Wally’s Auto Upholstery

The real deal! This business exemplifies what is meant by superb craftsmanship. Joe and his son are delightful people and their work is stellar. I needed a custom armrest made for my new car and they did a beautiful job for me. It looks like it came with my Lexus. Ingenious masters of their trade!

I have a 2003 Audi Cabriolet convertible which I love to pieces until the fabric top started going to pieces. The back window began to separate from the actual fabric. Eventually rainwater began getting into the trunk and because I didn’t realize what the problem was, I didn’t do anything. Until the inside of my car got soaked. I took my car to my usual guys who diagnosed the problem, which had to do with the degradation of the factory glue that kept the fabric attached to the window — pre 2004. Lucky me. The new tops are stitched on to the back window. Because they don’t see this type of thing often, the learning curve was steep and they were estimating $ 2,500 parts and labor. Yikes!
I Unilocaled and called all auto upholsterers in the greater Bay Area until I discovered Wally’s. They are so incredibly helpful and because they do this so often, the cost was $ 1,300, including parts and labor. They even cleaned my car after they were done! The top looks great and has withstood additional rain showers. I am so grateful for their services.

Took my Scion to Wally’s to have the headliner replaced. I brought in suede material for them to install. I didn’t have enough material to get the pillars done in suede, so I opted to paint the pillars and then have them reinstall once completed. When I brought back the pillars, they weren’t the best looking job. Jose worked with me to get the pillars looking good. With the remaining suede material, he was able to finish my pillars at a new negotiated price. My car looks and feels great — it’s a whole new vibe in my ride now, thanks guys!

I bought a 1961 Lincoln Continental. It was in good condition, but the interior really needed a redo. Those of you who are unaware (which I guess is most people), the 1961 Lincoln, and all cars around that year, were HUGE boats
As you might assume, the interiors back then were large, rich, luxurious leather. I kid you not, the front and back bench seats were as big as love seat couches.
The seats were complex in that there are lots of tucks, pleats and rolls, with the edges abutting chrome and metal strips. Front and back there are armrests as big as two cowboy boot boxes.
Then there’s the carpets and door armrests, all equally well appointed.
Just the materials encompasses a lot of surface area that requires lots of material, and labor-​intensive sewing for the tucks, rolls and pleats.
When I went into Wally’s I was expecting a $ 5,000 minimum estimate, and even more if I wanted the interior done to concours quality leather. («Concours» means they make the interior look as if it rolled off the showroom floor.) I knew there was a difference in cost between leather and vinyl because years ago I had a 1961 Mercedes 190SL convertible interior restored. There was a significant difference in cost between leather and vinyl. I opted for vinyl.
Wally’s gave me two estimates, one for everything done in leather, the other in quality vinyl. Jose was very knowledgeable and said if it was his Lincoln he would get the work done in vinyl. I thought this was commendable because he was recommending a job that would mean less profit for the shop.
I followed his advice and was pleasantly surprised when the entire job cost me less than $ 1800! And the work was fantastic. The interior looked showroom new and after I got the car back I sat in it for long lengths of time just to enjoy the interior.
Wally’s is one of the best kept secrets in town. If you look at the exterior you would think no way these guys do quality work.
I am so pleased I am taking my friend’s BMW convertible there to get a new plastic rear window (her’s is rotted and a horrid dark clouded brown color, that is, instead of clear, like a window should be).
Update: I did not drive the Lincoln much, about 5 miles a month just to keep the battery charged. And driving a car that big on San Francisco streets was actually frightening, especially going up and down Nob and Russian Hills, and navigating the tight turns.
The benefit of driving that tank, other cars would flee in terror when I purposely pretended I was not paying attention while to floor the accelerator.
And when in the middle of a three-​lane street cars would part like Moses did the Red Sea, to stay out of my way, as I was packing an extremely wide berth. People were simply not sure The Hulk would be able to stop once it got a good head of steam.
I digress, forgive me.
So I sold it to someone from Reno. He loved the interior and I’m sure Wally’s quality work allowed me to get top dollar for the car.

José is the best! After a break in, the zipper on the back window of my Jeep’s soft top was busted and would no longer close. I took it into various car repair shops and no one could help me… one shop even told me I needed to buy an entire new soft top. Then… I came to Wally’s. José took a look at the car and started working on it immediately.
With some WD-​40, pliers, and some serious Macguyver skills he managed to fix the window in 30 minutes! He is truly amazing! These guys are so helpful and honest. I would recommend going here for all your auto upholstery needs.

