Headliner Installation and Seat Covering Costs

[jdiesel33]

Hello All,
I just called an upholstery shop to get quotes and they seemed really high so I wanted to get an idea of how much I should actually expect to pay. I have a 68 Charger and already have a new headliner, the bows, and the clips. This shop quoted my $500 for the installation, which I think is about a 3.5-4 hour job. That seems high to me, but I really dont have a reference point for that opinion. Then they also quoted $500 just to do the installation of the seat buns/foam and seat covers. This doesnt include actually installing the seats into the car as I am not ready for that yet. Are these prices high or normal? I am in Dallas, TX. Thanks much!!!

[Back N Black]

I  just had my seats recovered, the quotes were all over the place. One shop quoted me $2500!!!!, another for $700, finally found a retired upholstery guy working out of his home garage and charged me $400. So, $500 sounds reasonable.

[gtx6970]

last interior I had done ( maybe 2 years ago ) was $1200 ,,,labor only on a 1968 Charger

[ChargerRT69]

I had a guy that has been doing interior since the 70's and is considered one of the best in my are/state. I had all of the material (95% of it) and he charged me $400 back in December 2015. I also used him to recover my seats. I had the Legendary interior covers and pad and had already had my frames stripped, blasted and painted before taking it to him. This guy is picky and after installing the first one, he had me come over to look at the results and although the seats probably looked the same from the factory, he asked if I wanted him to improve the look? There was folds/creases/wrinkles in certain areas and did not quite look like a show quality (even though that is not why I am rebuilding my Charger), so I had him add extra padding in certain areas to take out wrinkle so it would be taunt and show and wear better. So I ended up paying $1,100 for him to recover the front and back seats in November 2015.

[HeavyFuel]

Skilled labor is not cheap.

I performed both of these tasks myself.  First time for each.  The headliner took all day, and it looks pretty good considering.  The install was a bitch, and if you lack natural skills, after all the work you might be stuck with a disappointing end result, maybe a wasted headliner, and still end up paying someone else to do it.  
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,95015.msg1107069.html#msg1107069


The seat cover was not fun either to do either, plus you have to gather up all of the necessary tools and supplies.  Again, if a person lacks talent, after hours of work you could still have a crappy product.   After tackling my driver seat, I decided my passenger seat (perfect skin, just worn out foam) was fine, and I passed on it's facelift, leaving it original.  $500 for all of the seats feels like a decent price to me.


My vinyl top looks crappy.  I installed it myself...first one I'd ever done, and it looked superb.   For about six months.  Then it became apparent why sometimes it worth it to pay for someone for the subtle tricks of the trade picked up after years of installations.  My top started to migrate according to the path of least resistance, meaning where I had stretched the top unevenly during the install, it began moving around as the glue released its initial grip.  I've now got puckers, wrinkles and loose areas.  Bottom line,  I wish I'd spent the $$ to have someone else install the top.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,95015.msg1084914.html#msg1084914
 

No offense intended regarding my comments about skill level.    

[darbgnik]

I think your question is probably area specific, depending on local labor market factors.

That being said, I'd pay that much, for a guy that's good.....