I have a 2012 Maxima SV with premium leather. Somehow I've acquired two tears/cuts about 1/2" long each on the passenger seat back right side bolster. It's the light brown colored leather. I got a quote from a repair shop that wants to sent a sample of the seat leather out to get a piece of matched leather to replace the whole bolster panel at $168 total. I emailed another place that does more traditional repairs but haven't heard back from them yet. As far as I can tell the discount dealer price for the seat back leather is $768.

I will post pics soon of the damage. No idea of how it occurred but it appears to be my fault and not defective leather. This really ruins the appearance of a really nice car!

Any ideas as to the best repair approach or where to take it?

 

168 sounds good for professional job.

I fixed my girlfriends' camry with tools from this site.

http://www.vinylpro.com/

The repair is strong and kind of smooth, but I can't match the paint and the repair is very obvious. Believe me, without paint matching equipment you can't do a good job. You will fix the cut but there will be an ugly spot there.

 

Have a pro do it, they will probably replace that piece of leather. You said that "This really ruins the appearance of a really nice car" Use one of those DIY kits and it will really look ugly.

You want it to be not noticed or do you want Gee what happened there.

 

Thanks for the input! I'm going ahead with the $168 repair that will replace the whole bolster section. It was interesting that the Nissan factory fabric samples did not match my car very well even though they were the "same" color and OEM part numbers. This place said they see that all the time and the sample of my leather they send out will get exactly color replicated. My camera was unable to take good pics up close in focus even in macro mode so I deciding against posting any pics.

 

Leather ages and cracks, even if it is the vinyl with a leather top (leatherette) like you find on the BMWs. If there is dirt on top of the leather, then it possibly explains the different pigmentation in color. Good luck on the repair! Here is a video that demonstrates that very clearly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXGNRgjYn8