tbow1975 Posted January 6, 2004 Posted January 6, 2004 Hello all. I bought a 1992 LS400. The leather has no tears but does have the dark lines and is dry and rough in places. I already cleaned and conditioned the entire car with Mequiars conditioner/cleaner and then again with Lexol. This did help some, but still not really good. Can I pay someone to strip and redye the seats? SHould this bring back soft nice new looking seats? I talked to a guy that told me he will come to my house and do it for $75 per seat and they should look new after 1 day. what do you think? What should I do? THANKS A LOT!!!!!!!!!!! travis - Portland :D
blake918 Posted January 7, 2004 Posted January 7, 2004 I think I can help here because I have good experience with upholstry guys! Take a look: old: new: $75 per seat probably isn't too bad, but the thing I'm thinking about is when they did my seats they took they out of the car. Regardless of how careful they are with the dye, some is bound to get on some trim pieces and other areas surrounding the seats. I paid $600 to have the entire bottom, a piece in the lumbar section of the driver's seat, and 1 large lateral section on the passenger's seat. Then, it was all dyed to match the color inside my car. I think it looks teriffic! About the actual dying, I dunno if I'd go through with it because my guy dyed the entire seat front. It looks great, but the old lines that were there are poping through the new dye(look at the larger pic hard; you can see the little lines that are on the old leather on both seats.). Also, if you are looking to restore softness, then the dye won't help with this; I actually found the seats kind of hard from the fresh dye for a few weeks. I would recommend having a good upholstry guy replace some or all leather panels. Or a cheaper alternative might be to find some seats out of another LS that are nicer than yours.
blake918 Posted January 7, 2004 Posted January 7, 2004 BTW, call your Lexus dealer, and ask them where they send out their cars for upholstry work. That's how I found my guy, and he was awesome!
tbow1975 Posted January 7, 2004 Author Posted January 7, 2004 Hey thanks for the info. That helps. Your turned out great! spoke to another guy that told me he can do the whole car for $300.00 and restore the seats to like new condition. They use Leatherique restoration oil which helps restore the softness. Then they die it to original. I thought about just having the entire car done so it will all be the same. I'll call Lexus and ask, and see if there are any used ones around. Thanks for the help! :D travis - Portland OR
blake918 Posted January 7, 2004 Posted January 7, 2004 Not a prob.; I'm glad I could help :D . I've heard nothing but excellent reviews about leatherique! Don't call your Lex dealer; they love nothing better than robbing us, so call a junk yard. Here is a link for a bunch of networked junk yards across the country to get some ideas about whats out there http://www.car-part.com/ . An ES friend on here bought a perfect leather steering wheel from a junker service for $75...what a great deal! Good luck with your seats; special good luck if they are as bad as mine were B). After looking at the close-ups, I really love the un-perfect sewing lines on the seats; it adds a very neat old style charm to me!
SW03ES Posted January 7, 2004 Posted January 7, 2004 Don't pay them to use Leatherique you can do that yourself, its very easy to use. Check out www.leatherique.com.
tbow1975 Posted January 7, 2004 Author Posted January 7, 2004 Yeah good point. Ill ask Lex dlr who they use, and check your link for deals. It is nice to know that there are options to correcting the problem with the interiors that dont cost in the 1000's. I'll let you know how it turns out when its done. I think I will buy Leatherique and treat myself and just pay them to Dye them. Maybe the will Leatherique for cheap too. who knows. Thanks guys. I am totally restoring this car, so I'll let you know what I come across along the way. It's a car , just needs some TLC. If I can help you with something, lemme know. Later - travis
GSspeed Posted February 9, 2004 Posted February 9, 2004 okay, i just went to the site, and read up on the instructions, now this is supposed to soften the leather, then after softening you have to dye it, is that correct? is there any way of making the seats like blake918's new ones.
blake918 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 is there any way of making the seats like blake918's new ones. Take a trip down here and let Mr. Alden work on your seats! . I don't think you have to redye the seats after using Leatherique. I know Tbow just used it on his LS, so we'll wait for him or Steve to chime in!
blake918 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 is there any way of making the seats like blake918's new ones. Take a trip down here and let Mr. Alden work on your seats! . I don't think you have to redye the seats after using Leatherique. I know Tbow just used it on his LS, so we'll wait for him or Steve to chime in!
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