Rear Headrest Question
 

Does the leather at the top center back side of your rear headrest look like mine? I took off my rear seat cover and notice, what appears to be shrinkage, or what I think is shrinkage with the leather covering the rear seat headrest. Does your headrests look like these pictured below?

No Gaps on my 02. Perhaps the weight of the cover has been pulling on them?

no gaps on mine bob

nope either

I know it not the rear seat cover. It mounts to those two posts you see in the first photo. So it appears to just be shrinkage...need to look for replacements

Believe it or not....the rear head rest part #71940-24070 lists as $602.. :yikes: :egads: no, that's not a typo nor a misplaced decimal point.. So that's a list price of more than $1200 bucks for both. Yeah, I'll be on that right away. Sometimes ya have to wonder what Lexus is thinking....

Do you think the rigid back part might be removed or loosened and the leather pulled back?

Yep, thought of that. Already have the back off and the headrest off the roll frame which it hides.

Simply put there just isn't enough material to stretch back around the plastic backing frame. Then even if I could get it stretched over the edge, there is nothing to hold it in place. It looks as if an adhesive was used originally. Over time it has failed and the leather as retracted, exposing the white plastic form the leather is stretched over.

I just can't get over the cost...even with the typical discounts it is still >$490. That's still a grand and crazy money for two headrests, for seat that will not be used by people.

Are you sure there was a time when the leather fit perfectly and now it has shrunk?

Couple of things don't make sense with a shrinkage explanation. First, there does not seem to be a tear, as would be expected if material shrunk while being held at certain points. -- your edges seem to be perfectly arched and symmetrical. Second, no one in the forum has experienced this, but you have it on both sides, exactly the same. That's just odd (and unfortunate!).

Could this be an fit or installation problem? Also, when I was a kid, I worked on the assembly line in Detroit. One of my jobs was to stretch the leather over the seat foam material. If you heat it, maybe it would stretch enough to cover.

At $1,208 for the pair, I'm also thinking a black Sharpie might be a fix instead!

Ah...yes a sharpie...already tried ...not to good on white plastic. So I went to Michaels, a nationwide crafts store, and picked up a couple swatches of soft black leather. Will post a pic of my feeble attempt shortly.

Take a look at xvipers on ebay they have a ton of used SC parts. I don't have the gaps on my 02 either.

I thought the professionals who repair cracks or tears in leather seats used a vinyl that matches the color and then apply heat to cure. I would check with a leather repair professional for a matching color and fix. Good luck with your matching leather repair!

OK a couple of shots of my feeble attempt at leather work... Comments are welcome.

Not bad. You will always notice it. Trust me, no one else will.

I would take them to a auto shop that specializes on interior work . They should be able to rework what you have and make it right. They use steam and heat and should be able toi fix it or recover them for a whole lot less then new. I saw a set or red leather ones on ebay just like mine and I bought them for $ 30.00 so when mine fade I will have a replacement . My car is 2005 PB and red only came in three years I know about 2002 neiman marcus
2005 PB and I think it was 2007 PB. I thought it was a rare find came with the back red plastic clam shells