Re-dye the leather?

[STLengineer]

Hey all, when I bought my car (all of five days ago) one of the slight "problems" I noticed is the presence of some worn spots on the leather (they're not stains). I just chalked it up to wear and tear from the previous owner. It just looks like the red leather is streached tightly over this area of the seat and causing it to look "distressed". Can I apply some red leather dye to fix this? Has anyone come across this? I haven't contacted my local Lotus dealer yet, because I would rather just do it myself if I can in order to save the time and money. The attachment is a picture for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for your help

[MikeC]

Mine did the very same thing over a short time only mine is black. I used some black shoe dye and it's perfect.

You may have more trouble matching red.

[reganfin]

Red sharpie marker. No sh*t.

[British_Marques]

I may be selling my Red seats from my elise when my exige seats arrive should be here in several days. I keep mine condtioned and they look like the day I bought it. And that was twenty-one months and 8500.00 miles ago. Robert

[Keeper]

I have a similar problem. The previous owner wasn't careful. Oh, wait. I am the previous owner. I have biscuit leather and need to find the ideal method of repair.

[Ken Wright]

Go to Leatherique's web site and order some of their dye and reconditioning oil.

Leather that is oiled at least three times yearly seems to last forever. This will remind you why leather is used for car seats, they will become supple and hold you much better than the hard plastic leather that results from no treatment.

Don't waste your time with the stuff that you get at Auto Zone. Leatherique is recommended by both the Rolls Royce club and Ferrari club in the USA.

ken

[drummerbrent]

Another option for major reconditioning is Surflex from Color Plus (colorplus.com). I've used this on 13 year-old NSX seats and they looked brand new when I was done. A lot of Porsche / Acura people swear by it because you can fill the deeper cracks. Good leather care info on their site too. I have no connection with them - I just really like their products.

[zvezdah1]

The leather in our cars, far as I know is sprayed color, lacquer. In another car I had the side bolster had wear, I bought the lacquer one of those cheap model kit air brushes and touched it up myself. Key is very light coats, just let it mist over it.

[chuck_risen]

Originally Posted by MikeC

Mine did the very same thing over a short time only mine is black. I used some black shoe dye and it's perfect.

You may have more trouble matching red.

Mine is black and I just tried the same thing except mine wore in the middle of the seat at the bottom of the back rest. Just make sure you don't get it on the stitching as it took a bit of elbow grease to get the stitching white again. It is not that I am not careful getting in and out of the car, I am just clumsy and at some point I just fall into it. If only you could use the windshield to help and the steering wheel is a bit low to help me much. I will probably have it dyed again when it gets worse or just replace the seat but if you have only a light colored spot from rubbing the polish seems to work OK.

[MidasHands]

Interesting - I thought this was only happening on the light color leather seats.

They do make some leather color repair kits. They look like mini paint bottles that you mix to get the color you want for the touch up. I bought one but have not tried it yet.

I have actually thought about having the seat recovered in that area with something other than leather.