If you’ve had a vehicle for any length of time, it’s inevitable that you’ll eventually experience wear and tear damage to your vehicle upholstery.
It could be a rip in your vinyl seat, a cigarette burn, fraying vinyl or leather armrests, the possibilities are endless.
As are the car upholstery repair options available to fix these problems.
People are Keeping Cars Longer
The cost of many new cars today is as much as our parents paid for their first house. Which is kind of insane to think about.
So it’s only natural that people are keeping cars longer than in past years.
Over time, wear and tear on car upholstery starts to become a problem that needs fixing.
And not only because of aesthetics.
Worn or delaminated vinyl and leather car upholstery not only looks bad, but it also feels horrible. And sometimes it hurts.
Did you ever get into a vehicle and rest your elbow onto an armrest as hard, frayed, pointy vinyl poked your skin?
Fixing car upholstery damage is sometimes referred to as leather and vinyl repair.
Regardless of what it’s called, as auto reconditioning services go, car upholstery repair is a fast-growing, high demand service.
Leather and Vinyl Car Upholstery Repair
A good auto reconditioning technician can repair virtually any type of material, from leather and vinyl to velour or fabric.
The nice part of leather and vinyl car upholstery repair is the flexibility in choosing the type of work to be done. It doesn’t always have to be repaired to ‘like new’ condition.
Sometimes making it look new will make the rest of the car look bad.
Whether it needs fully rebuilt, or simply touched up, the tech can easily make that decision after visual inspection of the damage.
And they can offer the customer more than one option based on their budget or overall condition of the rest of the vehicle.
Either way, most of the time the repair is actually stronger than even the original surrounding upholstery material.
Many parts of the car that are covered in leather or vinyl upholstery can be repaired rather than replaced.
From car seats and armrests to vinyl and leather dashboards and headrests. Replacement of these items should be a last resort if for no other reason than cost. It’s expensive to replace a worn armrest. And a dashboard cost is ridiculous.
Car upholstery repair of damaged leather and vinyl is generally the fastest and least costly way to go.
How much is the cost for car upholstery repair?
Depending on the severity of the damage, the cost for car upholstery repair ranges depending on both the severity of the damage and the type of upholstery material needing repair. For example, a one-inch tear in a vinyl seat might take an hour to repair and cost $50 to $70. While an armrest that’s covered in frayed or split leather might take one to two days depending on dry time and cost a few hundred dollars to fix.
It’s worth remembering that the cost of car upholstery repair is nothing when compared to the replacement cost of a seat, dashboard, or armrest.
As always make sure the technician is insuredbefore beginning work on your vehicle.
Check with your local Detail shop
Before you decide to get a damaged car seat replaced, check with your local detail shop first.
Many detail shops have in-house reconditioning services. So call around and ask about car upholstery repair services. Most cities and even smaller towns have at least one shop that offers these types of services.
We hope you enjoyed this overview of Car Upholstery Repair and Leather and Vinyl Repair Tips. Access more tips, training, and insight by subscribing to the AutoDetailGuide.com E-Newsletter. We are also very active on Facebook and Twitter.
Suggested Pages to Check Out
Detail Shop Liability Insurance Page with Info on Garage Keepers Liability Coverage