Fair price for headliner replacement?

[DealMeN]

Hello, looking for opinions from the forum. My 2001 headliner is drooping badly in the rear, getting worse with windows down this spring. The headliner on the moonroof cover is in bad shape too. My own attempts at pulling it back and spraying headliner glue has gotten me through a year or so, but is no longer working.

I've called a couple of detail shops around me for prices to repair. I'm seeing ~$250 for the headliner replacement + $125 for the moonroof cover. Is it just me, or does this seem a bit steep? It's been a while since I had it done, but I was expecting sub-$200 for the whole thing. Am I crazy?

[gweg_b]

First thing, you might want to make sure your sun/moonroof isn't leaking water, as that is how mine started sagging. If it is leaking, you might want to fix that first, or any money you spent on getting the headliner recovered will be wasted. If it's age, then you should be okay.

To test, just tape a hose to your roof and let water run across the sunroof glass, or pour large buckets of water, then check on the inside under and around the glass for any water.

To answer your question, I paid $200 to have my headliner replaced. Now, this is a local family owned company, and they do amazing work. Years ago, I had them do the cover, and it only cost me $45. So $125 seems very steep to me. $250 for the whole headliner isn't out of the question, but might be a bit high.

All of this, of course, is going to depend on the area where you live. $250 would be the most I would pay for all of it.

[DealMeN]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm looking for something in the $200 range, else I'll keep spraying the glue myself for a while. Maybe I could bundle a few services (e.g., detail/wax job) for a better deal, but we'll see...

[AutoDiva09]

Hi all, hope it's ok to give opinion. I once owned a customizing shop in the state of Delaware. We charged $600. for this service and sold a lot of them! So, that price is a bargain but it also depends on what area you live in too of course. I'm sure that sagging is getting annoying though. I've seen everything from push-pins to duct tape holding them up when they came in! Then... There was that time we removed a headline to find a "SNAKE" in there too! (You read right!)

[gweg_b]

Wow, a snake is pretty surprising!

Now, I forgot to mention, the prices I were given were just for the recovering. Last fall I had gutted my interior (due to many, many water leaks), and while I had the headliner out (which I needed because I was also replacing my broken, leaky sunroof), I took it to get recovered.

Of course, the price would have been higher if I left it to them to take out. But it was better for me to bring it in anyway, because I could still drive my car, while they had my headliner for about a week.

[david]

I pulled mine and had a shop do it for me, cost $75 with a 5 year warranty.

[94SilverSSEi]

When I did one a year ago it cost me about $50 just for the material and glue. The worst part is getting it out of the car. Seems like you can't get it out without breaking a tab on something.

So if they are removing it from the car and recovering it, I would say that is a VERY reasonable price.

[AutoDiva09]

Yes, that snake was DEAD THANKFULLY! Not looking to make anyone sqeemish! LOL... Owner said the car had been in a field for a few years before he bought it at an estate sale. The headliner was sagging pretty bad just above the windshield area when we got it so apparently that was it's entry in. My guess is the HOT sun cooked him pretty done in there... He was about 6' long though and a black snake but, a snake none the less as far as we was concerned!
Absolutely it's better if you pull it yourself and then take it to them and it saves $ a lot usually. It's really not hard on most models anyway but sometimes they like to make you think otherwise. Some a bit more of a challenge than others of course.

[human]

My dad knows a guy here in N.C. who does it for around $125 on most cars. I'm going to need to get my LSS done eventually, but surprisingly, my Aurora with the leaky sunroof is fine (at least for now). The worst problem I have on it is the A-pillars and I've got a better set to put on it once I get the leak(s) fixed. Frankly, it just amazes me GM is still using this crappy headliner fabric. You'd think they would come up with a more durable headliner material after all these years. I mean, they've been using this stuff since the '70s and it hasn't gotten any better after 40 years.

When the headliner let go in my '77 Skylark back in the late '80s, I had an upholstery shop quote me $85 to replace it. He had the OEM stuff but said he preferred to use a velour-like fabric with no foam backing. He said he'd guarantee that material for as long as I owned the car, but the OEM material he said he wouldn't guarantee at all. He showed me his car, which he'd done that way and it didn't look bad, just not stock. I seriously considered it, but I ended up getting another car instead.