mtrimarc

Hello folks. I've been lurking for years on the SC400 and LS forums but don't recall ever starting a thread. Would anyone here have experience in somehow restoring or repairing the surface of a driver's armrest? The cracking shown in the attached photo is confined to a small area. We're likely selling the car soon so I'd like it to be one less item for a buyer to use to negotiate. This is the only real cosmetic issue with the interior.
I've thought about using some type of flexible clear adhesive, but think it would be pretty obvious. Over the years, I've seen vinyl repair kits advertised but never knew how well they worked.
A local upholstery shop wanted $430 to re-cover it in matching leather and I haven't found a good solution on eBay so far. To get a brand new armrest, you normally have to buy the whole door trim "card", for $2,000 to $3,000. Salvage yard driver's armrests are usually in worse shape than this one. Any input would be appreciated!
Mark



Cracking of Armrest Surface

Mbbarron

I think you should go the route of the upholstery shop. We're actually going to be getting the same thing repaired on our 2001 in a couple of weeks and it looks like it's in much worse shape than yours. I can let you know how that goes with before and after pics once we get it done but it could be a few weeks.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

that should qualify for the warranty extension, if you are within 10 years of service.

glenns

I have a little of the melting/cracking on my 07. I have leftover Ultrasuede in almost the right color from an RV project, also some ultra leather, but the color is slightly off. I have a local upholstery shop, but I might tackle it myself.

Does anyone have a write up on door panel removal? I am assuming remove the entire panel then from behind you can detach the armrest portion?

Dave144239

This shows you how to remove the door panel. It looks easy.

R Z

Yep! That's how mine started. I have a black interior. So, I taped it with black electricians tape (nice for a Lexus). Now it's cracked its way down the armrest. I firmly believe Lexus doesn't want you to use that armrest. It's just for show.

JLAWS

Shame on Lexus for going with the cheap material door armrest ! If you were fortunate like me to stumble on one with Comfort plus package or a full loaded "L" the armrest is in stitched leather. You'd see it in 2007-2009 models, they could have right a wrong in 2010-2012 models but 99% of Ls460s that year regardless of package has rubber armrests. Lexus finally came to their senses for the 2013+ models.

Here is my 2008 arm rest after 10 years and more than half the time in California and Texas before getting to the Northeast. The top of the leather on the handle section needed a little leather dye. Other than that holding up excellent.
Tan is a very common color. Check Ebay from time to time for door panels with leather. Hopefully you can find a set for just the front doors.

DavidinCT

It's one of the reasons why I was ONLY looking for a "L" when shopping. My arm rests in my 2007 are still in flawless shape (besides a little dirty and I will clean that up this weekend)

mtrimarc

Thank you all for your responses! Mbbarron, would you mind letting me know what your upholstery shop is charging you? As I said, the one I checked with wants over $400, which, considering the slight damage would be hard to swallow, and we might be selling the car soon anyway.
joedaddy1, I hadn't heard of the warranty extension. Are you referring to a purchased extended warranty? Also, wouldn't this be considered normal wear and tear?

BMW7_LS430

When you say nice for Lexus, do you mean a nice tape? Is so, what brand did you use and what size. Can you post a Photo or armrest?
I tried the same temporary fix with the tape but it refuses to stick. I think it is because I have cleaner on the armrests and also the surface is not plain.

R Z

Lol. What I mean is (tongue in cheek) black tape is a nice touch for a Lexus. It looks like crap and Lexus should never have allowed so many cars to have faulty interiors. They only admitted it with the 07's. I called Corporate and was immediately rejected. I'll get it repaired, but I haven't found anyone in town that does it. I've since sourced a company, but haven't been able to drive downtown to get a quote.

BMW7_LS430

Lol.
I agree 100%. On top of it, It makes no sense that the area above armrest is leather wrapped but the armrest is not. They could have just done the other way round if they wanted to save cost of whatever they were thinking.

I have a nice option to get all 4 armrests leather(vinyl) wrapped in Atlanta for $360 total but unfortunately they work only on week days and logistically I just can't do it in foreseeable future. I was just looking to do something in the interim.

Edit: wrapped like post below at same place. Thanks ngaybuon55

ngaybuon55

mtrimarc
Do more shopping around on the upholstery store. I did my for $100 each and/ or $360 for all 4 armrest included assembly labor at my Atlanta local shop. The result can not compare to manufacturing comfort package but much better than original rubber plastic. My armrest melting and sticky and look worst more than your before leather wrap job done.

Mbbarron

DH said he was quoted $185 from a local upholstery shop but he's not clear on what the process is and if that includes wrapping the whole armrest or somehow repairing just the crack. Ours looks worse than yours. He had set an appt to get it repaired and I told him to wait because I'll likely have the b-pillars done in my new to me car as well.

scubadvr1

Same problem with the drivers side arm of my 2008 LS460. I found a repair shop that said they do the repairs for the nearby Lexus dealership when they get their cars back off lease, etc. Most importantly, he told me the reason the cracks appear is because of the skin oils on your arm that soak into the armrest. So, theoretically, if you mostly wear long sleeved shirts this should not be a problem - 90% of the time I drive with short sleeves on. Anyway, he did the repair for a couple hundred bucks. He used a patch of some sort that matched the color exactly and was applied using a hair blowdryer. It "melted" the patch into place; then he rolled over the patch while still warm with something that created false "dimples" on the patch so it matched the dimples on the rest of the arm. It worked well; I tried not to put my bare arm on the door until selling the car about a year later; the patch held up well during the year.