Um, are third row seats options or something? Wouldn't you already have one? Wouldn't insurance buy you one if it got stolen? How the hell would you wear one out before,say, the driver's seat?

obviously you are forgetting that they make wonderful lawn furniture.

or, their bronco with the chopped off top had some seat mold issues...i know mine did. RIP Ole Bessie the Brown Bronco

Dealers really charge 4k to replace that?

Replacement seats are in demand by SUV owners whose row of seats has been damaged or worn out.

And stolen, don't forget stolen. Then it becomes a circular thing, thief to chop to insurance to consumer to thief.

If it cost four grand to replace maybe they should buy a cheap replacement off of say craigslist. With any luck it will match as well as the original.

zqdime: If it cost four grand to replace maybe they should buy a cheap replacement off of say craigslist. With any luck it will match as well as the original.

You're right - it'll probably match the original exactly.

because replacing a stolen third seat at the dealership can cost up to $4,000.

I heard you can get them on Craigslist for like $1,000.

ha-ha-guy: We actually just had a meeting about this. The big debate now is if we should make them harder to remove. That prevents/discourages theft, but also increases labor costs of the owner removing them. Or we stick in some kind of fancy interlock where say if you have the car in accessory mode the lock on the seats auto releases, which increases sticker price.

Darned if you, darned if you don't. What's really important though is the coming new gen full size pickups and if you have something that blows the echo-echoboost out of the water...

It's incredible what thieves can do in public.

Friend had a mid 2000s Acura. We go into see a movie, and come out to find it on blocks, no joke.

The thief had almost lovingly and with great care, stripped the car entirely. No interior. No wheels, anything that could be unbolted from the engine, gone. Nothing was cut, butchered or otherwise manhandled. Even the battery cables were carefully folded away so they wouldn't interfere with his/her work.

I was simultaneously impressed at the level of care, how much was stolen, and the fact that it all took place between 9PM and the end of the movie in a crowded parking garage.

> Ivan Barahona, who has twice been a seat theft victim.

$100 deductible?

ha-ha-guy: The big debate now is if we should make them harder to remove. That prevents/discourages theft, but also increases labor costs of the owner removing them.

Unless they just fold into the floor. I know minivans aren't cool and it's against the car code to admit they do anything well, but the fold-into-floor seats are both easier to convert between cargo and passenger modes than most SUV seating options, and more secure against seat theft. And while the folding second-row captains chairs are a bit complicated the third-row seats are just an extra hinge, which I suspect is pretty cheap.

/ I know, they eat ground clearance
// Most SUV owners would never notice

Its the circle of commerce.

Thieves steal and sell to salvage yard, owner notifies insurance co., insurance co. buy seats from salvage yard and reinstalls in owners SUV. Rinse and repeat.

I move into a mid town neighborhood and was driving an older dodge truck. Second night someone stole my radio out of it in the carport. Next day, I stopped at a convenience store and a homeless guy walking by sees me and says nice truck, do you want to buy a radio for it. F U man.

ha-ha-guy: We actually just had a meeting about this. The big debate now is if we should make them harder to remove. That prevents/discourages theft, but also increases labor costs of the owner removing them. Or we stick in some kind of fancy interlock where say if you have the car in accessory mode the lock on the seats auto releases, which increases sticker price.

Just find a spot where you can put a padlock hasp between the frame and the seat so owners can secure the seats as necessary, just like an external spare tire rack has. Don't inconvenience customers in good neighborhoods or drive the vehicle price up with complicated interlocks when a simple lock might solve the problem. If possible make the lock visible so the thief doesn't have to break in before he sees it.