The driver's seat looks very worn. On the left-side, there are many cracks and very obvious discoloration. I am guessing that it is beyond the point where applying some sort of polish will make a serious improvement.

How has everyone else dealt with cracked / discolored leather?

This is just about the only thing that is holding me back from becoming an owner (the rest of the car looks fantastic), so I was wondering...

What can I do? Personally, I like the stock seats, and if possible I would be happy to replace the driver's seat with another from stock... although I'm questioning the availability of parts. It'd probably be a better idea to have the seat reupholstered, but would a Lexus dealer be able to do this and match the original? Or is there somewhere else I could go to have this done?

Thanks for your feedback.

 

used cars are never perfect, get it, your sitting in the seat anyways, you wont be able to see it

 

I agree, and going to a Lexus dealership to get anything done will cost more than it should. If you really want to get it redone I say wait till someones selling a used seat thats in better condition in the classifieds, otherwise just sit and drive.

 

Why not get it and have it releathered? That shouldnt be too expensive.

 

That's along the lines with what I was thinking, I just didn't know where to turn.

 

Buy it and try to get the buyer to mark it down another $600, for the seat. Then get them re-upholstered by www.leatherseats.com... They are a vendor on CL, and I hear they do great work!

My 2¢

 

Used parts for these cars are not difficult to find at all. If you dont have a problem w/ used parts. PM CL member Gazi Aliga first when you're ready . He'll take care of you.

 

Yep, have them lower the price and redo it. You'll love the 99 for a long time. By the way, you should win the prize for most clever use of SC in a signature!!

 

leatherseats.com is the way to go. They tend to have 2-3 group buys here per year. Top quality and you can't beat the price as opposed to buying new OEM seats.

 

Two things you can do. Both of which have been mentioned, and are also your best bets.

Aliga, he'll do anything he can to help out, very reputable around here.

Leatherseats.com - Im in the process of getting new front seats and arm rest ($579.00)from them now. Try to get ahold of "Eric", hes helping me out a great deal, from finding places for me to get in professionally installed ($250-300), (3-4 hours), to giving me every little detail i ask for, very helpful service team from what Ive gathered). Plus I think theyre shipping is cheap as **** too...hope it helps.

Theres your two best best

 

Every car dealership has vendors, and every car dealership has a vendor that does interior repairs. I had this done on my car. These vendors are able to patch holes in leather trim and fix things to where i looks like new. I had my seats repaired by one of these vendors. What they did was re-spray the cracks with paint (Yes paint, and yes it matches the seat and no it does not ever run or fade or come off on your clothes). These guys know what they are doing and they do an awesome job. The only problem is that it usually starts to wear again within a year or two but, when i had it done it cost me all of 60 dollars to fix my drivers seat and a hole in the door leather. MY reccomendation is to go to a car dealrship and ask the used car manager for the number of the vendor they use for interior repairs.

 

thats like the smallest problem to have with a car

by all means get it
that shouldn't be holding you back
easy fix

 

Yep, thats exactly what I was gonna mention.

We used to have a guy come in and fix leather/plastic parts buy spraying them with paint that matches the original color. It is never a perfect match, but it is really close. And as Okcomputer said, it is really cheap and lasts for a fairly long time.

 

Thanks for all your responses - Great to hear all of the suggestions for different ways to go about restoring the leather.

Very excited to move forward toward purchasing...

Just gotta wait for this goddamn blizzard to pass!!

 

Take Luck!