Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

mults · 06-18-2013, 08:01 AM

Well, just wanted to update...

I brought the car to a local interior leather guy yesterday who works on very high end vehicles like Rolls, Mercedes, etc... He looked at the seat and said that it can probably be fixed to where it looks almost new again. He did say that the leather is not dyed through, but actually surface dyed. He would fix the area to biuld up the low spots that have been worn, and then custom mix a color that would be air brushed and absorbed into the leather. The hardest part is to redo the black stitching once the seat is colored. He charges $35/hr and said it would only take about 5 hours to finish. I was very impressed by his results in his workshop on a 59 Rolls and a 80ish Rolls that was from Isreal that he was redoing.

In his opinion, he thought that there may have been a weak spot in the leather when it was manufactured allowing the color to wear prematurely. He was also concerned that the weakend area may affect how the air bag would deply in an accident. With that being said, I stopped by the local Nissan dealer and asked them to take a look at the damage. They said that cosmetic damage was not under warranty after 12 months so that was that. When I voiced my concern about the air bag not deploying properly and the "expert" leather guy saying that the leather was flawed, they seemed more receptive to my concerns. The service manager took some pictures and said that they would be sent to Nissan to get their take on this issue and they would let me know the outcome. I also told them that the car is only driven 6 months a year and only has 18000 miles, so it should not be damaged already. I mentioned that I had been to a few Nissan car shows in the last month (ZdayZ and Midwest Heritage) and did not see another Z with damage like mine.

Oh well, that's the latest. I am really not expecting Nissan to do anything about the seat, but one can hope. If they don't, I think that I have found someone to fis it so it will look good and last a long time.

06-18-2013, 08:01 AM	#15 (permalink)
mults A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Cleveland, OH Age: 69 Posts: 1,830 Drives: 2010 (40th) #706 Rep Power: 16886	Well, just wanted to update... I brought the car to a local interior leather guy yesterday who works on very high end vehicles like Rolls, Mercedes, etc... He looked at the seat and said that it can probably be fixed to where it looks almost new again. He did say that the leather is not dyed through, but actually surface dyed. He would fix the area to biuld up the low spots that have been worn, and then custom mix a color that would be air brushed and absorbed into the leather. The hardest part is to redo the black stitching once the seat is colored. He charges $35/hr and said it would only take about 5 hours to finish. I was very impressed by his results in his workshop on a 59 Rolls and a 80ish Rolls that was from Isreal that he was redoing. In his opinion, he thought that there may have been a weak spot in the leather when it was manufactured allowing the color to wear prematurely. He was also concerned that the weakend area may affect how the air bag would deply in an accident. With that being said, I stopped by the local Nissan dealer and asked them to take a look at the damage. They said that cosmetic damage was not under warranty after 12 months so that was that. When I voiced my concern about the air bag not deploying properly and the "expert" leather guy saying that the leather was flawed, they seemed more receptive to my concerns. The service manager took some pictures and said that they would be sent to Nissan to get their take on this issue and they would let me know the outcome. I also told them that the car is only driven 6 months a year and only has 18000 miles, so it should not be damaged already. I mentioned that I had been to a few Nissan car shows in the last month (ZdayZ and Midwest Heritage) and did not see another Z with damage like mine. Oh well, that's the latest. I am really not expecting Nissan to do anything about the seat, but one can hope. If they don't, I think that I have found someone to fis it so it will look good and last a long time. __________________ mults 40th Anniversary 'Z', 312.06HP/260.58TQ (Dynosty EcuTek Tune) Build Date/Number: 1/27/2010 #706 Berk HFC + CBE, R2C CAI, Clear Bra, Cleveland Z Club