Awesome quote for '07 XLE w/Nav

[Squishyface]

This is the car I'm planning on getting:

2007 Camry V6 XLE

With
* Navigation
* Smart Key
* Floor Mats
No traction control
No heated seats
Ash leather interior
Metallic Blue exterior

And drumroll for the quote please.....

$26984.00

Awesome. This is $500 cheaper than carsdirect quoted. It's also at a dealership close to where I'll be. It's just a bit under invoice if I recall.

It seemed too good to be true, so I asked for a break down of all the fees and taxes and such, and he wasn't shittin' me. As far as I know anyway. We'll see how it goes down when I take delivery in a few weeks.

[akira751]

What state are you in??

[Squishyface]

I'll be taking delivery of the car in California.

[akira751]

Originally Posted by Squishyface

This is the car I'm planning on getting:

2007 Camry V6 XLE

With
* Navigation
* Smart Key
* Floor Mats
No traction control
No heated seats
Ash leather interior
Metallic Blue exterior

And drumroll for the quote please.....

$26984.00

Awesome. This is $500 cheaper than carsdirect quoted. It's also at a dealership close to where I'll be. It's just a bit under invoice if I recall.

It seemed too good to be true, so I asked for a break down of all the fees and taxes and such, and he wasn't shittin' me. As far as I know anyway. We'll see how it goes down when I take delivery in a few weeks.

I did'nt know you can order leather with out heated seats.

[Squishyface]

Originally Posted by akira751

I did'nt know you can order leather with out heated seats.

It's not standard, so you have to special order it. The fleet manager I'm dealing with said he can request a change order on a car he has allotted to him from the factory so I can get it in about 45 days.

[wireless]

It will be aftermarket seat covers. Factory leather seats have the heaters.

I didn't realize you could get a SE or XLE with the V6 and not get VSC.

[thoots]

Originally Posted by Squishyface

It's not standard, so you have to special order it. The fleet manager I'm dealing with said he can request a change order on a car he has allotted to him from the factory so I can get it in about 45 days.

Oh, boy, I suspect a twist you aren't expecting.

I'm the guy who didn't like that icky seam down the center of the seats, and went around and around with an upholstery shop working on things until we totally got rid of the chunk of leather with the seam down the middle. And, we got rid of the "seat cushion pad" underneath it, substituting the "seat cushion pad" from the previous-generation Camry.

All that means is that I've dug into this stuff probably more than anyone else on here has. And, there's one thing I've learned:

You can't even freaking BUY the leather seat cover without the seat heater. I got quoted something like $1,150 for the leather seat cover for ONE CUSHION -- that much, because it also includes the seat heater. Which is "sewn into" the seat cover. Got any doubt about that? Just go to your parts department, and tell them you want to order a leather seat cover for the driver seat for a 2007 Camry, and see what happens.

So, there just plain isn't any such thing as "leather without the seat heater" -- unless you're buying "aftermarket leather installed by the dealer." Or the dealer's upholstery shop. Not that there's inherently anything wrong with that -- I have been more than satisfied with the upholstery guy I hooked up with. But don't think that you're paying for original Toyota leather -- I would really, truly doubt that. My guess is that part of your "great deal" might well be some rather cheap aftermarket leather.

In the end, unless you live so far south that you never see temperatures below 45 degrees or so, I can't even begin to comprehend why you wouldn't want seat heaters! That's the usual complaint about leather -- so cold in cold weather, and too hot in the hot weather. With the seat heaters, you can at least take care of ONE of those problems!

In the end, mark my words: I'll bet that "no seat heaters" will equal "aftermarket leather." If that's OK with you, "no worries." Otherwise, "check it out!"

P.S. -- Hehehe, wireless beat me to the point! Dang long-winded replies! I certainly second the opinion -- you're looking at aftermarket leather.

[njerald]

Originally Posted by wireless

It will be aftermarket seat covers. Factory leather seats have the heaters.

I didn't realize you could get a SE or XLE with the V6 and not get VSC.

Wrong.

Heated seats are an option with factory leather!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid $352 extra for mine.

[Squishyface]

Originally Posted by wireless

It will be aftermarket seat covers. Factory leather seats have the heaters.

I didn't realize you could get a SE or XLE with the V6 and not get VSC.

Both are options you can customize when you special-order from the factory. If it's impossible to get, then why did they make it an option??

