[jason]

If you own a brand spanking new car, consider yourself lucky. However, as your beautiful car begins to age, you may need to start paying a bit more attention to its lovely interior. As the years go by, items such as the carpets, trim, seat covers, and dashboard will require repair or flat out replacement. It is much easier to perform these potentially expensive interior repairs sooner rather than later.
If you plan on performing any type of extensive interior auto repair, you should begin with the dashboard. It is the largest and probably most intricate item inside your vehicle. Dashboard repair, more often than not, usually involves no more than a simply paint job and maybe some minor crack repair. Before repairing your dashboard, remove and clean all removable parts. Your cleaning solution should be nothing more elaborate than dish soap and warm water. After you’ve cleaned the smaller parts, you should move on to the other interior components such as the steering wheel and such. A soft cloth works best for these items. Afterward, you should cover all items and rub the plastic parts of your dashboard with a quality fine grade sandpaper and then prime. Once the primer dries, apply a good coat of quality paint that was designed for your car. If there is serious damage to the dashboard, you may be better off purchasing a vinyl repair kit or a matching dash cover.
Once you’ve completed the dash repair, take a look above you. A loose or dangling headliner is irritating at best. Although older style fabric headliners were easy to repair, newer ones can be difficult and expensive if not repaired quickly. In some cases, headliner repair may be best left to professionals. Your best bet is to see what headliner replacement kids are available for your particular vehicle. If you think you are up to the challenge, go for it! It’s usually much less expensive than hiring a pro to do it for you!
The most overlooked of the interior components of your car are probably the carpets. Faded and torn carpets make your car look just terrible inside. Replacing the entire carpet is usually the best option since it provides a uniform look throughout the vehicle and is not all that difficult to do yourself with the help of a friend. Most auto supply stores can order replacement carpets that are specific to your vehicle, meaning they will fit it perfectly! If you are lucky, the old carpet will not have been pasted down. If that’s the case, pulling it up and installing the new carpet is a snap. However, tearing up a pasted carpet can take some time so be patient and be sure to clean up after you’ve removed it so the new carpet lays flat.
As you can see, interior auto repair does not always require the services of a professional. Interior auto repair can be a nice do it yourself project for those that enjoy exerting a bit of elbow grease. If you enjoy auto repair or simply just want to save some money, give it a shot!