Everyone sets their preferences when picking a vehicle. Some prefer technology or high performance, others like a nice and luxurious interior with a matching exterior. And for those preferring the overall looks, things go beyond simple maintenance, as even taking care of your upholstery can quickly become a big hassle.
Aside from the usual upholstery material and its condition, you may also want to look up from time to time when sitting in the vehicle. The cover under your auto’s roof or headliner also complements the overall look and gets saggy, torn, or discolored if not taken care of. And when it does, the only option is to go and fix it.
Even though we always refer to the material when talking about headliners, there’s much more to it. Aside from the usual, like making things look prettier and covering bare metal, it also provides insulation against heat and noise while hiding wiring and electrical components from plain view in some models.
The material consists of multiple layers, including the foam material, which is often polyurethane. The foam is sprayed or glued to the headliner board, which then mounts on the inside of the roof, providing insulation from the heat and noise mentioned earlier.
The last layer is usually vinyl or any other fabric that goes on top of the foam insulation. It’s the one that’s visible and gives the overall finished look to the automobile. The quality of this layer directly depends on the car model and may be more or less expensive. It also has all the necessary cutouts to accommodate speakers, handles, lights, or other accessories, as it’s part of the board that already has them.
Unfortunately, things are not that simple with headliners. If your headliner succumbs to wear and tear after years of service, you may want to get it fixed. Here, pricing is always an issue as sometimes even changing upholstery can set you back by a thousand dollars.
The expenses will directly depend on your location, the model you have, and the expert you choose. Statistically, fixing up a four-door sedan will cost around $100, with SUVs and minivans setting you back by about $250. But if a true expert handles things, you’ll have to double the numbers provided.
As every car model is vastly different from another, here are a few price points to help you estimate the costs:
While it’s likely you won’t reach the thousand dollars mark when fixing the headliner, there are additional factors that increase the pricing. For instance, there are “hung” headliners common in older vehicles. They are suspended by rods, so the material is stitched pretty tight into the headliner. Fixing it involves removing the front and back windscreens and taking off weatherstripping along the windows. All of this results in high costs.
As we’ve said in the beginning, the more expensive the vehicle, the higher the price. As such, you could pay more if you have a BMW, as usually, the rear windscreen has to be taken off to get the whole shell out of the car. Other brands have big headliners that are difficult to fit through the door without flexing or breaking them apart.
Lastly, there’s fixing up autos with sunroofs. The price point here is high due to the lubrication and cleaning needed to get the shell out. And, as in any of the cases above, you must put in more man-hours to finish the job, not to mention additional materials.
All in all, fixing a headliner is pretty straightforward in most situations. If you don’t have a costly car model on your hands, then the price point won’t bite. But if the car in question is old and has a “hung roof” or is a new model with a sunroof, expect things to get expensive pretty fast.
Generally, you may want to consider more than one place to do the fixing. Price points differ, and it’s in your best interest to ensure you’re not overcharged.
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