Oivey2000

Looking for suggestions. I am pretty much the only driver of my '03 RX300 and the leather on my bottom seat cushion is all creased and dark in the creases. The arm rest where I rest my elbow is also worn & graying. I've cleaned & conditioned the leather since I bought the car, but that hasn't stopped the creasing/darkening from occurring. It's tan leather. When I look at the passenger seat & armrest it's light night & day! Anyone know of any fix to get the leather looking smoothe & tan again like the passenger seat does short of re-upholserting the whole deal? Also....the wood steering wheel has, for some unexplicable reason, dulled. There's this dull film over the wood. At the very tip where it meets the leather you can see about 1/8" of that bright wood the same color as is on the center console, doors, etc...but the main part of the wood on the wheel has this opaque looking film over it. Anyone ever hear of this before and know of a way to get that bright wood look back rather then replacing the entire steering wheel? I thought about refinishing & even asked my dealer to look at it..they were cluless. Any suggestions would be welcome!

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Try MagicMender.com - their colorflex dye. After cleaning the cracks and worn spots (I have the same issue on the driver's seat and armrest) apply some of their dye to cover up the worn grey/cracked areas. This will not fill the cracks but is a cheap cosmetic fix. Alternatively, leather reapir specialists can patch the cracks and do a real good job on the leather seating surface for around $50-$100.

Yes, you can do it yourself but do you really want to practice for the very first time on your Lexus???!!!

defo

iTrader: (6)

I've heard good things about MagicMender from others on this board....there is also another company that sells a product (forgot the name) that WILL fill in the cracks. Do a search because someone here did a detailed write up with pics.

As for the steering wheel, the clear coat is greying, I'm not sure how this happens, but I've seen it before. Do you park outside in the sun a lot, I've heard that can cause the problem. Anyway, the only fix for that, it to strip off the clear coat, and reapply a new coating, several coats actually. Talk to CDULUK, he has extensive experience re-staining and re-coating the wood trim in the RX300.

Be prepared to have a lot of down time on the RX, as both projects will consume several days each.

If you do those projects, try to to take before and after pics for all of us

DNC

Having been down this road many times with both classic and newer cars I have always gotten the best results from an experienced upholstery shop. They will replace the worn section and match it up much better than a weekend project person. By the time you purchase the materials you will be much better off letting someone else do it.
I have no experience with Lexus woods.

cduluk

For the leather seats and armrests, you have two good options, but your pick would be based on a few things:

How much longer are you planning on keeping the car for?
and how "perfect" do you want the outcome to look?

If you're planning on keeping the car for longer than year, i would not suggest attempting to do larger leather touch-ups yourself =/

And if you want the results to look better than "average" i would also not suggest you try it yourself...

I'm only saying this because i've tried quite a few products, and none of them seem to 'hold-up". I've tried magic mender, leatherique and one other no-name from Autozone- all of which don't hold up over time. They look great right after they've been applied, but over time, even with conditioning, just crack again and look worse...

A month ago or so, i had a professional re-finish the leather in my Rx300 and it came out perfect. He had some 'professional grade' lacquer based dye (whereas magic mender and leatherique are all water based) that literally bonds to the factory leather coating better than anything else i've seen.

Now, i'm sure if i could find and purchase these professional dyes, and mix them just right, i could do a better job applying than the guy that worked on my seats, but i felt i should just leave it to the professionals... He charged only $200 and he did both fronts, armrests and the rears. They look almost brand new! I say "almost" brand new because a few of the "creases" are still there, just they aren't brown and cracking anymore.

Call your local Lexus dealer and ask for their leather guy. They hire leather people to do all of their cars before sending them out as cpo's. They do amazing work and use the best products. $200 and getting to sit back and watch seemed very reasonable to me. Buying enough product to cover all the seats would probably cost near $100 anyways, and my work doesn't come with a warranty from Lexus

I would give that a try. If it's just a small crack or blemish you want to touch up, the magic mender Ivory#375 is a perfect (and i mean perfect) match to the 99-03 rx300 tan leather. The taupe#13 is the color of the steering wheel leather and upper dash.

As for the steering wheel wood, it was a common problem for the clearcoat to get 'foggy' over time due to poor drying of the wood before coating. There's really no easy fix besides stripping the clear, re-staining and re-clearcoating- which takes a while.

I would just suggest looking for a used steering wheel from ebay. They usually go for around $150-$200 if you can wait for a good one. It would be cheaper than stripping, staining and re-clearing your present wheel.

But if you choose, i can strip stain and re-clear your present wheel if you can have it removed for 1-2 weeks. I've done 2 of these and they look better than stock :P

here's a link to a steering wheel on ebay from LKQ which has an excellent reputation.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02...Q5fAccessories

Needs a leather touch-up and a minor cutting, but a good deal.

Oivey2000

Thanks guys...Good info!