Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Why do people think Recaro is making the Next Generation seats?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
It says "Recaro next-gen seats" on my Monroney sticker. Pretty sure the Feds would be all over that if it turns outs that's not what's provided.

AmpedRealtor was talking to me, because I said I'd have an issue with it if Tesla delivered a lesser quality seat to me.

My point is that my expectation at the time I agreed to accept the car with the seats to be delivered later was that they would be the Recaro Next Generation seats, and that that expectation was completely reasonable, in light of customers like yourself (EarlyAdopter) having received Monroney stickers that specified "Recaro." Since your seats and mine were to be the same, I too should be receiving Recaro seats. AmpedRealtor apparently does not agree.
 
Recaro=Moo?
cow-clip-art-cows.gif
 
And the Monroney doesn't say Recaro anymore. So either: A) They temporarily removed it from the Monroney to comply with all of the cars currently being delivered with the old style seats, which as mentioned earlier would be the correct thing to do contractually -OR- B) They are changing manufactures as we speak. I would place my bet on both...
 
And the Monroney doesn't say Recaro anymore. So either: A) They temporarily removed it from the Monroney to comply with all of the cars currently being delivered with the old style seats, which as mentioned earlier would be the correct thing to do contractually -OR- B) They are changing manufactures as we speak. I would place my bet on both...
I find it weird they even put it on there to begin with. Some early deliveries said Next Gen, and some said Recaro. Given they've always called them Next Gen seats when ordering, it's a little odd the sticker said something different in the first place. Doing that they've created a naming mismatch between the MVPA and the Monroney. I don't think I'd read too much into them bringing the two names inline with each other.
 
Was in Detroit at the NAIAS (Auto show) yesterday. Spoke with someone from Tesla there who works in their purchasing department (Sourcing) He gave me the name of the prior seat supplier (started with an F?) but he said the new seats are indeed from Recaro. He wasn't the person who purchased the seats-- but they are indeed, at least at this moment, manufactured by Recaro.
 
What confirms the oddness is the seating nightmare/delay we're all going through right now. Its really not the labeling I'm concerned with, agree that is not that big of a deal, I just want those seats I sat in come March delivery, not some inadequate knock off:)
 
Last edited:
It says "Recaro next-gen seats" on my Monroney sticker. Pretty sure the Feds would be all over that if it turns outs that's not what's provided.

If it says Recaro on your Monroney then that's what you received. The point I'm making is that Tesla doesn't represent these as "Recaro" seats anywhere in the ordering process or anywhere in its marketing materials, so there is no expectation that what you are ordering is going to made by Recaro. The Monroney sticker on one car does not mean that all cars will be that way.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not sure it even matters. Recaro was involved with the design of the seats. Does it really matter who puts all the pieces together? You're paying for Recaro's knowledge in designing supportive and comfortable seating. If their name isn't embroidered onto the headrest, which would imply some misrepresentation, does it even matter who actually put the thing together?

The Recaro-branded seats in my Evo are the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in, and they only have two-way adjustment (slide forward/back and seat tilt). I often have back pain, and took a 5 day cross-country trip without any issue. That's good design. That said, the stitching and construction on them is pretty poor. I'd gladly take Recaro's design and let someone else take a crack at actually putting them together.

Agreed. Recaro or not, who cares? As long as they are the same construction and quality, it's physically the same seat.

- - - Updated - - -

AmpedRealtor was talking to me, because I said I'd have an issue with it if Tesla delivered a lesser quality seat to me.

My point is that my expectation at the time I agreed to accept the car with the seats to be delivered later was that they would be the Recaro Next Generation seats, and that that expectation was completely reasonable, in light of customers like yourself (EarlyAdopter) having received Monroney stickers that specified "Recaro." Since your seats and mine were to be the same, I too should be receiving Recaro seats. AmpedRealtor apparently does not agree.

The only reason I don't agree is because a Monroney sticker is not a marketing piece and not a representation made by Tesla to other prospective customers. The Monroney sticker reflects what is present on that particular vehicle. If you are going to say that you had an expectation of receiving Recaro seats, you should not have gotten that expectation by looking at a Monroney sticker. The sales expectation is set by Tesla through the materials and information it provides during the ordering process. If your order says "Next Generation Seats", then that's what you are going to get. Tesla is not telling you who makes it.

I'm not trying to defend Tesla - they really need to get their act together with these parts and supplier issues. I'm just saying that Tesla never represented to anyone that they are getting Recaro seats, and that is true. A Monroney sticker is not a representation of all vehicles, just the vehicle carrying the sticker.
 
If it says Recaro on your Monroney then that's what you received. The point I'm making is that Tesla doesn't represent these as "Recaro" seats anywhere in the ordering process or anywhere in its marketing materials, so there is no expectation that what you are ordering is going to made by Recaro. The Monroney sticker on one car does not mean that all cars will be that way.

But that's just the problem - I haven't received them yet. For those of us with a due bill for next gen seats and "Recaro" on our window sticker, I'm pointing out we have a legitimate expectation that's what we'll be getting, eventually. Stands to reason then that's what everyone else will be getting, too.
 
You know, I was convinced my Monroney sticker mentioned Recaro when I took delivery (and mine was the first P85D on this forum, second ever) but I guess I was wrong! It just says "black next generation seats":

View attachment 69436

Mine entered production on 11/21 and I did get NextGen seats in the front and my Monroney says Recaro. Go figure what all this means, but I think we're just in 2 different batches of "oh crap, what are we gonna do with these cars".
 
