Whoa, my '08 Lexus leather seats. What's happening

[ADDgolfer]

Hi guys
Bought an '08 2 owner Lexus with 60K miles on it. but...
I can't use any of the technics on the leather :(

The interior was cleaned for sale by the previous owner, The seats showed no signs of abuse, cracking or wear. I just wanted to give it a once over with the leather wipes I use for my other vehicle, then condition and seal

I started at the bolster of the perforated seats, it immediately turned brown (cashmere seat color) like if you soaked untreated raw leather. I wiped lightly on the arm rest/compartment cover, same thing. The piping turned dark brown.

It never was saturated but appeared the material absorbed the light application from the wipes. I took it to a local detailer, but by the time I got there it had 'dried' leaving what he said were worn marks. He pointed out the btm seat cover had been replaced. Indicating, even tho the car had but 60K miles and was owned by two owners, the seats were hard used? Painted seats?
so...
Afterwards I used freshly cleaned MF towel with name brand leather cleaner/conditioner on the perforated part and small area of the bolster/ , none shown any paint on them after a wipe down. Bolster 'stained' but not the perforated section
The piping on the compt cover is still dark dirty looking brown.

You guys are in the business. My car couldn't be the only seats to have this happen, surprising a professional detailer, let alone regular car owners like of us?

The last pic of the passenger bolster is with just plain water on a MF towel, lightly rubbed

Thanks all but I :surrender:

[Buster906]

ColourLock could be your next option

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[ADDgolfer]

TY
It would need to be recolored first right? Get it to as close to the original color as possible.
I'll get a few bids on a complete front seat makeover
My post pretty much done, not only to satisfy my own curiosity, but to question what you guys do when all the customer wanted was detailing, then 'blaming' you saying
Tell me if you've heard this...
"it was perfect when I brought it in" now you want to charge me for a recolor and ColorLock?

[Buster906]

Just a suggestion.

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[Billy Baldone]

Mike Phillips VIF is a must with every customer car.

[Eldorado2k]

Mike Phillips VIF is a must with every customer car.

Yea but that seat would’ve passed inspection unless you had a Very keen eye... Now lets be honest, unless you’re really doing the equivalent of a fine tooth comb inspection [which most of the time it’s not done that way] most people wouldn’t catch that.

You would have to darn near man handle those seats in order to determine they had been re dyed and know not to clean them.

Btw That’s just my opinion... I’ve never actually ran into leather seats which fell to pieces like that... I did however own a 92’ Cadillac Eldorado which the dealer in fact did have the leather interior restored/re dyed in some places of the seats and steering wheel. In my case I could never even tell what spots had been re done because they did such a good job.

[ADDgolfer]

I’ve never actually ran into leather seats which fell to pieces like that...

:eek: The seats during my preinspection showed no signs of wear, ground in dirt, or abuse (I did not catch the now obvious btm cover replacement)
I mean it's an 11 yr old, 2 owner Lexus with 60K miles on it? Why would I think the seats were so poorly redone?

The 2nd owner I bought it from was a single professional with a fine home, clean garage with upscale toys often purchased by a single upper 30s-early 40s guy. The reason he was selling it after 2 years of owning it, he had just bought a '16 Lexus GS F with 25K miles on it for $40K
The model I bought was an ES he had 'unbadged' and slightly moded to look sportier than an ES. Mods that appealed to me.
That said...
Like me he has that 'hands on' (to a point) thing about him and possibly he did the seat replacement and recolor without sealing it? I haven't asked, it doesn't matter if he did or not at this point as I bought it and stuck with it. I will go ahead and take some pics of the pristine looking passenger bolster before and after I attempt to detail it to point out pretty much what you stated. It doesn't show redflags before doing a standard cleaning.
so...
Where to go from here?

[ADDgolfer]

Yea but that seat would’ve passed inspection unless you had a Very keen eye... Now lets be honest, unless you’re really doing the equivalent of a fine tooth comb inspection [which most of the time it’s not done that way] most people wouldn’t catch that.

I’ve never actually ran into leather seats which fell to pieces like that...

:eek: The seats during my preinspection showed no signs of wear, ground in dirt, or abuse (I did not catch the now obvious btm cover replacement)
I mean it's an 11 yr old, 2 owner Lexus with 60K miles on it? Why would I think the seats were so poorly redone?

