Years of wear...can the top of the door card be replaced independently?

[CBdeJ]

As the title asks. The top of my door card is worn through at the exact spot the previous owner rested his elbow (not surprisingly, mine rests in the exact same spot)

Is there any way to replace (or repair) just the top of the door card or is it a single piece, replace it all deal.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[TXSunDevil]

Car-part.com shows several in the $100 range. I would guess a local upholstery shop may be able to wrap it with something. The Toyota parts diagram only shows the entire panel with an MSRP of $898.

 

[Greenbean]

My PO did the exact same thing, lol...

But mine looks three times larger.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Toyota only sells it as part of the entire inner door skin, round $725, iirc.

 

[re_guderian]

I was hoping this thread would have produced better results...
Dyeing brown door trim?

 

[kelly saad]

Samezees here

 

[jdayment]

Ours looks exactly the same.

 

[kelly saad]

Back in the 90's I had a 72 Chevelle SS that had a blue interior. The whole thing was painted with vinyl paint. I used vinyl pain t in an aerosol can on a dash and it was very durable. It looked like normal vinyl, didn't look painted. This was a long time ago but maybe it could work. Color match is the problem. Don't say anything about the Chevelle

 

[gatormark91]

I was hoping this thread would have produced better results...
Dyeing brown door trim?

That was my thread. I'm still looking for a solution. I'm watching eBay and car-part for a decent panel to come up in my area, as well.

NONE of the 'matching' colors available on the Internet will work. They are, as far as I can tell, way off, or completely wrong. One said it was the brown trim, but it was the tan field color. Wasted money.

 

[RootMeanSqr]

Might look into a leather repair expert. For $100 or so, those guys can work some magic.

 

[MattThompson]

Mine looks the exact same!! It drives me crazy! Looking forward to what you come up with!

 

[Mark WV]

I picked up a drivers door panel from car-part.com last year to replace mine. The one that came from the parts yard was bad on the bottom but the upper was fine. the top and bottom sections of the door card are just stapled together on the back of the door card, so I separated the two sections and used their upper and my existing lower section. It is a bit tedious to remove the staples and reattach, but not too difficult. Shipping should not be to bad for a door card, so don't limit your search just to the local salvage yards.

 

[sr5pickup]

I sent a sample out yesterday to Leatherique to see if they can match up the color and make a dye, they do custom matching. I'll report back with what I find out.

 

[t_tentech]

Following.

 

[Landpimp]

Mines the same.

Wonder if some shoe polish would take care if it?

We once got a very nice sectional for free(we have a huge yellow lab, so no point in buying new stuff) owner had a cat and it had scatch marks all over it, we took blue shoe polish to it and it looked like new.

 

[CBdeJ]

So, a common problem with no really solid, tried and true outcomes (so far). If the door top and bottom can be separated (as mentioned above) that might lead to possible leather or vinyl recovering options. I'm going to have to visit the local auto upholstery shop...

 

[CBdeJ]

Top of door card after repair.

• CBdeJ
• Nov 2, 2017

So, I finally followed up at one of the local auto upholstery shops, Rich's here in Seattle. Apparently, there is a fix. It is a stain/dye that is applied to the effected area after it is prepped (cleaned, sanded). There is a slight loss of texturing but you have to be told and have a comparator to see the difference. The shop says it holds up very well; that the finish is comparable to OEM over time. Honestly if it lasts a bunch of years I'll be happy.

 

[Luke111]

Follow what @CBdeJ did... we have a leather guy that does our pre- owned cars and they can do this in their sleep.

 

[John Young]

You might have a look at my thread here. Cosmetically it turned out pretty nice. I can't vouch for durability. Ask me again in a year!

cosmetic improvement of top of driver's door panel and leather seat

 

[awesomeissquid]

Bump to get an update on anyone’s report of how this has held up over the years.