Mine entered production on 11/21 and I did get NextGen seats in the front and my Monroney says Recaro. Go figure what all this means, but I think we're just in 2 different batches of "oh crap, what are we gonna do with these cars".

Interesting. Turns out, my sticker just says " Black next generation seats."

commasign, I see your signature indicates your car came with the next gen seats, and you say your window sticker said "Recaro." I wonder if cars delivered with the next gen seats had "Recaro" on the sticker, and cars delivered with them due just said "next gen."

Who knows.
 
The only reason I don't agree is because a Monroney sticker is not a marketing piece and not a representation made by Tesla to other prospective customers. The Monroney sticker reflects what is present on that particular vehicle. If you are going to say that you had an expectation of receiving Recaro seats, you should not have gotten that expectation by looking at a Monroney sticker. The sales expectation is set by Tesla through the materials and information it provides during the ordering process. If your order says "Next Generation Seats", then that's what you are going to get. Tesla is not telling you who makes it.

I'm not trying to defend Tesla - they really need to get their act together with these parts and supplier issues. I'm just saying that Tesla never represented to anyone that they are getting Recaro seats, and that is true. A Monroney sticker is not a representation of all vehicles, just the vehicle carrying the sticker.

I think what my point boils down to is this:

When I agreed to accept my Next Generation seats later, I assumed it would be the same Next Generation seats I would have received if they had been ready when the car was, which were the same seats being delivered to other new P85D owners. I think that is a perfectly reasonable assumption. Those seats I did know by then were made by Recaro. I certainly did not think I was giving Tesla an out or an option to decide later to possibly (and I'm not saying they are doing this--just making my point with the example) complete my order with a lower quality seat. The name "Next Generation" in and of itself, means very little. There is no dictionary definition of what constitutes a Tesla Next Generation seat. So I think it is fair to say that those of us that agreed to accept our cars without the seats we ordered, while still paying for them, should expect to receive the exact same seats as the people who happened to get the seats delivered with their cars. Exact same doesn't mean seats that look the same, but may be built with different materials, or put together by a different company, when the originals were manufactured by a company that is a leader in the field. Exact same means just that.
 
I guess it boils down to whether the Tesla "Recaro" seats (I.e. The seats that came with cars showing "Recaro" on the Monroney stickers) were actually made by Recaro at a Recaro factory. Or were they simply designed by Recaro and assembled by Tesla. If the later, then perhaps it was just a marketing decision or a legal/contractual issue resulting in its removal from the Monroney. I guess someone could call Recaro and see if they might spill the beans. ;)

And here's an article about the Recaro factory in Michigan...

We Visit Recaro’s Factory, Witness the Camaro Z/28’s Seats Being Assembled –Feature – Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog
 
But the thing is, the original Recaro seats were made incorrectly and yes those definitely were Recaro seats. We wouldn't even be here talking about any of this if that nightmare wouldn't have happened. This is part of the equation that can not be overlooked. I still say they got into it with them and/or Recaro's timeline to remanufacture the seats properly was not reasonable. They are known in the industry, certainly in the past, not to be the fastest at getting things out...
 
But the thing is, the original Recaro seats were made incorrectly and yes those definitely were Recaro seats. We wouldn't even be here talking about any of this if that nightmare wouldn't have happened. This is part of the equation that can not be overlooked. I still say they got into it with them and/or Recaro's timeline to remanufacture the seats properly was not reasonable. They are known in the industry, certainly in the past, not to be the fastest at getting things out...

My Monroney says Recaro so either mine was made correctly, they were able to fix it, or the sticker is wrong and I actually have Tesla-made NextGen seats. I wonder if there's a way to tell. I haven't noticed any sort of identifying marks on the seat indicating that it's made by Recaro.

Anyway, my rear seats are temporary standard seats so when they do swap them out, the car won't match what's on the sticker since the rear seats won't be made by Recaro.
 
And this is where the mystery lies and the questions begin. They may have been able to get a few out with the corrected airbags and then jumped ship realizing it was a dead end street. Or maybe only some were wrongly made. I have no idea, just speculating. There is no doubt something weird is going on though. I would greatly imagine you have the Recaros. The two I test drove and sat in at Tesla Dallas over a month ago were definitely Recaros, or they darn sure felt like every Recaro seat I've ever had. And it definitely said Recaro on that Monroney, saw it with my own two eyes and even spoke with the manager about it specifically. I think you're in good shape and one of the lucky ones:)

Further, I don't see how they could be "Tesla made", not in this short of time frame. There is no possible way they could gear up that quickly, may be trying to now...
 
We were told that if we decided to forego the next gen seats in the back and get the "old" style seats to get the car into production, that we would still pay the $3500 for the next gen front seats, there would be no refund. Also, does anyone have a screenshot of the ordering photo, showing the "real" next gen back seats. They changed the website pretty quick and I did not get a screenshot of them. If so, could you post that or PM it to me please?

hmmm... same here. Thankfully I have saved the original pdf, but this is hopefully just a website glitch. I thought the headrests in the back where larger due to euroncap-testing and many customer complaints.

Anyway, if this turns out to be real I will demand a discount for those seats.

- - - Updated - - -