Hello everyone, first post here so please be gentle. I have a 1997 LS400 Coach Edition with 246,000 mi on it that I'm beginning to do a mild restoration on and one of my main questions is on the leather, specifically the door cards. I'm planning on using leatherique on the seats and arm rests, but I'm uncertain of if the door cards are leather or if they're a synthetic substitute that i should use a different detailing product on. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

All the leather in the Coach edition was provided by Coach, hence the edition. I did a bit a of research on leather work in the effort of working on a custom project for my UCF10, and found most leatherworkers swear by Lexol. I am going to picking some up soon. I also have a 97 Coach! Post up some pics and let's compare interior issues. I already contacted Coach and they weren't too helpful.

 

I'll post some pictures up at a later time, but i was more wondering if the door cards were actually made of leather or if they were some plastic look alike.

 

i knew i'd seen that username before... how's the LX and S600 lol

as for your question, i think it's real leather but i'd wait for some others to chime in

 

Oh snap are we talking oppo? Also I highly recommend Lexol, I've used it on my 97 for 3 years and it has revived a lot of the dried leather. I use the cleaner with some spray water and a brush to create some suds, followed by the conditioner after it has all dried up.Also, the door cards and rippled panel inserts should all be real leather.

 

The LX470 is running as well as ever, having the timing belt and water pump done this weekend hopefully. I got the S600 out of storage last weekend, but it needs to go to the dealer for some miscellaneous maintenance before she's ready for the summer.

 

Yep, I've got roughly the same handle on oppo. I've been using Lexol cleaner/conditioner since I've owned the car, but apparently this Leatherique stuff is supposed to be the real deal. I'm gonna test it on the LS before i go ***** deep and do the entire S600, where basically every single interior panel is leather.

 

Well welcome! Makes the internet seem so small. And leave an update on how the leatherique goes, I just picked up a 1998 black/black LS400 that I'm cleaning up and doing some maintenance on to make DD'able, Id be interested what it can do for 20 year old leather in 1 application.

 

I'll post results to here and oppo once I treat the leather, but I've gotta let it get a bit warmer outside first, as you're supposed to let the car sit outside
in the heat to really let the solution do its thing. Its warming up here, but highs are still only in the mid 40s

 

Off topic: WTF is oppo?

 

I am a committed Leatherique user, and the door panels have leather inserts:

 

I too used leatherique on another LS 400 with leather last year during the summer. It does not bring back very dry sections of leather, but it definitely made the interior much softer than Lexol ever did for me.

Ultimately, which to use depends on how neglected the interior was after its last treatment. Lexol worked great on a Chevy Malibu I did that was conditioned fairly regularly.

 

Lexol has been acceptable for me.

Some snaps from '16:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...s-at-203k.html