chwES300

I just bought a 1996 Lexus ES300. I only paid $1,800 for it but it has 324,500 miles on it!. Only problems are that both driver and front passenger seats have rips from the 324,000 miles of wear and tear and when I'm driving it rattles (Center caps lose?). Any suggestions on how to repair those? The rips are to big for glue and stitching and I don't want to have them reapolstered.

cyco

Wow 324k Mi, as for rattling your should find whats rattling before you fix things that are okay. If you don't want to repair your seats maybe you should just invest in some seat covers? Or even just replacing the seats wouldn't be difficult I think..

chwES300

Yeah I think its my center caps on my wheels rattling though. I got out and checked them and they where lose. And do you know where I can get some seat covers that are made special for Lexus?

adreano17

had the same exact problem. i fixed it though by taking off the caps, and prying the connecting tabs closer in so it will grab the rim better

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

If you are up for it, there are complete replacements that me and Bryan (Tuan...forgot the rest of his name here....) have done. It takes about a weekend to do it all

llcoolpass

eyezack, leather?

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Of course. I did the normal leather on the outside and perforated on the inside portion

AMAlex

Wow... 324k miles... that's a hefty amount. Glad to see that you are a new lexus owner, and welcome to CL

As for the seats, You can probably just buy seat covers or get help that eyezack is offering.

Lexucan

I thought my '93 had one the highest mileages at 275K (and counting) !
Says a lot about the quality, durability and longevity of the ES !

As for your center caps, yeah, just adjust those prongs that hold them in place and you'll be good to go.

And for your driver and passenger seats, I'd reconsider getting them reupholstered. If you only got the seat panels that are ripped replaced, it probably wouldn't cost any more than buying a good quality set of seat covers, and it would look lots better, IMO.

chwES300

Thanks to everyone whos tried to help me out so far! I am going to try to tighten my center caps soon. As for the seats I'm thinking about getting them reapolstered anyway. To eyezack87: Where are you located?? I am in NC and if you are in Cali it could be a challenge lol.

mmlex1987

Welcome to CL and that is truely awesome to have such minor cosmetic concerns with 324K miles. I hope you get your seats and the minor rattles taken care of and enjoy your ES foe another 100K miles!!!

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Make an offer for these seats. Its relatively simple to do. They're quality stuff but you have to feed them like crazy for a couple weeks since they were dry when I received them. I did multiple doses of Leatherique solutions to make them better. All you need is patience thats all. You unhook the hog rings holding the old ones, add foam where the foam has gone missing, then hook the new covers on with the hog rings they provide

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-93...Q5fAccessories

skrops

How do you get the center plate off to adjust the tabs in order to stop the rattling, do you need to remove the wheel? I've got the same issue on a 96 ES300 and it's definitely that the center plate is loose.

wbudna

wow 324,000 miles thats great, i just got my first lexus too same year as yours with 278,000 miles and running strong but it seems it needs some valve adjustment, maybe check on ebay for the seats or car-parts.com for used parts there great