I have an '02 SC in white with saddle leather interior. I noticed when I purchased my car that the rear headrests leather seems to be pulling out of the top of the roll bar area. Is there something that can be done to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

Josh

 

I too have this problem. I'm going to go to an upholstery shop and see if they can fill the small voids and do a color match. Since I'm going to have the seats re-colored at the same time it shouldn't cost much to add the headrest into the job.

 

I'm curious if this problem can be simply fixed by removing the rear headrests and reseating the leather?


Josh

 

The rear headrests come out VERY easily.

You need a 10mm ratchet.

A) Pop the covers off the back of the headrests. They come out at the bottom and hinge at the top. You can usually do this with just your fingers. If it's stubborn, use something like a plastic scraper (so you don't scratch anything) to pry them loose.

B) Remove the four 10mm bolts that hold the rear wind deflector on. Make sure you don't lose the little rubber vibration-stopper that's in the middle of the wind delfector; the only thing that holds that on is the downward pressure from the installed deflector.

B) Squeeze the sides of the rear plastic headrest covers and pop the bottoms out. Again, they pop out from the bottom and hinge up from the top.

C) Remove the two 10mm nuts from the back of each headrest and the headrests will come out from the front. NOTE: Be careful when removing the 10mm nuts from the back of the headrest; it's easy to drop them down inside the back seat. Then you have to pull the whole darn rear seat out to get the nut back! (been there, done that)


To reinstall, reverse the directions. NOTE: Do NOT over-tighten the nuts/bolts. The studs imbedded into the headrests are in plastic. If you crank down hard enough, you can break them. Same thing with the bolts that hold the plexiglass wind deflector. You want them tight, but don't make it your life's goal to get these as tight as you possibly can.

 

It looks as if the leather has been possibly wetted and sun dried while it shrunk. I wasn't the first owner so I'll never be sure. The leather could possibly be softened chemically or with steam and be re-stretched. It might be worth a try.

 

Mines put away for the winter, but will try it in the spring. If you have a chance to try yours first...report back and let me know if the leather is stretchable enough to be tucked back in place. Thanks!

Josh

 

Thanks for the tips on removing the headrests...I just hope the leather is something that can be fixed.

 

Habious,

Thank you very much for posting instructions for removing the back headrests. Gee, wish the dealer was as knowledgeable or helpful. My sc430 has had the same problem Playtym described since right after I bought it and I have seen it on other 430s as well. Too common for Lexus to not address it, as far as I am concerned. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to allow us to benefit from your experience.

 

I've heard it's a very common problem. I too am very surprised that Lexus hasn't got a recall or something on this issue.