After 20+ years, my elbow has cracked the leather (?) of the driver's side door armrest. Can someone tell me the appropriate part number for the piece so I can price a replacement? Alternately, anyone have a recommendation of how to repair this without it looking horrible?





Thanks for any advice.

 

Long discontinued, when available door panel was about $2,700 from Lexus. There is no separate part number for the armrest portion see here
https://www.japan-parts.eu/lexus/us/...or-panel-glass

 

Thank you. I found that same parts catalog page, but couldn't decipher the part I wanted...apparently because it was never available by itself. I guess I'll have to try to find someone to repair it.

 

Is that the only spot that is cracked? Can be repaired. If possible get window tint it will cut down on UV exposure drastically.

 

Yes, that is the only spot and is right where my elbow rests.

The car lives in the garage at home and parks in an underground garage at work. Not a lot of exposure to the sun. (What sun in western Washington State?).

Any suggestions for DIY repair?

 

I've done this type of repair it requires:
SEM Soap (cannot skip this step)
Vinyl repair kit
SEM Classic Coat
Black hot glue sticks (for graining)

You can attempt to tint the vinyl repair paste to match but I'm not good enough to get it right. In my case SEM had the right colour of Classic Coat (Dark Ivory) so I did the repair then painted/featured in the repair area. Hot glue is to create a grain pattern glue blob, I got this from a spare piece of vinyl since I didn't want to risk damaging my door panel. You simply press in the graining blob into the partially dried repair paste.

If you can find an upholstery shop to do the repair.

 

The armrest is an integral part of the door card. It cannot be replaced independently.

Easiest solution might be grabbing a new door card from a junkyard.

The top dark-gray portion and the woodgrain strip are each independent parts. The window control woodgrain is also independent. Therefore, you could transfer those from your current door card to a junkyard one to maintain the wood match with the rest of your car.

 

The armrest can be replaced you need to drill out the plastic rivets on the back take out the piece put the new material on it and use plastic rivets to put it back on. You cannot use metal rivets it will destroy the door as its plastic.

 

Go on FB Marketplace or Ebay and look for the door panel. Ebay's may be nicer/pricier than a local recycle/junk yard.

 

I like this idea. I went to a repair shop and used their matching card to get the closest match (Ivory) and I will remove the door panel and redo the whole thing with leather. It will not look original, but maybe better if I use nice leather. Thanks for the ideas everyone!

 

I use Seat Doc & Viper out of Orlando for repair supplies. That is fixable but finding a door card in gray should be pretty easy. The trouble is used parts witll have wear.
I redyed mine and used the vinyl glue with dye - This was my first attempt so it's doable and you can re-do what you don't like and tackle the repair again if you don't like the results.

 

The seam in my door handle (the open part of the armrest ) is gray with wear in very thin band, maybe 3mm... I went to an upholstery shop I used before for a seat rip he repaired, and he told me it was too worn to redye! Yet your before photo looks similar if not worse and came out fantastic. I have a UL so I need Ecru, not Ivory. Not sure how big a difference, but I'd like to fix my center armrest too (just grungy a bit). Did you apply this via brush, or did you have to mask and spray? I've seen seat doctor dyes before but not familiar with viper. Please share parts and process. Many people are interested, I am sure, as it is such a common cosmetic item. I'd love to redye my center armrest and front seats too. He quoted me $750 for new seat bottoms. My drivers's seati s not in bad shape. The usual stretches but redying would go a long way. But if nothing else, I'd love to fix up my armrests as you did. Very nice job! Please share!

 

Yes, you can get Ecru from Seat Doctors or Viper. Just know that you will get a color that will be within 10% perfect but not exact. ML's like this are Cashmiere. I re-dyed the entire door panel because the color was not spot on but so close as to be able to use ok and just work the entire panel. I built up the arm rest with the vinyl glue and flat knife. You use multiple coats. And yes, mine is thin and cracked You will lose grain. Real pros can regrain - I tried to regrain and had to work to even get something close but did not perfect the technique. That takes experience to re-grain and color match using color mix. To prep a panel I use Dawn dishsoap/water mix, alcohol and green stuff and a small stiff brush and elbo grease. It's like preping for paint in some respects. I use tack cloth as well sometimes. But prep is your friend. Viper out of Orlando has a primer prep to give the vinyl some teeth for dye. I used that method.

On to the arm rest - Yes you can redo the arm rest - mine was a mess and I detailed the entire arm rest. If your lucky enough to find a replacement they are out there. I will say you will spend time fixing it yourself or find a replacement - You may spend more in time and material fixing the arm rest with vinyl glue and dye - and your mileage may vary. I bought an air brush from Harbor F and you final coat using an air brush if you really want a good finish. If to much dye is on your final pass it will develop a rough "hand". You can go over the dye in 24 hrs with 600 and Dawn dishsoap/waler lightly. This will give it a better "hand" on the final product. I had to do this on all my spray work to remove the roughness to the touch. This method works.
Here is my arm rest - this is multiple layers of vinyl glue using a pallet knife and 600 sand and then dye. I tried Seat Doctors on this and did use my airbrush. This came out great and I am using it in the car now with no issues. And yes I had to final sand the spray down to get a good feel to the final product. Seat Doctors is interesting because you can use the blot method of dye with a microfiber and make a few passes with the rag and blot which builds up the coverage on top of the vinyl glue. Then finish off with an air brush - this works well too Viper is another procedure. Seat Doctors builds in adhesion. Viper uses a primer. Both work well. Start with a small job like the arm rest with Seat Doctors and their vinyl glue if you want to learn then move on the Viper Good luck.

 

second picture below I am preping with vinyl glue and flat pallet knife - use your finger to feel through the roughness and thin coats are your friend. I use my touch to determine when to stop with the vinyl glue and you can eliminate all the roughness - then a very light sanding with 600 then clean and tack and start the dye process. I am using this in my daily driver now and it cleans fine and is holding up - 3 months and it's doing ok. I clean with Dawn dish soap / water.

 

I redyed my seats - took them out - actuallly you can get the new lower covers for about $350 to 400 and pull off the old cover. So 750 for him to do that is resonable. I repaired all mine and redyed the seats also. So yeah, I redyed the entire front interior of the car. The first picture below is the original 160k wear and tear - but for 160k it was pretty rough - 3 owner auction car.