I needed the door cards on my Jetta reupholstered. They are about 18″ X 8″. Four of them. I bought some suede and thought i would give it a shot. Nope, not even close, so i figured i would take it to a «professional».
I hand one of the guys at Wallys the four pieces and the material. tell him that I cannot do it myself. He is like, «oh yea, 100%, i can do this with no wrinkles, it’ll be great!» i ask how much, he says $ 300. I wasn’t expecting that much. but okay, he says it’ll be great with no wrinkles. Although he seems more eager to take my $ 300 imo. i agree and leave the pieces.
I come back in a week so find, quite literally some of the worst work i’ve ever seen. wrinkles everywhere and the material is ALREADY peeling off. on top of that he installed some foamy stuff because he couldn’t get the material to stretch enough.
I hate being «that guy», as much as i didn’t like it, i agreed to take the panels. except for one that was so poor I asked him to redo it. he agreed and i cut him the check.
come back a week after that. (two weeks now). guess what? the guy never even touched it! he left for LA and didn’t tell anyone about the work he had to do for me. I guess i spoke with the owner as he was appeared to be in charge. i explain the situation. he apologizes profusely. tells me he’ll make it work. he’ll even do it himself.
okay, i’ll come back in another week
3^rd week! i show up. again, this last piece looks like crap. he tells me it’s the material. GREAT! if you folks knew the material wouldn’t stretch and not wrinkle WHY wouldn’t you tell me that to begin with! i told him to redo all four panels in whatever black material he wants. i was willing to pay for the material but not for the extra labor. the job was crap and they needed to make it right. he agreed.
4^th week,. i return hoping to see some good results. guess what? not too shabby. still not perfect. one panel has a huge bubble in it. whatever, i just want these back in my car so I can drive the damn thing! he explains how hard it was. i empathize. then he tells me he wants $ 100! i was like WTF? i already paid you $ 300 for four 18×8 panels! it’s not my fault you had to do it twice!
he groaned how it took him a long time to do it. so what, these guys work and get paid by the customers individually? that’s not my problem man!
whatever, i just wanted to get out of there. I cut him a check for $ 100. $ 400 total! FOR A MEDIOCRE JOB THAT TOOK 4 WEEKS TO DO!
and to top it all of, he waited 3 weeks to cash the first check! wow! never going back there again! i would rather have a toddler do my upholstery work in the future.

If God needed upholstery work, he would come here!
Somehow someway, I tore a slit on my driver’s seat with the back pocket button of my jeans and this place made me whole again.
The slit was about 3−4″ long right in the middle of the seat, so there was no way of sewing or patching it back. The shop didn’t have the exact pattern and would have costed me over $ 300 if I went OEM. It so happens they had a very similar pattern (85% match) left over from another job and was willing to do the job for $ 120. It was initially $ 150, but talked him down.
The work took a couple days and the finished product was nothing less than what I expected. This is coming from someone who is quite anal about anything-​cars.

Incredible experience in every way. I was referred here from the guys at Allied (who were great and also know old cars) for some help with my 1957 chevy convertible. the top wasn’t going all the way down.
Joe was on it. pulled out the seats. He needed to adjust the top, replace the motor (which he found a replacement within a few hours, replaced the cylinder pistons and hoses. He probably put in 15 hours more than what he was expecting to but only charged me for an extra hour more than what he initially quoted.
He definitely knows older classics and does great work and is trustworthy. And very humble and considerate which may not mean much to some but we all have options on where to take our business and it means something to me.
I’ll definitely be going back to have him replace the top. He suggested he could put on a ready made one or make a custom canvas one. Plenty of options.

The frame on my 2000 Saab’s driver’s seat was shifting and creaking while I drove. They removed the seat and leather, examined the frame, tightened loose bolts and lubricated moving parts. No more movement or creaking. My driving experience was completely improved.
Excellent work, fair prices and timely service. Thanks José!

I purchased a used Acura and had to have the cracked leather seat fixed. Joe quoted a reasonable price, did the work as promised, and when Muni refused to open the bus door on an express and took me 6 miles past the shop, Joe drove the car out without my having to ask. Hard to find good customer service these days, and they provided the best. The shop looks like a bit disorganized but don’t be put off– the work and service is excellent.