[Squishyface]

Originally Posted by thoots

In the end, unless you live so far south that you never see temperatures below 45 degrees or so, I can't even begin to comprehend why you wouldn't want seat heaters! That's the usual complaint about leather -- so cold in cold weather, and too hot in the hot weather. With the seat heaters, you can at least take care of ONE of those problems!

I'm from Minnesota. It gets very cold here, I got used to it.

I'm moving to Sacramento, it's generally very hot there. 99% of the time, I wouldn't even consider using the seat heaters. The rest of the time, I'll enjoy a nice cool seat in my car for a change

I'm pretty sure I can get the factory leather seats without seat heater just fine. Because you guys seem so certain I won't, I've contacted the dealer to make sure. I'll post the reply in this thread.

[thoots]

Originally Posted by njerald

Wrong.

Heated seats are an option with factory leather!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid $352 extra for mine.

Yeah, they do word it that way.

But, here's a test:

Have you ever seen a 2007 Camry with factory leather and no seat heaters?

Has anyone?

I sure haven't.

Again, go to your parts department, and see if you can order the leather seat covers without the heaters. If you can't do that, how can they truly offer these separately as options?

Again, my bet is that any order for leather without the heaters will wind up being aftermarket leather.

[tzeshan]

Originally Posted by Squishyface

I'm from Minnesota. It gets very cold here, I got used to it.

I'm moving to Sacramento, it's generally very hot there. 99% of the time, I wouldn't even consider using the seat heaters. The rest of the time, I'll enjoy a nice cool seat in my car for a change

I'm pretty sure I can get the factory leather seats without seat heater just fine. Because you guys seem so certain I won't, I've contacted the dealer to make sure. I'll post the reply in this thread.

Sacramento actually got pretty cold in the winter. It could be colder than SF.

[thoots]

Originally Posted by Squishyface

I'm from Minnesota. It gets very cold here, I got used to it.

I'm moving to Sacramento, it's generally very hot there. 99% of the time, I wouldn't even consider using the seat heaters. The rest of the time, I'll enjoy a nice cool seat in my car for a change

I'm pretty sure I can get the factory leather seats without seat heater just fine. Because you guys seem so certain I won't, I've contacted the dealer to make sure. I'll post the reply in this thread.

Good, good, that's what we want you to do -- confirm it, and, if it's really important to you to get "factory" leather, make some kind of deal in case that's not what you wind up with.

As for the heaters, up here in rainy Oregon, I love my seat heater!! "Worth it at ten times the price."

Also, being a rather old fart amongst us, I even use mine as a "heating pad" when the aches of the day attack -- ahh, the warm relaxation!

[eledan]

Originally Posted by tzeshan

Sacramento actually got pretty cold in the winter. It could be colder than SF.

It does get pretty cold sometimes. SF is next to the ocean so it stays somewhat temperate. Coming from Minnesota, the OP won't think Sac is cold at all, especially at this time of year. But once you get used to CA weather, you grow soft...I sure wish I had heated seats.

[thoots]

Originally Posted by njerald

Wrong.

Heated seats are an option with factory leather!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid $352 extra for mine.

Actually, let me dig into this a little deeper.

The construction of a factory leather seat cover is actually a three-piece sandwich, all sewn together, which goes like this:

Underneath the actual leather, there's a one-centimeter-thick piece of padding. Under that, there's the seat heater, which is just a piece of cloth with some metal elements sewn into it. Think "electric blanket," and you'll visualize it. These are all sewn together into one piece.

If you go to your parts department and order a leather seat cover, this is the part they have -- there is no equivalent "leather cover without the seat heater."

If you go to the lot and look at every Camry with factory leather, every single one will have seat heaters. You just won't find even one without seat heaters, unless it has aftermarket leather.

So, how likely is it that they've got some leather seat covers laying around at the factory without the seat heater element sewn into it -- just for special orders? Not very likely, I'd think. Supposedly you can order it without the element, but I'd think it would be more like a "port install" as such -- in other words, "aftermarket leather" installed by the dealer, or the port if there's one in between the factory and the dealer.

Of course, some of that is pure speculation on my part, but that three-piece sewn-together sandwich is the "leather seat cover" they install and sell through their parts department. I've seen it, I've held it in my hands, and I've investigated ordering it via the parts department. I've checked out the stickers on over a hundred new Camrys on my dealer's lot over the past year, and indeed every single one with leather had the seat heaters. And that's what leads me to my speculation on the matter....