RA40's LS at 203K
 

Some shots at the 203K mile mark:
Interior is doing well. Steering wheels is holding up well. The radio and climate control buttons are getting polished form all the finger pressing. After the timing belt service some of the left over gunk-grease that remained on the cross member and around the lower areas of the engine bay were cleaned today. The shop pretty much cleaned the oil coating that had come from the valve cover gaskets. Nice to not see that gritty mess.

How are you guy's interiors holding up?

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^^^^
Very clean. Your interior is holding up very well.

The interior in my '94 isn't bad but I have a couple tears in the drivers seat and need to reupholster the leather.
Aside from that, I have a couple rattles in the driver side door.

Mike

Looking good Mike!

Looking very good. Engine bay looks like a new car.
Pretty amazing. Great job.

You keep it in tip top shape, and the driver seat wow no wear. How does everyone wear them all out so fast on the interior? And whats your secret to keep it soooooo nice?

My 95's seats and door panel handles are absolutely trashed at 143k. I don't think the previous owner ever took the time to clean or condition this car.

Your LS400 is in remarkable condition, RA40!

Can you say "s-h-o-w-r-o-o-m?"

I really think some people use sand paper on the interiors to wear through the leather like they do. I've seen the shift handle covers trashed, the center glove box covers ruined, seats with massive holes in them, garbage glued to the dash etc.

Great looking car at that mileage! Gives me confidence that mine will continue to look great for years to come.

Thanks guys! My thought is keeping them conditioned and clean plays a big part. I regularly wear jeans and the dye does tint the seats, that cleans up fairly easily. Neither of us slides in over the outside bolster so that lessens the wear on the seat in that area. No pens or other sharp objects in pockets. For the people we drive in the back seat we'll mention that too. I detest a grimy steering wheel so the steering wheel is wiped it down with a damp cloth. (Not scrubbed, the cloth can be somewhat abrasive.) Gas station fills I clean my hands before driving off or wear a disposable glove. I have those geeky computer soft hands too.

Can't say it is any one secret, we must be gentle on cars because they tend to have similar interior wear patterns. The Cressida interior looked new when the car went on at 185K miles. '82 Maxima at 325K was also excellent. The seats in the Celia are torn but that is attributable to the cheap vinyl and age.

We have dad's Corolla now and the steering wheel has wear on the 9-10 position. His wedding band had a hard edge and that began biting into the finish so that shows his regular holding position. My band is smooth/rounded in comparison but I make a conscious effort to not clinch that finger when cranking the steering wheel around. Many cars I've seen have steering wheel wear marks from those with rings or watch band marks. When you'll flop your wrist over the wheel and it rest partly on the watch band.

And I suppose a person should watch how they rest their arms on stuff to, that can wear the areas too. It is strange that the cloth seats wear better than leather, I'd think it would be the other way.

^^^^
Agreed. I too find it odd...

Mike

So please give us the list of materials and the how to, to do the conditioner and cleaning of the leather to keep stuff in top shape like you do. The condition is very impressive. I wish everyone took that good of care of their LS. Gosh and no cracks in the clear for the wood either. Unbelievable for the hot California climate.

I've noticed that cloth does really well too. Doesn't seem to take much to get leather wearing and the dark colors like black shows this easily. I'd been at the dealer looking at newer GS350's and some with a bit more than 20K had more wear inside than our LS.:sad: As dicer mentioned about sandpaper...yikes!

The interior care isn't anything OCD level. I'll use Lexol cleaner and conditioner every 2 months on the seats. 1Z (now called Nextzett) Cockpit Premium or Lexol Vinylex on the dash and other plastic bits 3-4 times a year. I prefer the 1Z because it absorbs, the Vinylex remains on the surface and is greasy to the touch. Between treatments I'll wipe the plastic and dash with a damp cloth. Ours is garaged so it isn't in the constant sun.

The suck part is the dash pad has a crack by the defrost openings near the light sensor. If not for that the interior would be excellent. The crack began at the 70K mark and is about 1" long now. Any of you have cracks in the dash pad?