When I originally purchased the Van, there was, as with anything, an endless list of options. Finding the right combination of mileage, spec, condition and features etc was a nightmare! I looked at so many vans as I am sure anyone with a Transporter can relate. One thing I had to compromise on was the 2+1 layout in the cab. With only myself and my partner using the van most of the time we didn’t really need the double bench and I naively thought it would be a simple case of changing it at a later date. HA HA HA I hear you say.
I have now managed to do it; it cost more than I expected when I was new to all of this, but I believe I got a good price in the end and am very happy. Read on for more detail if you are in a similar situation…
New Upholstery
As with all good internets, here are some ‘finished photos first’ to whet your appetite. The upholstery was done by the excellent Adrian Williams of Dub Stitch Upholstery. Top bloke, highly recommended.
Details – When 2 became 1…
In short, I took my original seats to Adrian;
- He reupholstered the Driver’s and Rear Seats.
- He also supplied a Passenger Captains seat from another T6 including the base which he reupholstered to match my existing seats.
- I sold the folding double and base to him.
For the duration of the work (around 10 days), he loaned me a drivers seat so I could still use the van. The timing worked perfectly as the week that he had the seats, my van was having the pop top fitted so having only 1 seat was not an issue. He fit me in at the last minute too which was amazing.
Original set up (changes in bold text):
Driver: VW Original Captains Chair with Side Airbag and Armrests in Pandu Trim. Single Base.
Passenger: VW Original folding Double Bench with Side Airbag in Pandu Trim. Double Base
New set up (changes in bold text):
Driver: VW Original Captains seat with Airbag and Armrests in Black Leatherette with Orange Stitching. Single Base.
Passenger: VW Single Passenger Captains Chair with Side Airbag in Black Leatherette with Orange Stitching. Replacement Single Base.
To Add: 2 x single offset swivel bases from Kiravans. I ran out of time to get the swivels installed, but will be doing so soon. Adrian showed me what to do and kindly offered to help with advice if I get stuck but it looks pretty simple.
Double to Single – why change?
For many people, needing 3 seats up-front is important, whether that is to carry family or pets or just to have extra space to put ‘things’. Most of the time there will only be me and my partner traveling (with the option of 3 passengers in the second row for day trips) and so the double bench is not necessary. At 5’10” and 5’5″ we both found the double very uncomfortable for opposite reasons. It is too small for my legs, they hang off mid-thigh so I found myself constantly wiggling about to get comfortable. On the other hand, my partner found it too big; without armrests, she found she lolled about and couldn’t get her legs in a good position. So the double had to go. We also wanted to be able to swivel the cab seats to make a lounge area when camping and swiveling a double with airbags is not possible (the wires would get trapped).
Airbags
It is apparently unusual to have a double passenger bench in a Transporter with Side Airbags, but I am glad of the additional safety provided. This did add a few complications, not least of which was obtaining a Single with Airbags. I have read, and can understand the logic, that Side Airbags in a van are less important than in a car because the added height of the vehicle means that most side impacts place the passenger above the point of impact; however, as with several things in my Shuttle, it seems silly to remove a feature that is there for comfort or safety. During my quest for replacement seats, it looked at one point as though I would have no choice but to forego the airbag for the passenger and possibly the driver.
Fortunately, I got very lucky and Adrian found me a Hen’s Tooth in a pile of Rocking Horse poo.
He has also used a special stitch in the seats to allow the airbags to deploy; make sure this is done if you use another upholsterer.
Sourcing a Single Passenger Seat
What a pain that was! I trawled the net for hours (days?) trying to weigh up all the options.
Requirements
2 x Cab seats with airbags and armrests in matching trim.
Options
Option 1: Find a Single VW Passenger Captains Seat in the same Pandu Trim as my driver’s seat.
Option 2: Find a Single VW Passenger Captains Seat in any trim and then re-trim my driver’s seat to match.
Option 3: Find a pair of VW seats in matching trim and swap with my existing ones.
Option 4: Take out the existing seats and replace them with seats from another make/model of car/van.
Option 1 should be the easiest and is on paper. Find a replacement for the thing you want to change and swap them over. However, in reality, neither myself nor any of the suppliers that I spoke to could find one in the right place for the right money. Some dodgy-looking ones came up on eBay, and any Facebook Marketplace listings I saw went within minutes. It is still the simplest option if you can find the right seat; it is a good place to start if you are in a similar position.
Option 2 spreads the net a little wider as the trim does not need to match. This is what I ended up doing. Yes, there is the added cost of the re-upholstery, but you can mitigate that by using covers or living with the mismatch. For example, Simora and Pandu are similar so if you don’t mind a bit of difference you may be able to live with that. You could always get the upholstery done at a later date too.
Option 3 was about the same cost-wise as option 2 and because of the need for airbags was also very hard to find any suitable candidates.
Option 4 looked like my only choice for a while. It didn’t feel like the right thing for me personally so I am glad I didn’t do it in the end. My main concern was the comfort of the seats from e.g. a Car or people carrier working in a van. The driving positions are likely to be different so I wasn’t sure I would like the change. Doing all of this mid-covid also complicated matters; I couldn’t go and try any setups other dubbers have done! Having non-VW seats may affect the resale value of the van in the long term as some potential buyers may want OEM.
Logistically there are some challenges to weigh up too;
- How do you get a van somewhere with no driver’s seat?
- Get a loan seat if you can, or drive somewhere that will swap out your new seats for you.
- What do you do with your old seats?
- Online selling is rarely straightforward; you need somewhere to keep large heavy seats and be available for people to come and look/collect etc.
Rear Seats
I love the functionality of the T6 Shuttle second-row seats. Each seat independently folds flat which no only provides a bed option, but allows the back of the seat to be used as a table or a rear-facing bench for picnics/short stops. Having them all folded opens up the van a great deal too and means you can get from front to back without going outside.
The 2 side seats also tilt to allow ingress and egress through the sliding doors to the rear (where a third row of seats was originally fitted).
I decided to get the rear seats re-upholstered at the same time. The additional cost wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things and there were a couple of tears and marks. I’m so pleased I did; it felt a little indulgent but having the full set looks amazing. I could have waited and had it done later on, but it seemed right to get it all done together.
Costs
In the end, the cost of option 2 came out similar to other options and was significantly less faffy! For example, looking at option 4, to get a pair of swivel seats from a Ford Galaxy fitted by a popular company based in the northeast in a similar orange/leatherette design would only have been a couple of hundred pounds less.
With so many options and fluctuations in materials, I won’t detail costs as they could end up being very misleading. As a guide, the entire project cost around £2k, including the purchase of the items listed below.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Replacement Passenger Captains Seat and Base | £950 |
| Sale of Double Bench and Base | -£200 |
| Swivel Bases (Kiravans) | £350 |
Choices of Upholstery
I ummed and ahhed about the orange; I nearly chickened out and went with a grey stitch but Adrian showed me some samples and showed me his van with yellow stitching. He said he had some customers that went with a neutral stitch and were disappointed, including a guy that returned a few months later to have the black changed to green! It looks amazing.
I wanted something simple so selected the thick horizontal bars in the centre panel of the seats. There are lots of options available. I also wanted a classic VW logo, but could have had several alternatives.
Be aware that the more complex the pattern, the longer it takes to sew and so will cost more. The aftermarket covers that are widely available go through a different manufacturing process and can therefore be mass-produced more cheaply than the individually made, bespoke service that upholsterers offer.
