Getting Closer to a Decision

After doing some more price comparisons and thinking about what I really need on the van, I'm thinking the seats have got to be my first purchase. Riding comfortably is a big part of enjoying a long drive so it should be the thing I address first. Plus I found this amazing sewing shop called SewFine (http://www.sewfineproducts.com/) that specialized in creating new interiors for Volkswagens. They offer a couple of options. I can either get completely new bucket seats that are similar to the original ones or I can just get the replacement fabric and/or foam for my original seats. Due to the cost of the new seats I'm thinking I'll just get covers and foam for the seats I have. They still won't be the greatest seats ever made but they'll look nice and feel a lot better.

The thing I'm most excited about with the new seat covers is that they offer a lot of different fabrics. When I'm using the van I'm often really dirty and in the company of dogs. Those two things don't really mix well with the normal car upholstry. SewFine offers vinyl and leather options for their covers though. I'm leaning towards the vinyl - its relative cheap, should be easy to keep clean, and will wipe right off. My only concern with the vinyl is my dog's nails. I'm not positive that he won't just poke a hole right through that stuff. I guess it will depend on the vinyl but its a concern.

Beyond the seat covers I'm going to pick up some rubber mats for the interior. I've found some at GoWesty (www.gowesty.com) that will cover just about every surface that gets any traffic in the van. I've been using something similar in my Tacoma pickup for years and am a firm believer. Its nice to be able to just hop in the truck covered in mud and not have to worry about any challenging cleanups. I need that same sort of thing for the van. Every trip I've taken it on I just get dirt and all sorts of other filth all over the place. If I covered the thing in rubber I think I'd be able to keep things a lot cleaner.

That should do it for the first round of upgrades. I've just got to pick my colors and then place my order. I'm leaning towards black and brown or brown and tan for the seats and black for the mats. Nice simple colors. It might make things a bit dark but those colors are easy to match and hide the filth well.