Solution/vendor For Ripped Leather...

[altwyc88]

Got a few minor cuts on door panels on my pre-own :D

Wanna fix them before my boys get to them... Any ideas on who else to use other than the 'dealer' ?

I'm in the Boston area... any idea/experience would be greatly appreciated.

[cduluk]

You could try the phone book for some local leather reupholsters, but i would suggest having the dealer leather guys do it. They're the best!

And of course there are some DIY "kits" for leather repair, but i wouldn't go there... They're either hit or miss.

[katzjamr]

arent the door panels vinyl? the only leather is on the seat in the areas your body touches, even the front panels of the seat can be vinyl. in most cities there is a company that is mobile and services car lots to take care of this problem on a regular basis as they detail trade ins. many of them are listed in the yellow pages of the phone book.

[cduluk]

The door panels are vinyl, but the people who work on leather work on vinyl just as often, same basic process.

[Gryphon]

I get many of my referrals from calling high end dealers and asking directly who they use for dents, upholstery, whatever. The yellow pages can be risky; it doesn't take much to become a "specialist" in whatever field they are in.

Tom

[cduluk]

At least here in RI, mostly every car dealer uses the SAME leather repair company. Even the local auto body shops use these guys, they work out of a truck and go to each of the locations when they're needed. They've got SO much experience...

[katzjamr]

I get many of my referrals from calling high end dealers and asking directly who they use for dents, upholstery, whatever. The yellow pages can be risky; it doesn't take much to become a "specialist" in whatever field they are in.

Tom

that is an even better idea

[cduluk]

Don't ask the leather people to do the job "outside of lexus". Yes it might be a hair cheaper, but Lexus won't cover the repair.

If the leather people did the repair under Lexus (through lexus)- Lexus would cover the repair even if your car's out of warranty.

If you ask the leather people to do it without Lexus knowing about it, if the repairs come out crappy or don't hold up, Lexus won't make them do it again...

[Gryphon]

CD do you know for a fact that Lexus warranties leather or vinyl repairs for a certain length of time? I would strongly suspect that these sort of repairs carry a reasonably short warranty simply because they are repairing, not replacing the subject items.

Tom

[cduluk]

When i had my Rx300 i bought some seats on ebay i wanted installed (they were the coach editions) and went to lexus to ask if their leather people could touch them up. When i asked about price, the lexus service guy told me if i scheduled it with Lexus, it would cost more than if i had their leather people do it at my house per say, paying them directly. The lexus guy also told me if i went with the latter then Lexus wouldn't warranty the work. I guess the extra $20 paying lexus direct covers the warranty they would provide.

And this was Jan of this year, and my Rx300 was a 2003...

I know if you go through Lexus, in general you will have leverage if repairs don't hold up, even if Lexus outsources the labor. It would be the same if you payed Lexus to have body work done. You pay lexus, but they just take it to an everyday repair shop. If the repairs fail, you go to Lexus and they work with the body shop.

[SW03ES]

If Lexus does it it has a 12 month 12k mile warranty...I would do as cduluk suggested personally.

[cduluk]

AND, if you have the repairs done under Lexus and the repairs fail and ruin an entire piece, you'll have leverage to have Lexus replace the parts entirely if they can't be fixed again...

[SKperformance]

look for a leatherique dealer local the product is amazing and they have pros to do it.