angelm8ker

I am experiencing the dreaded leather bubbling of my 4LT dash in my 2011 black GS - its the dark gray/ebony leather with silver stitching.

My question is - has anyone had any luck in the Houston, TX area for repair at any local shop? I went to an upholstery shop off 1960 near Willowbrook but they told me they couldn't help me.

I'm also looking into switching out the leather dash with a standard non-leather dash from a base model. Another question - does the dark gray/ebony dash from the lower LT model match in color to the 4LT color? Has anyone done this with success or with pictures to show the stitching contrast?

Any help on this issue would be great. I've done a few searches but nothing definitive popped up.

John

phileaglesfan

I have 4LT also but dash is fine right now. if this happens I will either have the dealer replace it or go with a top of the line leather such as Carvaggio. DSVettes used to be a good option but their website gives you the 404 error. My 13 has the Anniversary package so there may not be many options since the interior is blue diamond.

lverret

My dash was doing the same thing. I brought it to an upholstery shop. They removed the windshield and glued it back down. Then reinstalled the windshield. App. $750. I am very pleased with the results.

Frankie15

Pretty expensive fix. I've heard of others doing it for half the cost. How much of that charge was from the upholstery shop? No issues removing and reinstalling the windshield?

I am going to have to do this when mine gets worse. Right now, it's very minor. I'm just worried about the possibility of the windshield breaking on removal. Makes it a much more expensive fix.

csf

I don't have a 4LT, but I seem to remember someone here taking the car to a windshield repair place like Safeco . . . paid them just to remove the windshield. Then the owner reglued the dash themself at the shop with better adhesive. Then had Safeco resinstall the windshield . . . cost like $250 for the labor I think. Good luck.

lverret

They did not give me a breakdown on the cost. He did tell me I would have to pay for a new windshield at their cost if it broke. That cost was another $750. I was lucky and it did not break. I know some people think this is a lot of cost but I am happy I got it done. I love the car now, as much as I did when it was new.

Not So Fast

If you do switch it out I believe the correct terminology of the colors are Titanium/Ebony interior color just for reference. Here is a photo of mine
NSF

lverret

5 Star Upholstery in League City, Texas did the repair on mine.

FAUEE

I would never switch to a base dash from a leather dash if mine peeled. I'd either go aftermarket, or remove the windshield and reglue it. Downgrading your dash sounds totally absurd to me.

Mike77386

I had mine done by Frank's Corvettes on Louetta (Spring, Tx). He removes the dash and sends it out to his upholstery guy who removes the leather from your dash, then re-glues it using the correct glue.

Mine bubbled pretty bad due to being left outside on a hot summer day-Frank has done 6 or 8 of these with no issues.

Good luck!

Frankie15

I totally agree with you. I just saw the most upholstery shops didn't charge more than $150 to fix it. The other $200-$300 being the cost to remove and reinstall the windshield. I plan to go this route if/when mine gets worse.

Agreed. I really don't understand this line of thinking either. It would look totally out of place compared to the doors. The base dash looks awful compared to the 3LZ/4LT dash. I had the regular dash in my previous C6. I still wouldn't trade my current one that has a slight ridge in it for the old dash.

phileaglesfan

Non 4LT dash looks almost like it came from rubbermaid. I had an 11 GS 3LT after owning an 08 4LT. One of the reasons why I bought my 13 GS 4LT.

It is sad that DSVettes seemed to disappear as they had real nice products.

kfreder2477

I am unfortunately having the same issue. 2011 Grand Sport 4LT with only 14000 miles on it. This is my first Corvette (purchased in June) and just got over the shock of having to replace the tires at 13k and now discovering that the leather dashboard is bubbling up. Anyone in the St. Louis area have any luck getting this repaired somewhere local? Thanks!!

69L79

Did anyone have one of these 4LT dashes that held up? The money you guys paid for this "option".

AddisonD

I'm in Houston, and now have a wrinkled up, unglued, 4LT dash. It's a 2011 GS convertible.

I would like to bring this thread back up and read any new reports on how this can best be taken care of.

If there are any suggested places to take it in the Houston area, I would sure appreciate getting those comments.
I have taken note of the reference in post #10 above to Frank's Vettes, that is located on Louetta Rd, so I will check them out.

Thank you for any updates on this totally frustrating problem.

...

4SUMERZ

Removing the dash itself, rather than removing the windshield would be the way I would go. Ray Kawal site has a picture DIY on how to do it. Once the Dash is out, the process would be a breeze for an upholstery shop to reglue, I would think.
http://www.kawal.net/Dash%20Replacement.htm
Good Luck to those that have the issue.

AddisonD

I tend to agree with removing the dash, but it isn't within my capacity to do that.
The step by step info in the web pages are really useful, and for me that serves to absolutely eliminate my doing that myself.
Sadly, I don't have a huge open budget right now, so I may have to learn to live with my wrinkles, dang it.

FAUEE

3 years later since mine was fine and mine is still fine. So yes, there are LOTS of 4LT dashes without any issues.

FAUEE

The thing about cars, you either need to have skills, budget, or low expectations. Sometimes 2/3 like in a German car.

I think someone used a hypodermic needle to evacuate the air and squeeze in more glue once, and it turned out really well. That said, the end result likely depends on many factors, so it may not be the fix for everyone.

Jeff1495

AddisonD,

I had one done at Lethal Performance in San Antonio about two years ago and it was $1100.00 then.