Ok, fine! It's not quite a restoration as it is a cover-up! But, it looks pretty decent and best of all it's CHEAP! I paid $23.50 for a pair of these leather covers off of eBay. I've been eyeing them down for awhile.

Here's what the original drivers side armrest looks like, as you can see it's pretty bad. The seats themselves are in good condition though.


Here's the passenger side armrest. Not bad at all, I probably didn't even need to install the cover on this side. But I wanted them to match.


First step to install these covers is to remove the armrest... Start by removing the cap on the armrest. It is actually longer than expected which made taking it out a bit more difficult. But nonetheless still easy.


Now remove the 14mm bolt.


Take a look at the washers and remember how they go back. Here's a few pictures in case you forget too!



Then the armrest will come right off. Now you have the joy of forcing the armrest through the small hole on the vinyl cover. It's a tight fit, luckily I'm used to that. You can use some lubrication, such as silicone spray but I preferred to keep it dry. I don't want the spray to make it smell and it wasn't too hard to force it through. Just need some patience.
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Here's a comparison of the color difference. It's a little different, but not too noticeable on the car.


Finished product... It's fairly tight, couldn't get that crease out though.


Now you have to create a hole for the cap and bolt to go through. The one hole included already is for the installation and it is also meant to be placed where the seat connects to it. I used a razor blade and scissor to make the cut. Keep it as small as possible, because the only thing covering it is the cap.



Here's the finished product installed in the car, both sides have been covered with the new vinyl cover.

 

Looks nice Hyper.

 

So, do you install them on top of the old leather armrest covers or do you take the old covers off first?

 

Goes right over the old.

 

Not bad, they look pretty good. Mine are in nice shape, but there's a dent in the center of my drivers side armrest from 15 years of elbows being placed in the same position. I would love to just fix that....

 

That's actually very nice!!

 

That first picture looks like my armrest and that is how I bought it. Some of the cracks are deep enough to scratch the skin on my elbow, so I may do this soon. Could you share the link to the item on eBay?

Also, what is that black powder I see inside the armrest?

 

This is what I bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Left-amp-Right-Armrest-covers-fits-1999-2004-Lexus-RX-300-330-Beige-/400721023559?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=mZZp1BZAkX1MLFeqvw%252Byn0bO5f4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Another seller is selling something similar, but it looks like they will not fit as tight because the opening is much larger.

I'm not sure what that powder is, there was a lot on the driver side armrest. Very little, almost none on the passenger side. It sure made it a pain, because I didn't clean it first. Got the vinyl a little dirty, but it cleaned off very easily with some leather cleaner.

I can snap some better pictures if you want. These pictures were done in the garage with barely any lighting so they came out horrible.

 

Thanks Hyper, I appreciate the link.

As for the pictures, they're good enough to get the gist of what you did. Up to you if you want to replace them with better ones.

 

You're welcome!

 

if there were only seat replacements that easy and affordable would be nice. Mine is a 2002 with 150k but those are mostly city miles so we have spent a lot of time in the seats.

 

spray your seats with SEM color match vinyl paint.

 

December 2015, the link above now takes you to arm rest covers for $43 approx. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMOVE THE OLD ARM REST...they just slip on over the top. installed in less than a minute....it matches the tan leather. the only difference is the plastic bolt cover is now covered with leather. totally worth the increase in price...my arm rest was so mangled it was catching on my clothes. Thank you to everyone who posts on here. I don't think I could have kept the old girl running for as long without all the help and advice.

 

Do you have a lead of where I could possibly source this item? The passenger armrest is in perfect condition.

Thank you
Tom

 

I have seen better modification for armrests over years than these including wider armrests shaped padding.