Repairing a car console armrest

My wife an I recently purchased a "new" used car, and one of the defects was damaged upholstery on the armrest, which also serves as the lid for the compartment between the two fronts seats. This wasn't a deal breaker, but it was annoying enough that I set out to replace it.

What I quickly found was that it was near impossible to replace just this part, without replacing the entire console. I found replacement consoles online, and I even found one in a local salvage yard, but both options involved removing and replacing the entire console - way more time and money than I was willing to invest! And why scrap a perfectly good console when all I needed to replace was the armrest/lid upholstery?

So here is how I reupholstered a damaged armrest in under an an hour, for less than US$5!

(My car is 2007 PT Cruiser, but I imagine there are plenty of damaged armrests out there on different make/model cars, that can be restored in the same way;-)

Materials:
• A few feet of vinyl
• 3M Spray adhesive
• Packing foam

Tools:
* Torx bit & screwdriver
• Stapler
• Scissors

Step 1: Remove armrest

This is pretty easy, as long as you have the correct tool. I believe I used a 10 or 15 torq bit to remove the three screws holding the armrest in place. Yours may be held in place with different screws, but still likely easy to remove.

Comments

[Dr. P]

Nice job. And I love that you did it without caving to the lords of retail. Power to the people!

[spiderham]

A good tip I've learned is to work with warm vinyl. It makes it more plyable and helps get neater corners.

[Winged Fist]

Thanks Spiderham. I'll try this next time it gets damaged;-)

[twighahn]

you plan for it to get damaged? lol

[twighahn]

you could also design the cover or use a cover with elastic.

[Honda Enoch]

The junkyard wouldn't let you have just the lid? Wow, crappy junkyard.

I have gotten many console lids/arm rest from junk yards.

Good write up though. :)

[Winged Fist]

They did give me a wheel well skirt for free when I bought a replacement passenger window (break-in on my third day of ownership!), but wouldn't budge on the console lid. They were determined to sell the whole console as a unit.