Dash panel retrim advice

[Longers]

Hi all

My 2011 V8 Vantage is at Works at the moment having a service and MOT.

Since the weather has turned colder I've noticed that the leather covering the 2 small rectangular panels nearest the windscreen (so either side of the ski slope) has rippled/bubbled up when I've gone into the garage. After the car has been in the sun and the heater has been on for a while it eventually settles down again. When I took it to Works it was a cold day so it stayed a bit rippled even after the hour or so drive there.

Works told me that it's because the foam on the back of the leather has shrunk so it both panels will need to be retrimmed. At a cost of £1165. I don't mind paying for a decent job but that sounds, ahem, 'a bit' expensive to me...

Can anyone recommend somewhere else to get the retrim done, preferably in East Mids (I'm in Rutland)?

Thanks,
L'rs

[Astontony]

There is a good site by redpants on how to remove dash parts, I would think you could re glue this yourself or any good auto upholsterer could restore it for you. I had a little shrinkage in my leather above the binnacle and removed this re glued clamped for 12 hours and all was as new.
1100 pounds is ridiculous.

[dbs2000]

Thats an obscene price. I know aston installations have an upholsterer, it could be worth asking them for a price. I think you can probably cut that figure in half at least.

[XJR500bhp]

Ring Chiltern Aston - they’re £280 plus VAT per side to retrim

[Longers]

Thanks for the replies

I'll start with Chiltern Aston then ring some others to compare prices.

Cheers,
L'rs

[UncleStig]

I’ve had the whole dash retrimmed in Alcantara for that price. Ok I did dismantle it myself, but that’s easy enough, loads of advice online. However, i also had the same issue as you a few years back. I took the panel to a boat chandler and they peeled it back, stretched it and re-glued it. Good as new 48 hours later and all for £28.00. Don’t let yourself be tricked into paying more. It’s a simple job.

[Calinours]

UncleStig said:

I’ve had the whole dash retrimmed in Alcantara for that price. Ok I did dismantle it myself, but that’s easy enough, loads of advice online. However, i also had the same issue as you a few years back. I took the panel to a boat chandler and they peeled it back, stretched it and re-glued it. Good as new 48 hours later and all for £28.00. Don’t let yourself be tricked into paying more. It’s a simple job.

Agreed. I did it myself following the same process. Easy and total cost was a couple of hours of my time and some glue. Removing the panels is much more straightforward than you might think. Checkout the stickies for guides, or look on youtube.

[Longers]

So from the above, the costs have gone from £1165 to £280 plus VAT to £28.00 to DIY for free. If this rate of progress continues someone will be paying me for the chance to do the work!

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll let you know how I get on

[AMV8KING]

We regularly carry out repairs to dashboard (and instrument binnacles) on Gaydon era cars, on site in our Trim & Upholstery department and would be delighted to provide you with a quotation, if required. We also added some bespoke touches for clients, such as using alcantara, instead of replacement hide along with adding contrast stitching to match the accent colour of a car.

For futher information, see here: https://www.nicholasmee.co.uk/service-and-aftercar... Chris or Oliver in our Service department would be delighted to assist.

We are located in Hertfordshire (just a few minutes from Junction 4 of the A1M.