Interior face lift; cleaning up the cruiser! (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 11, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
23
Location
New Jersey
First off thanks everyone for a great forum with loads of tips! :clap: A few years back I was looking at the new cruisers out there and the only major difference between the 2016-19 and my 2003 was that the interior was new and upgraded. Didnt want to spend $90k on an interior as mine had only 170k miles on it. Practically brand new itself! So I did the next best thing I spend about $4k and did the following:

1) New leather seats and interior (except for door panels, as they were looking factory fresh already). End result was better than factory as the leather color (ivory) exactly matched the interior plastic. I chose perforated leather for the middle dark part of the seats to match the Dr. Grey on the door handles, and the same contrasting color for the piping around the seats and headrests. Had them wash the headliner and shampoo the carpets as well. They did the front and back seats and the back of the seats as well, along with the center consoul. Total cost for this was $3200 plus 5 days at the shop. Result: Super! love it now, better than factory.
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2) Replaced the factory speakers and subwoofer in the back with decent ones. Didnt do anything else to the radio or amplifier. Cost was $500. Result WOW, sooo much better sound, no crackling and I can turn it up as loud as it will go without issues. Yes, it isn't home aduiophile quality, but I didn't want to spend that much. 🔊

3) Covered the not so great, grey/black plastic interior facia with a wood grain kit. (WOW Trim, Walnut Burlwood, full it w/navigation). Cost $234. I took my time with the kit and made sure the pieces fit well before sticking them on permantely. I only used about half of the kit, as all the pieces were overkill. Result: Looks factory quality, even some skeptics liked the result. :hmm:
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4) Covered the steering wheel with new leather. See my recent post: New steering wheel installed LX470. Matched the leather on my wheel nicely and fit over existing leather, so it is a bit bulkier than before, which is what I wanted. Got it from Loncky in China, dark grey color. Cost: $50, looks great, have smooth leather on top and bottom and perforated on the sides.
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5) Cleaned engine bay. OK, not the interior but my paranoia had migrated to the outside. For details see video: . I didnt go too crazy here. I realize that a cruiser without some dirt is a range rover :rofl:.
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6) Cleaned the seat belts! Were black and gummy, and now are ivory colored and "almost new". I decided to clean them instead of replacing. First you pull the belt all the way out to its full legnth, then close the door with the belt hanging out of the car. This holds it in place and you can wash and rinse it with the hose easily. I soaked them in a hot concentrated solution of simple green for 20min. Then with a not too harsh scrub brush, scrub them down completely. You can scrub pretty hard without any noticible marking. Rinse with hose, repeat, etc... Cost: $15 bucks for gallon of simple green that will last several years. Great for all cleaning and its safe for the environment. Result is almost new seat belts that retract easily and dont stick! Yea!!! :cool:

7) Replaced the sagging cargo net on back of front seats. (see my recent post for this one).

8) Installed a TrekBoxx drawer system in the back. A bit of an impulse purchase, but I'll be ready for the camping trips now!!!
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9) Bought weathertech floor liners for front, back, and trunk when I bought the car 10+years ago, so carpeting was very clean to begin with.

Well that's about it. I did this over the past 3 years. I wanted to keep the car looking mostly stock condition, but also wanted to do improvements where possible. This should cover most of the wear and tear that you will find on most interiors. The car looks great, much much better than stock. Cost was about $4k without the trekboxx. I hope some of you can use the tips here to refresh your ride. Best...
 
Spend a couple more bucks on a new radiator. When they get that discolored, it is a point of failure waiting to happen.
 
Awesome work! Man, those Trekboxx drawers are so tempting...
 
That looks amazing! And this is very relevant - I'm in the same boat... My '06 has 165,000 miles and is looking a bit tired. My wife is pushing me to get something new. But I still love truck. I haven't had a car payment in years. If I think of doing the work you just did, it's like 3-5 car payments on something new. Makes it seem almost free ;)
 
Thanks for the comments, The wood trim kit info is in the post. I checked the radiator and got it flushed and filled with the Toyota red antifreeze. Hopefully it will be good for a while.

Yes, the Trexxboxes are good. I havent had any others so I cant compare. I just should have waited until I actually started car camping! Now it just takes up a bit too much space. But it is not too difficult to take out, just a few bolts.

Yep, love the interior, it took a few years to piece it together but its better than new now. I will attempt to put in a bluetooth device to stream stuff from my iphone.

I found a 04 cruiser that had 100k for $15k only. If I had the room I would have bought it as a backup (not that I need a backup; this aint a range rover :p). It would take about $9k more to redo the interior like mine, and all the maintenence changing all fluids, water pump, belts, hoses, etc... So for $24k a like new cruiser. Better than the $90k sticker price!

A little love goes a long way. And no car payment is great!
 
Is the WOW trim kit real wood or faux?
Fake wood, but it looks great. They dont make that one in real wood. I really looked at it carefully before sticking it on so that it would look like factory and not cheesy. Just take your time and pre fit the parts so that it is almost perfect and it will come out great.
 
Can I ask where you sourced the new speakers from?

I’m prepared to just Crutchfield away but if there is something else worth my wild I’m down to listen! Lol… Pun intended.

What stinks is my 2000 has the dual speaker sub and isn’t kind for just replacing woofers, however I wonder if a new sub from a newer 100 would work?

Hmm, I’ll look into that one.

Seats look amazing bro!
 
Can I ask where you sourced the new speakers from?

I’m prepared to just Crutchfield away but if there is something else worth my wild I’m down to listen! Lol… Pun intended.

What stinks is my 2000 has the dual speaker sub and isn’t kind for just replacing woofers, however I wonder if a new sub from a newer 100 would work?

Hmm, I’ll look into that one.

Seats look amazing bro!
Custom designed by me and fitted at an auto leather shop. Should cost around $2500 for the entire car.
Where'd you get the seat covers? I'm looking to order some for my 98.
Sorry, the cost for the leather seats and wash whole interior was $3500
 
Can I ask where you sourced the new speakers from?

I’m prepared to just Crutchfield away but if there is something else worth my wild I’m down to listen! Lol… Pun intended.

What stinks is my 2000 has the dual speaker sub and isn’t kind for just replacing woofers, however I wonder if a new sub from a newer 100 would work?

Hmm, I’ll look into that one.

Seats look amazing bro!
I just had a car audio place put in some replacement speakers in the doors and woofer in back. They were not super expensive, maybe $800 for everything. Sound much better than they did, and I can turn up the volume and not hear crackling any more. With the new "tesla-like" headunit I just put in, the speakers sound even better. Refer to this forum for info about the headunit. I'll post a pic if I can find one.
 

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