BEWARE! Touched-Up Leather

[gigondaz]

Before starting on any interior detailing job, check with owner:

1. Has any interior part been re-dyed/re-sprayed due to previous damage?
2. Is it a new car assembled within the country, or was it imported used from another country, and then "re-conditioned' to make it look appetising again?

If you have doubts that certain interior parts have been cheaply re-dyed/touched-up repainted, proceed with CAUTION!
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What To Look For (Tell Tale Signs)
Inspect abrasion-prone areas (corners of seats etc).

This is the plastic trim that surrounds the bottom of a Merc S-Class front seat.
Many deep scuffs have been re-painted....you can still see the marks underneath.
You won't know what kinda touch-up job it was (cheap vs professional), but the workmanship is a good indicator. The one above is crap. This could be indicative of more problems ahead.......


The other plastic parts attached to the seat....have also been "re-painted", and is now peeling off. Typical cheap job.



Condition of the leather seats are clear indications of a roughly-used, poorly maintained car. Here, it looks crappy...but there's more surprises!!
At this point, the car owner must be informed about potential problems.
If owner gives you the Green Light, proceed.
If owner says leave it, then LEAVE IT.



Cautioning The Car Owner
In this case, I've cautioned the owner earlier that the front seats are problematic as the vehicle was imported from Japan and clearly has been "re-conditioned".

DEMO - If Owner Allows
She agreed to let me handle a full Nappa leather re-wrap of all seats as she disliked the current colour anyway. Since the seats will be re-wrapped, I've sought her permission to allow me to use her seats as a "demo".

Meguiars Gold Class Leather Cleaner + Conditioner was applied to the questionable area and not surprisingly, the cheaply-applied dye immediately CAME OFF and onto my fingers!!


LOL! She just smiled, and requested to have all the leather seats re-wrapped with new leather, and re-spray the front bumper.

It was a superb real-life example to show fellow Autopians here...rare opportunity!
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Explanation to customers:
1. Leather's top-coating could hv worn away due to abrasion and neglect. This exposes the leather, giving it a slightly dis-coloured look. It prompts certain parties to 're-dye" the damaged area.

2. Re-dyeing is a complex art and a professional job is not cheap.
Note:
The worn-out portion must be cleaned with a professional fat remover (as in the leather's "fat liqour"), and then cleaned with benzene, to reveal a 100% clean leather surface for the dye to adhere. Skipping this critical part, could result in sub-std repairs.

3. Later, due to continued abrasion, the re-dyed areas start losing the dye again, hence re-exposing the unfinished leather underneath. When the new owner tries to use anything liquid to clean this part (mistaking it for dirt), it turns dark. Of course...the leather is now un-coated, and absorbs moisture, turning dark. When it dries, it looks much better. Cleaning it with more cleaning solutions will not do any good.
This is not only a dirt problem.

Solutions:
1. Re-wrap the seat.
But it's unlikely you can buy the identical type of leather from the aftermarket. To fully match everything, you'll hv to wrap all the seats which is expensive.

2. Visit a leather specialist for professional repair work.
But only certain damages can be fully repaired.

3. If you cant afford any repair, and hv to live with the damaged area, and treat this area constantly with products meant for "unfinished/uncoated" leather...eg. neatsfoot oil etc. .

[dschia]

Interesting info there, thanks for sharing.

[David Fermani]

Ouch, that milky leather looks like a soupy mess. Great thread!

[smprince1]

I also had a similar experience with leather that had been touched-up.

Need opinions on leather damage please

[Quality Leather]

Your pics are to small to adequately tell if it has been resprayed. I am not saying it hasn't, but a lot of times what looks like a respray isn't. Coating on the leather can deteriorate over time and easily turn into that mess on your hands with a cleaning.

[RaskyR1]

Great thread!


I've come across seats/panels like that many times. I had one lady come in who had just bought her BMW used and had no clue they had been redyed. She wanted me to clean them and I could tell right away what had been done. I actually worked in a high volume shop for many years and we had a guy come on-site to do this kind of repair on a lot of the used cars. "It's a cheap fix to get the car sold" he once told me.

[David Fermani]

Your pics are to small to adequately tell if it has been resprayed. I am not saying it hasn't, but a lot of times what looks like a respray isn't. Coating on the leather can deteriorate over time and easily turn into that mess on your hands with a cleaning.

You're right. I did an older SN95 Mustang recently with tan leather seats and anything I used turned it into a sloppy mess. It wasn't repainted from what I could tell, it was just it's time to start failing. Alot of the GM full size SUV seats do this too. They must use a crappy top coat?

[TheConnection]

Had this issue on one of my personal vehicles. The audi mechanics stained my leather, then performed a (cheap) re-die.

[longsdetailing]

Yikes! That's why I'll always do a test spot first even for interior work. Nice post..

[Automania]

Yikes! That's why I'll always do a test spot first even for interior work. Nice post..

This is a big problem in the used car industry... I have been having a lot of issues with Suburbans, Yukons and Tahoes. These vehicles are usually very dirty and used car dealers do not want to pay to detail them properly so they solution is to dye over the dirt on seats, carpets, and mats to give the vehicle that detailed look...

[LMBmikeZ]

gigondaz - nice write with good info! Scary to think what dealerships really do to used cars they are selling. I had a question about your first part in your first post. Its regarding the plastic trim that is at the bottom of many many vehicles around the seats, like the pics of the s-class. How would you recommend trying to get some of those minor scuffs out? I always clean it up nice and finish the plastic, but on more and more cars I do I find deep down you can see light scuffs on the corner still, any tips?