How Much Will It Cost?

Cain's Auto Leather Renovation
[Home ] Company History

What do our customers think of us?

The Mercedes-Benz Club Gazette - August 2002

Being the proud owner of a W124 300CE I wanted to have the leather upholstery rejuvenated. The blue dye had faded on the edges of the driver's seat and there were a few cracks, but generally it was not in bad shape, the car has only covered 77000 miles in eleven years.

After visiting several leather restorers, one of whom wanted to cut out some of the faded leather and replace it with new, I eventually realised that the work I wanted doing was too small a job hence some of the quotes which seemed over the top.

Luckily I was recommended to Simon Cain, of Cain's Mobile Leather Renovation and I am very pleased to recommend his work following the excellent job carried out on my 300CE. All seats, door trim, leather steering wheel and gear-shift were all restored to a as-new condition without looking over shiny. The price charged was very reasonable plus Simon is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Kind regards, Richard Mason, Marlow

---------------------------------------------------

The Mercedes-Benz Club Gazette - December 2002

After a call to Simon Cain we arranged for him to look at the car one evening when I was working in north London not far from where he lives rather than him coming to the south coast. He was punctual, polite, courteous and knew exactly what he was talking about.

That young man worked non-stop on my car until 7.45pm. And what a sight it was when it was all finished. It was more than I had expected. All the leather in my S-Class looks and feels and smells like new. It was unbelievable what he had achieved with all his hard work. I was gobsmacked. His charges also were very reasonable. I felt I would therefore have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Simon to any member who needs some leather renovating and likes courtesy, manners and professionalism. He has it in abundance.

--------------------------------------------------

Mercedes Enthusiast - February 2003

'Under the bonnet' section, titled 'Clean Seat Approach'

Despite the never-ending march of technology there are some elements of luxury car building that will never change. Whatever goes on under the bonnet or in the black boxes, there is no getting away from the fact that the point of contact between you and your Mercedes is of huge importance and the organic charm of leather is difficult to resist. There are problems though. Leather is expensive and difficult to work with and requires careful looking after. Seats and trim are often overlooked and corrective surgery can be expensive.

Specialist like Cain's can offer an alternative, however. Often referred to as re-connollising (derived from the process used by leather specialist Connolly), Simon can restore tired and tatty seating to a factory fresh look and feel for a cost measured in the hundreds rather than thousands of pounds. "Re-connollising is a very confusing term", says Simon, taking a break from a customer's immaculate 250SE coupe. "People ring up and they say 'I think I want it re-connollising' but they don't know what they want half the time."

Jargon aside, Simon describes what he does as refinishing. "All I am doing is replicating the final few stages of the leathers preparation in the factory," he explains." When the leather was a whole hide it was spray dyed - older ones were dipped but even Rolls Royce stopped that in the 60s. Basically I spray it again, repeating the final stages of the process and putting the colour back in where it has gone." Tired, cracked leather scuffed from years of use might look beyond repair but Simon's portfolio of before and after photographs demonstrates to dramatic effect how effective refinishing can be. The actual process involves a time-consuming cleaning and rubbing down of the leather with fine abrasives before wiping and then spraying on the colour-matched chemicals to re-treat the surface.

For people restoring older cars the ability to keep the original interior has advantages that go beyond the huge financial savings. "I think it is always better if you can use the original materials that were installed in the car in the factory," says Simon, "it is a general trend at the moment that it is better to keep the originality of a car and that's something I would agree with".

Simon is a firm believer in the importance a good interior has to a car and is blessed with an attention to detail that borders on the obsessive. "Because the oils go back into the leather when you refinish it, you get the smell as well as the colour back," he observes. "The smell is actually a very important part of having the work done because, though it does not sound much, an integral part of the sensation of getting into a car and sitting on leather is the smell."

It is not just classics that benefit from Simon's magic touch. "The reason I think I see a lot of Mercedes is because they last so long," reflects Simon. "The leather perhaps does not last as long as the car potentially can in mechanical terms and I see a lot of the big, 80s cars that are not necessarily worth a lot of money at the moment but can really benefit from being tidied up." Working with a natural material has its problems but Simon is in no doubt about why it remains such a popular choice. "Leather does not like sunlight or moisture," he reflects, "it is cold in winter and hot in summer but it is just a beautiful material to have in your car 9 times out of 10."