dtaylor

So I somehow caught the corner of the drivers door arm rest and took a chunk out of the foam, along with the "leather" skin. Then, in a real stupid sequel, took a bigger chunk out of the right rear, at the front of the arm rest. (don't ask).

So my question is what is the best way to repair it? I don't want to buy new door panels. Wrecking yard item? Known repairs? Help this idiot LS owner please.

SW17LS

Can you post a picture of it? You could check with an upholstery shop.

R Z

I'd love to know the answer to a repair. Mu driver side door armrest is cracked and slowly spreading. With Lexus only thinking the 07's are an issue, I've been searching for the used part, but no luck. Would be great if it could be repaired. Good luck finding a solution.

DarKnight

iTrader: (3)

Trust me, all 2007's don't qualify. I'm actually going to check with an upholstery shop to see if they offer any solutions.

mckellyb

Yeah, my '08 has both sticky dash and door panels, plus the driver's door armrest is cracked enough to have a hole in it.

In a classy move, I used black gaffer's tape to 'fix' it, for now.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

With Lexus' arbitrary replacement policy on the door pulls, I;ve come to the conclusion that replacing the cover at an auto upholstery shop is the best option. Once the door panel is off, the door pull/armrest can be removed and recovered. MUCH cheaper than a new door panel or new car! Of course, if the dash, center console, glovebox, etc, etc, are melting, too, then it may be time to trade it in.

DarKnight

iTrader: (3)

I got a quote to wrap the armrest part with vinyl, $175 per door. I'm definitely going this route since I'll be able to do something custom.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

If they do a good job and the rest of the vinyl interior is good then this definitely sounds like the way to go.

R Z

This is good info to know. I'm going to have to research someone local and see what they say. There's one place here in town I know about. The last time I asked them about repairing the seat rip in my ES300, they wanted $1100. So . . . needless to say, I need to find another option.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

If it was a leather seat, the smaller shops have to buy an entire hide and only use a portion of it for one seat (they don't keep large yardages of leather in stock). That was my experience a couple of years back with my 1999 RX300. Needless to say, I'm just living with the creases and cracks now.

DarKnight

iTrader: (3)

I would find out how much it would be to do just the armrests. They may quote you something comparable to what I was quoted. Worst case you can have it shipped somewhere with a better price.

duckblue

I have an 08 with the melting sticky door armrests and Lexus Corp refuses to replace, even though it is year 9 in service and they acknowledge the material issue for the 07’s. Have previously reached out via dealer as well as FB Lexus social media group and they just don’t care.

Found an upholstery shop in Dallas to wrap the armrests in a suede material for $125 each door. They were also able to add some material to the grab area so now I can put my phone there too.

Suede added on right. I avoided the lighter grey since it would be more likely to get dirty and went with a black instead.

mckellyb

Who/where in Dallas?

I'm in Fort Worth, but would like to fix this once and for all. I have "a guy" in NE Fort Worth, but I'd likely have to leave the car or parts a day or two...and I really don't want to do that with my ultra-cushy daily-driver.

I'm kicking around leather, too, that way all the textures are close.

Tec80

duckblue, that suede looks AWESOME. A huge upgrade from original, and the feel is probably very nice as well. I drove a Tesla Model X yesterday and was admiring the suede headliner material - it is very attractive, dampens noise, and entices you to feel it.

Doublebase

$125 for each door sounds like a bargain for the suede arm rests. Looks great!