The 2nd owner I bought it from was a single professional with a fine home, clean garage with upscale toys often purchased by a single upper 30s-early 40s guy. The reason he was selling it after 2 years of owning it, he had just bought a '16 Lexus GS F with 15K miles on it for $40K
The model I bought was an ES he had 'unbadged' and slightly moded to look sportier than an ES. Mods that appealed to me.
That said...
Like me he has that 'hands on' (to a point) thing about him and likely he did the seat replacement and recolor without sealing it since there is no way he being as OCD as he obvious to me was (I can relate), he would not have cleaned his interior in the 2 yrs he owned it. I haven't asked, as I bought it and stuck with it. He is a serious Lexus owner, obvious loves his cars and I don;t fault him

I will go ahead and take some pics of the pristine looking passenger bolster before and after I attempt to detail it to point out pretty much what you stated. It doesn't show redflags before doing a standard cleaning.
so...
Where to go from here?
If you Eldorado2K haven't seen such seats poorly recolored how can I feel reassure whoever I contract to do the correction knows how to do it properly?

[Eldorado2k]

If you Eldorado2K haven't seen such seats poorly recolored how can I feel reassure whoever I contract to do the correction knows how to do it properly?

The only way that comes to mind is to take it to someone who knows it and he’ll be able to spot it faster that you ever thought possible. [if he’s good he likely will]

A professional who re dyes or restores leather seats will be able to spot it + give you a quik rundown on what they did wrong that might’ve lead to your situation. That’s what I would do next.

[57Rambler]

Sounds like whoever painted those seats didn't seal them afterward. I say painted because if they had used a penetrating dye I doubt that would have happened ... unless they didn't prep them properly beforehand.

Check out a company called Leatherique if you care to try to fix them yourself.

[ADDgolfer]

I believe you're right, that the color was not locked, Just odd it even came off with plain water on a section of the bolster
Questionable too is meeting and spending some time with the seller at his home, looking how well kept his garage was and the clean big boy toys inside including his new to him and many of us the 2016 Lexus GS F...
There is no way IMO he would have owned my car for two + years with worn leather seats greeting him each time he entered the car, nor the type who'd never cleaned them. So...
Why the color reconditioning came off now?

I feel a bit conflicted coming here on your guys' site, 'taking' money from y'all soliciting free advice. Originally I wanted to be informed when I went and talked with professionals. I have talked with three detail guys at their shops, all of whom I would trust to detail my car but none I felt recoloring seats was a strength.

I bought a bottle of vehicle specific, true color matched dye from The Seat Doctor (even requests the vin number in the order so it matches). I'm pretty OCD and patient to tackle the task myself. Someone who has done many dye/paint jobs would be prefered, I just haven't found him/her yet.
Thanks

[vobro]

Meh, the car is 11 years old and looks to be normal wear and tear, maybe the previous owner tried to have the seats fixed for sale?

[sudsmobile]

He may not have even "redyed". He may have put on something as simple as a closely matching shoe polish which is basically just a cheap paint. Or something similar. Or, more likely, he paid a professional detailer to make them look "new" and this is what he got and what you got now.

[ADDgolfer]

Suppose really won't know, but it was a good blend job before it wasn't.
I've read thru these posts and closest I read was posted years ago. The author had a still under warranty car posting similar pics. The responses were from jean transfers, heavy winter coat rub, wallet rub and the like. He finally had the dealer's sales manager contact him (after underlings brushed him off) and it was resolved.

I watched a ton of Youtube vids of seats sprayed with GP cleaner, attacked with soft drill brushes, MF covered steam heads, to magic eraser and not one mentioned how easily improper recoloring or color blending could be removed without proper sealing? I'd think with the ease of buying product online it'd be much more prevalent?
My vehicle matched dye will be here tomorrow, I still need to further research 'topcoat' seal products to cover leather

[sorj]

Suppose really won't know, but it was a good blend job before it wasn't.
I've read thru these posts and closest I read was posted years ago. The author had a still under warranty car posting similar pics. The responses were from jean transfers, heavy winter coat rub, wallet rub and the like. He finally had the dealer's sales manager contact him (after underlings brushed him off) and it was resolved.

I watched a ton of Youtube vids of seats sprayed with GP cleaner, attacked with soft drill brushes, MF covered steam heads, to magic eraser and not one mentioned how easily improper recoloring or color blending could be removed without proper sealing? I'd think with the ease of buying product online it'd be much more prevalent?
My vehicle matched dye will be here tomorrow, I still need to further research 'topcoat' seal products to cover leather


What did you end up doing?


If a seat has been painted, can a ceramic coating be used over the leather paint? If yes, would the ceramic coating just need to be sprayed on vs. wiped on as the wiping might remove paint?