mink92890

My seat has already stated to crack and is turning black at a rapid rate. All my other seats are looking brand new, but the driver seat has turned black. Is there any way to get it close to normal (conditioner)

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Mink92890

theRain04

Mink,

I have the same problem with my '99 GS400. I have the beige leather and the driver's seat has all these wrinkles in it already. I clean and condition my seats regularly, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I heard if you blend certain shades of shoe polish, believe it or not, and apply to the cracks, that's it's supposed to fill them in and blend it together so it doesn't show. I haven't yet tried it myself, but it's worth a try I suppose.

BTW, from 1998-present, Lexus has used a different, softer type of leather which is probably attributing to the cracking problem. My friend has a '95 LS and his seats are barely broken in. I notice the leather in the earlier Lex models to be alot firmer, but no less comfortable. I sorta wish Lexus would go back to using the older leather. It's much more durable and it is just as comfortable as the new stuff. Anyway, good luck with it.

mink92890

yea i had an 94 es300. The leather in that car didnt crack much. It just got a little harder. I was looking on lexus-parts and saw Lexus leather care just for ecru.. do u think that could fix it or not

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Mink92890

usermel

Man finally I can talk about the first thing i do when i buy a new lexus. I put in a order for sheepskin seatcovers. I know most say they wont pay so much for seatcovers. Look at it this way pay know or pay later. i owned a total of 5 lexus' and always got praise on how well they were taking care of. My secret for the seats was a cleaning and conditioning first then seatcovers go on and stay on. they also are comfy. All people who ride in my car for the first time cant belive how comfy and say it for the whole trip to our destination. I know most think this is not worth it, i did to before i tried it out and know cant even put tint on my car before getting seatcovers. If sheepskin is to much $ then opt for a cheaper seatcover. I am selling some black sheepskins I purchased for the GS models from 1998 to 2004 i bought a LS430 before i got to fully use them but i might keep them in case i get a GS in the future these covers in my mind are more valuable than rims or any mods to your car to me because they protect your car from wear and tear. If you have kids you know what i mean. If you spill your drink on your seat yeah it stains the seatcover but not the seat. I love seatcovers. Also the dye from new jeans or wet clothing from rain stains seats and takes away from the suppleness of the seats overtime. What you can do if you dont want seatcovers is clean and condition once a month. This will at least keep them from aging to much faster be careful dont overdo the cleaning, conditioning is what adds moisture to the seats. Oh man I forgot to mention I also own a 2001 LS430 and have covers for it and seats are great. I dont have the backseat ones yet but have towels to protect from sunlight. I remove the towels and clean and condition the seats once and a while also. Remember the sun damages leather like it can damage your skin, protection is key.

theRain04

It's worth a try. I've casually been looking for something for my car as well, but haven't tried anything as of yet. I think i'm going to do the shoe polish thing. It's cheep and I can just go to my local shoe store to pick it up. I'm not sure about the leather care that lexus-parts has, but if it's not a filler, and just a conditioner, it wont help with the cracking. Let me know how it turns out.

squarehat

My big concern with the shoe polish method is what happens when it's raining and you sit down? I'd hate to see shoe polish dye transfer onto good clothing and ruin it.

mink92890

i'm with squarehat on that one. I mean if i get seat covers im only goin 2 put it on the drivers seat, and then it wont lokk right if the whole car is leather except for the drivers seat...

MisterL

if you have the Ultra Lux, you'll basically negate the heating and cooling front seats if you put seatcovers on. It seems awkward to me to spend this kind of money on a car then cover up the leather seats with sheepskin. I"m in the 430 but my pops has the 400 and he has them on his. all i can do is shake my head when i see that thing. obvioulsy it boils down to personal preference but i just can't justify spending the loot vs the CRAZY look of sheep skin on my perforated seats. then too, they make the seats look huge. its your car, why are you saving the leather seats for (the next owner) the resale. i prefer to enjoy them, they're nice, soft and supple, . . . . like a lady!


L.