I am not one to leave feedback, but here I think its due. I recently
took my 73 JAG xj6 series 1 to have my headliner replaced. Admittedly
I was a little nervous leaving my classic in the care of a couple of younger
guys but that feeling was put at ease, quickly. They are in a bit of a
small space but they take their time to do the job right.
Don’t hesitate! Give these guys the chance to impress you too…
Strongly recommend!
M. Aranda

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Joe and his helpers reupholstered the front seats in my 20 year old Lexus, and they did a fabulous job. I could not believe that they could match the leather so perfectly or turnout such an outstanding job. AND they are all nice people, and they care about their customers, and above all, want them to be pleased.
I recommend them without hesitation.

Wanted to give all my fellow Unilocalers a quick review of the superb service and quality of work I received today from Joe at Wally’s. These guys know what they’re doing and they deliver ahead of schedule without breaking the bank. They went above and beyond the job they were hired to do, which is something not easily found these days. Thanks Joe and all the guys down at Wally’s

Another great experience with Joe at Wally’s. I just got an older Porsche 911 Cabriolet that needs some minor freshening up. I needed to have the padding in the driver’s seat built up (which I was a bit worried about because the seat is electric and heated) some of the window seals recovered with cloth, and the top boot cover (snaps on over top when top is down) restored. Joe knew exactly what needed to be done and he finished the job in one day. He also gave me some good advice for some of the other projects down the road. The end result is great and the interior was cleaner than when I dropped it off. He even charged me a LOT less than what was quoted because it was faster/​easier to do than expected. Joe is great and I highly recommend him.

Big shout out to Joe at Wally’s Auto Upholstery for the amazing work he did on our 1969 VW Bus. It was next to impossible to find anyone who would even attempt what we were looking for, but Joe did great work, and also under a tight timeline we imposed. Custom auto upholstery is never cheap, but the value we got for the money we spent here was second to none. They get my strong recommendation.

I’d go back just to hang out with Joe.
I had a pair of motorcycle seats with badly cracked vinyl. Joe re-​foamed the seats and covered them with new vinyl where they looked showroom new. I was completely satisfied.
Motorcycle or car, definitely go here.
Only advice is they need a POS machine to take credit cards.

My truck seat was flat as a pancake. It felt as if I was sitting on the floorboards, and no amount of padding helped. Joe quoted me $ 200.00 to rebuild the seat (the seat cover material was still in excellent shape). He finished the work the same day (Saturday, no less), even having to do some welding, because part of the seat back was evidently broken. He kept the price to his estimate, the new seat is fantastic, and Joe was helpful and courteous throughout. I don’t know why I’d ever go elsewhere!

I have a 93 VW convertible that needed a new top. I took the car to Wally’s who quoted me approximately $ 1,000 which was about $ 200 cheaper than any other place I called and their location was much more assessable for me.
So I took the car in and get a call from the upholsterer who was working on it (unfortunately I have forgotten his name) who told me the frame that holds the back window in place was very badly corroded due to water damage and needed to be replaced. He tried locating one in the general SF area but there were none available and he would have to go to junk yard in Hayward where he was pretty sure he could part one off a car there.
Of course my immediate thought was «oh great, this is going to be a $ 300 item because of travel time» but they only charged me $ 60, I’m assuming he was going to go to the Hayward yard anyway.
The work they did on the top was fantastic and their customer service is superior!

I took my car in to get the upholstery on my roll bar fixed, and also get my old cracked sun visors re-​covered, Wally did a PERFECT job with both, all for less then the cost of new reproduction sun visors! (it’s an old sports car).
I couldn’t be more happy with their work.

Like Joe, I’m a big guy who trashed his driver’s seat. An unbelievably nice employee at the BMW dealership took me aside and explained they’d charge me $ 1100 for a new seat (srsly!) and suggested Wally’s. Awesome idea.
They repaired and reinforced the seat frame, fixed the worn interior stuffing, and put a new cover on for a fraction of the price, fixed some loose panels in the passenger foot-​well perfectly, and replaced both side elements of the cloth convertible top. Still way, way, way less than just a new seat.
AND they’re welding the oven drawer from my mother-in-law’s ancient GE kitchen appliance! This place is awesome!