what anyone else thinks?!!

Nothing wrong with an a/t sports car IMO.

 

yeah you guys are right, I don't even like the oem seats that much, they're uncomfortable and I live in florida so I will never need the heat

 

I like my oem seats.. But keep your oem seats, stash them in the garage until it gets time to sell the car, put em back in and sell the racing seats.

 

What year is Dad's Spider, and where does he live? I've got 3 Spider's at home. Here's my '92 at the Skyway Bridge fishing pier at sunrise:

 

I would have nowhere to keep them really and no way to get them back to my place after I swap them, I live ~450 miles away from the rest of my fam which is where the Sparco seats are

heat works in both seats, switches/motors on the driver seat work, driver seat is dead and I don't know if it's the switches or the motors

cosmetically the driver seat is torn and worn like hell, passenger seat has some scratches but nothing that couldn't be easily repaired

here's a good picture of the driver seat



it makes no sense because the car only has 86k miles and the rest of the interior is in great condition



wow that is CLEAN

my dad lives in south florida, west boca raton to be exact

this is his spider, it's an '88

 

Nice looking '88, and of course, it's the right color. My '87 is triple-black, and my '74 is that same red.

You need really narrow seats to fit in a Spider, especially on the passenger side, as the engine/gearbox is slightly offset in that direction. Spider seats also have to be exceptionally low to the floor, which makes finding aftermarket seats that much more difficult. Some guys use OEM Miata seats, but I love the originals, and reproduction foam and upholstery is easy to find.

 

yeah, right now it's got some infinity power seats that I found at the junk yard, a bit of a tight fit to say the least, he got the Sparcos thinking they would fit, he got a killer deal on them so I guess he got a bit too excited

sadly he's going to have might have sell it soon because my parents are selling their house and traveling around for a few years, I've offered to take care care of it until they settle down again though, my dad loves the damn thing

 

Just send me the seats so you don't have to worry bout putting them anywhere

 

^^ there's your buyer

 

Hopefully, the Alfa can stay in the family. Alfa's are great to drive, but have virtually no resale value. I've always had at least one Alfa in my life, all the way back to 1978. Sucks to get one sorted and then have to sell it for next to nothing. Even my '92, which looks like it's brand new, would be a tough sell.

 

Why not just replace the seat covers if you are worried about affecting resale value?

 

expensive, would have to install the covers myself to keep it in budget and risk messing them up or end up with mediocre results, not that I'm not confident in myself to do the job but it is a risk

and I don't find the seats very comfortable

 

definitely, plus I would have a car to practice driving stick on my free time and it's an awesome project car