cigaertette burn on headliner

[Mike Phillips]

Obviously you didn't get your job with AG based upon your comedic ability.

If anyone has had any experience with repairing this sort of damage your feedback would greatly be appreciated. However please keep the bad jokes to yourself as this damage occured on a new car and I am quite upset.

Thanks

Sorry Stu... no harm intended...


I'll stick by my original reply though that I posted in a sincere effort to help you...

One option I'll throw out there is to stop by an established brick & mortar detail shop and see if they have any suggestions. One reason for this is that production detail shop see a lot of all kinds of problems just because of the numbers they turn. This means they may have a been there done that remedy.


The problem with the portion that's burned is the heat/burning will have physically changed the color of the fabric, wetting the changed color with some type of liquid chemical won't normally un-change the color. Dying might work? You might also check with some automotive upholstery shops to see if they have some suggestions.

[FUNX650]

please keep the bad jokes to yourself as this damage occured on a new car and I am quite upset.[/B][/I]

Thanks

In all seriousness, then:

As has been suggested (I say: bite the bullet!):
-Take the vehicle to an auto upholstery shop
-Order a new headliner

IMO....This will be more economical in the long run.


Note:
I realize that people are creatures of habit. But I've never understood why some people use their vehicles as a smoking lounge.....Especially a new one!
To me this shows that the deep down desire for a "clean" vehicle must be far down their list of pertinent vehicle care methods.

Bob

[Flash Gordon]

Obviously you didn't get your job with AG based upon your comedic ability.
If anyone has had any experience with repairing this sort of damage your feedback would greatly be appreciated. However please keep the bad jokes to yourself as this damage occured on a new car and I am quite upset.

Thanks

We have a serious situation here guys. Enough of your foolishness

[master detailer]

I have a guy that will put a new one in for me at my shop for 100.00 when there real bad this is the way I go. Its just me but time is money. then I mark it up 25.00. And they love the job

[Flash Gordon]

Go to a high end used car dealership and ask a salesman who they use

You'll still be able to tell where the burn was. It just won't be so obvious

[The Heater]

I have to agree with the two posts suggesting replacement of the headliner. It should cost between $85 and $150, depending on the size. You can get an exact match unless you have a rare material. I have had headliners replaced twice. The last time it was for a number of little nicks and some light grease stains. Just not worth my time.

If the burn is the only blemish, I agree with Mike, you should trudge off to a good detail shop. They do this stuff for a living, they can tell you straight up by looking at it if it is worth trying to fix and if they can do it to your satisfaction.

How much is your time worth? It adds up trying different things to take it out only to still have the blemish.

[unclestu]

Thanks everyone for all, of your input.
In actuallity the damage to the headliner was not caused by a cigarette burn. I thought that it would be a little easier to get the information as opposed to trying to explain what actually happened.
Well here it goes:
In an effort to escape a bee that was in my car I smacked my head into the top of the door post. This is were it gets a bit complicated. I was wearing a hat that had rhinestone studs on it. Well when I smacked my head into the door post evidently one of the rhinestones from the hat was missing. What was left in it's place was a very sharp metal setting in which the rhinestone was once affixed to. Well this sharp piece of metal took a nice gouge out of the headliner. Thus the need for the repair.
I checked with the Cady dealersgip and the cost to replace the headliner was $850.00 plus labor.
And yes Bob I agree with what you said about a person who smokes in their car. Being an ex smoker I never smoked in my house or my car.
I will keep you posted on the outcome.
Oh and for the good news....I didn't get stung by the bee LOL
Stu

[Flash Gordon]

Thanks everyone for all, of your input.
In actuallity the damage to the headliner was not caused by a cigarette burn. I thought that it would be a little easier to get the information as opposed to trying to explain what actually happened.
Well here it goes:
In an effort to escape a bee that was in my car I smacked my head into the top of the door post. This is were it gets a bit complicated. I was wearing a hat that had rhinestone studs on it. Well when I smacked my head into the door post evidently one of the rhinestones from the hat was missing. What was left in it's place was a very sharp metal setting in which the rhinestone was once affixed to. Well this sharp piece of metal took a nice gouge out of the headliner. Thus the need for the repair.
I checked with the Cady dealersgip and the cost to replace the headliner was $850.00 plus labor.
And yes Bob I agree with what you said about a person who smokes in their car. Being an ex smoker I never smoked in my house or my car.
I will keep you posted on the outcome.
Oh and for the good news....I didn't get stung by the bee LOL
Stu

I knew when you said it was a "NEW" car, you weren't going to find a replacement headliner for $150. Go ask the used car manager who they use to repair uphoulstery. It won't look 100%, but close to it. Probally get this done for under $100
The rhinestone hat sounds awesome Any chance of getting a of that?

Glad you didn't get stung. Are you allergic to bees?

[The Heater]

Hey, Stu:

You are looking in the wrong place. As I and another stated, you get the shell for the headliner re-covered for the costs we outlined. Yes, you can, trust me, I have done it and so has that other person (many times since he is a pro, I am sure).

There are upholstery shops that do headliners. Not all, but if you live in a large enough metropolitan area (50,000 or more), there is going to be at least one shop that does them because lots of cars need this service (including new ones).

If you have trouble finding an upholsterer that does headliners, talk to an auto body shop, preferably one that restores cars or works on customs, but most shops use this service. Another source would be a long standing high quality detail shop. They know where to go, or they should know.

They come out as good or better than factory. It is not a hard process especially if the car was made after about 1968. The headliner is glued with spray cement like contact cement, to the foam mold that is used for your car's headliner. All cars use the same thing. Prior to that, many or all headliners were suspended from wire bows that ran across the inside of the roof.

[FUNX650]

Thanks everyone for all, of your input.
In actuallity the damage to the headliner was not caused by a cigarette burn.
In an effort to escape a bee....
This is were it gets a bit complicated. I was wearing a hat that had rhinestone studs on it.
I smacked my head into the door post evidently one of the rhinestones from the hat was missing. What was left in it's place was a very sharp metal setting in which the rhinestone was once affixed to. Well this sharp piece of metal took a nice gouge out of the headliner.
And yes Bob I agree with what you said about a person who smokes in their car.

Thanks for not having enough faith in this forum's members to comprehend the "complicated" difference between a cigarette burn on headliner......and a gouge in the headliner inflicted by your 'wardrobe mishap'.

Bob