Bart

Hi. I have a 1993 GS300 that I love. Its Aspen Silver (I think that's what it's called) and has dark grey leather seats.

The car has about 115K miles and I have maintained it meticulously from its birth. I want to keep it "forever" (at least another 150K miles), and want it to look as close to "showroom" as possible...BUT the silver paint is looking dull and the leather is beginning to show its age (slight scratches here and there, fading and wear).

Any suggestions for improving the exterior paint appearance with a clearcoat type look and the interior leather...without a complete repainting and seat replacement?

Any other tried and true "tricks" to keep it running and looking good for the long haul. Please giive any cost estimates for your suggestions.THANKS!

SpectraGS3

For the paint, you can either pay for a repaint and there's your showroom finish for like 3k or so or you can get some Mothers Clay or California Clay cleaner which uses a bar of clay and a lubrication spray to pull the dirty that's embeded in your paint out. This stuff really works, it will suck dirt that's pitted into the paint that no scrubbing with a sponge or towel will remove.

After that, use a high quality wax and that will seal the pit holes that removing the dirt left along with minor scratches and swirl marks. I did this to my current GS400 and my old 95 GS 300 when I first got them. Even 2 years after doing it to the GS300, the car would shine after just washing.

A good wax makes the color come back but cleaning the paint best you can first makes all the difference. After using the clay cleaner the paint feels smooth as glass and will shine like it too. It gets all kinds of stains and junk out of your paint that nothing else will, you have to rub alot, plan on spending 4 hours with just the clay but you only have to do this once every year or so if you seal it in with good wax and keep the wax up twice a year.

For the leather you can get colored leather stain from places online, just look for leather stainer or leather repair kit. Even if you don't actually fix the scratches and cracked folds in the leather, the stain will match the color to the rest of the leather and make it hardly noticeable. They will get those whiteish cracks in the leather out. Be careful to get good quality stuff that doesn't streak, some types will get darker each time you pass the same spot and could end up streaking or blothing your seats.

A good shampoo and steam clean for the floors will help alot, my old GS300 had stains in the floor mats that were so bad that I had to buy new ones (they were light grey and showed stains easily) but if you want a new look, it's worth it.

Hope this helps