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It's April of 2018 and I've had my 2005 Acura RL since new. It has 193,000 miles on it has required only routine maintenance. After thirteen years of wear and tear, the driver's side console armrest finally started shredding. My local Acura dealer quoted a price to replace the console that was cost prohibitive and, after I asked if they could have their local automotive upholsterer give me a quote to recover the armrests, they said it would be almost as expensive as the console. So, I searched Acurazine forum and, voilà, I found this thread! I followed the directions found here to remove the armrests (easy as stated) and took them to a local automotive upholstery shop here in Westchester NY. He quoted $170, but I offered $150 cash and he agreed. I picked them up a few days later and, since he used pleather, they look like the originals and even have the stitching. Since the first set lasted 13 years, I feel pretty confident that the pleather will outlast my remaining ownership. Reinstalling them took a little more time than removing them, but once I cut away the excess material, it was easy.
It's April of 2018 and I've had my 2005 Acura RL since new. It has 193,000 miles on it has required only routine maintenance. After thirteen years of wear and tear, the driver's side console armrest finally started shredding. My local Acura dealer quoted a price to replace the console that was cost prohibitive and, after I asked if they could have their local automotive upholsterer give me a quote to recover the armrests, they said it would be almost as expensive as the console. So, I searched Acurazine forum and, voilà, I found this thread! I followed the directions found here to remove the armrests (easy as stated) and took them to a local automotive upholstery shop here in Westchester NY. He quoted $170, but I offered $150 cash and he agreed. I picked them up a few days later and, since he used pleather, they look like the originals and even have the stitching. Since the first set lasted 13 years, I feel pretty confident that the pleather will outlast my remaining ownership. Reinstalling them took a little more time than removing them, but once I cut away the excess material, it was easy.
where did you buy the leather? Does your upholsterer fix rips on seats too?
The upholstery shop, Automotive Upholstery & Convertible Top, in Tuckahoe, NY used in-stock pleather and it matched perfectly. This worked-out really well for me!
Does anyone have a good 2018 resource for obtaining the material for this? I see a ton on ebay and Amazon, but matching the color and the quality are a concern.
Anyone who's done this themselves; do you have any recommendations on a seller/source? I'm tempted to just take it to an interior shop :/
At the time, I weighed my options too. It was 30-40$ vs 100$ to have an interior shop do it for me. I opted with the interior shop since they double stuffed the padding on the center console and they gave me genuine leather replacement I could feel and compare to what was in the car. Then again, I’m keeping the car for awhile. Hopefully that helps!
At the time, I weighed my options too. It was 30-40$ vs 100$ to have an interior shop do it for me. I opted with the interior shop since they double stuffed the padding on the center console and they gave me genuine leather replacement I could feel and compare to what was in the car. Then again, I’m keeping the car for awhile. Hopefully that helps!
That helps a lot. I was leaning the $100 way already. Thank you!
I've seen some videos where people use heat guns with a little water to smooth out wrinkles in leather and vinyl. Has anyone ever tried that?
Haven't tried that, although the center armrest bubbles in particular are such an endemic problem on this car that I suspect it would be at best a temporary fix. I had the dealer replace mine under warranty, and the replacement bubbled too.
Finally I got a real leather one from an eBay vendor called kar-designer in Brownsville, TX. For some (reasonable) extra coin, he agreed to upholster his real-leather replacement cover onto the top parts after I disassembled them off of the console. Looks great, color matches my interior's parchment, it's worn beautifully since. Only two suggestions I'd make:
1) Keep the screws and parts sorted, and the order in which you disassembled them straight. Keep Step A and Step B and Step C, left and right sides, in separate ziplock bags, and maybe take pictures along the way of how it looked coming apart. It'll make your life much, much easier when it's time to put it back together.
2) Talk with him about inserting extra padding when he upholsters. I didn't, and I do wish that I did. The padding under there gets tired too, and there's less cush under your elbow than there was.
Haven't tried that, although the center armrest bubbles in particular are such an endemic problem on this car that I suspect it would be at best a temporary fix. I had the dealer replace mine under warranty, and the replacement bubbled too.
Finally I got a real leather one from an eBay vendor called kar-designer in Brownsville, TX. For some (reasonable) extra coin, he agreed to upholster his real-leather replacement cover onto the top parts after I disassembled them off of the console. Looks great, color matches my interior's parchment, it's worn beautifully since. Only two suggestions I'd make:
1) Keep the screws and parts sorted, and the order in which you disassembled them straight. Keep Step A and Step B and Step C, left and right sides, in separate ziplock bags, and maybe take pictures along the way of how it looked coming apart. It'll make your life much, much easier when it's time to put it back together.
2) Talk with him about inserting extra padding when he upholsters. I didn't, and I do wish that I did. The padding under there gets tired too, and there's less cush under your elbow than there was.
Thanks for your reply. I found the leather pieces on ebay for a good deal, so I just might be picking them up. I'll try the heat gun thing and post if it was worth it.
