Bright Auto Upholstery

I bought a new Robbins top for my Miata — they’re expensive enough that it seemed worth it to have someone knowledgeable do the installation, and everyone I asked recommended Bright. Good advice. Not especially inexpensive but then again not horrendous for price. and now 4 years later the top and all seals remain water-​tight, the top still looks terrific (no wrinkles or puckers), and remains easy to raise and drop. Money well spent.

Look: I basically joined Unilocal to write about this place. I have a new generation Corvette, and wanted tan accents to offset the black interior. Joe walked me through every step (a surgeon should be so thorough), listened, offered input, and when I got the car back it looked like a million bucks; with new leather, plus dyed panels. It’s better than factory. He also installed sound deadening, and vibration removal. Again; awesome job. Joe and his father, Mike, said they’d stand 100% behind their job, and did: when I questioned a crease in the leather, they took it apart and fixed it perfectly. This place knows how to do the job right.

Love Bright Auto Upholstery!!! They did an amazing job replacing the drivers seat cushion and seat back on my 1983 Mercedes 240D. I had a plan to call three shops when I was considering this repair — Bright was the first on my list and after talking with them, I was sure that I did not need to make the other two calls — They got me in and out on time and the seat is like new! Great shop!!!

I had my torn driver’s side arm rest repaired here yesterday. I spoke with Joe a few weeks ago to set up the appt. and dealt with Mike yesterday-​both extremely pleasant and helpful. The new armrest looks great, I was charged the (reasonable) price I was quoted and the work was performed in the time predicted. I am happy!

Nice guy working there gave me great advice, even though he knew I couldn’t afford to get my seat covered there. Now that’s service!

Mike and his crew completed replacing the leather on my Infiniti G35. I had been living (sadly, but temporarily.) The AZ climate is brutal on leather interiors. I went down to chat with Mike. I met all 3 of his fantastically entertaining canines. I proceeded through the work shop, rife with fantastic original classic cars in shop for interior work. I also saw and felt some of the finished work. Quality. Into Mike’s office. His demeanor was casual, like an old friend. A friend who knows all about auto upholstery needs. He told me about what the work would entail. Time estimate. Dollar estimate. Reasonable. Hired. Mike and his entire crew did a fantastic job. The job was completed quickly even though they were swamped with work. The leather used is a huge upgrade from the original leather. The sewing and fit is as close to perfect as can be. The seats are even more comfortable than before as he rebuilds cushioning before upholstering. Aside from one slightly crooked section of front passenger seat’s door side seam. It’s barely noticeable to me and no one else would ever notice. So, I didn’t mention it to Mike. Especially as it took me weeks to notice. I hate to even toss that into the review. But, really, nobody is perfect. Beside, I trust that if I had had a problem with it he would redo. Time estimate: nearly perfect. Cost estimate: spot on, but included a bonus prize from Bright! He repaired leatherette door insert for free! Deal!

Amazing conversation with this guy about my Miata convertible top (he does a lot of these). He broke down the full info for me, and even gave me a part number for price-​checking with other dealers AND some important information to ask about.
Also his price was several hundred dollars lower than other places — will be doing business with this guy! 30 years in the business!

My child found a small tear in my leather seat and proceeded to peel it like a banana. Figured it would cost an arm and a leg to repair it so I bought a cheap seat cover to hide the eyesore. After a year of sliding around in my driver seat, I asked the service guys at my dealership about how I could repair it. Several suggested Mike’s shop.
I emailed him and he got back to me quickly with an estimate. Arranged a day and time with no fuss. Got it back in a timely manner. Other plus is his shop is two blocks from public transportation so it was easy for me to get to work and back. Only hiccup is that when I left the airbag light started flashing. I called him and even though the shop was technically closed he answered and we made arrangement to reset it.

Not sure why this place has only two stars? It’s an outrage I say! Mike is terrific and a genuinely sweet man. I came to him over three years ago with my Miata and its rapidly aging roof that an overly helpful friend tried to help me get latched only to rip the zipper out. Mike came out of his shop and got the roof up and that’s the way it stayed until I could afford to fix it. A year or so later the window ambered to black and I visited again. He helpfully suggested some products I could use to restore it. And then finally in August 2013 a vandal put the poor thing out of it’s misery with a nice slice to the top. Finally I made it back to Mike’s to actually do paid work so I upgraded from vinyl to cloth and a glass back window and couldn’t be happier. Thanks for being patient with me Mike! And thanks for the great work. Cheers.

I had an awful experience at this shop. I am not one to talk badly about a local business online but I feel a moral obligation to share this story:
I brought my car into Bright because my convertible top was leaking. They kept it for several days just to diagnose it which was frustrating as I was paying for a rental but I understood they were busy.
They told me they finally did diagnose the issue and that they had to order parts for the car which would also take several days to arrive. I picked my car up so that I could drive it while we were waiting for the parts to arrive.
After leaving the shop, I realized that my car alarm was no longer working. I called and spoke to the owner and told him that the alarm was working when I brought it in but it is not working now. I asked him if perhaps one of his techs had disabled it while they were working on the car.
He said no one touched my alarm and that they were not responsible for the fact it was not working. I calmly said, «It was working when I brought the car in and it was broken when I left so I can’t help but feel you have some level of accountability in the situation.» He told me if I felt that way I could «take my business someplace else» and then he hung up on me.

Do not take your car (new or old) to Bright Auto Upholstery, unless you want to go through the seven gates of hell.
Here’s my story of woe:
On March 20, I took Blackie, my fully and beautifully restored ’67 Volvo 122 Amazon to Bright Auto Upholstery on SE 6^th to have the headliner and carpeting installed. They had done small jobs for me in the past and did pretty good work. The only downside is they’re a bit on the pricey side, but I don’t mind paying for good, honest work.
Well, that all changed in the past few months.
First off, they let Blackie sit there for a full week before they even touched the car. What pissed me off was that I was on a tight timeline in order to finish her up before the IPD 50 Years of Volvos in May, and told them this. They finally did the work after much of my nagging, and it only took them 2 days (even though they had the car for two weeks!). Bottom line: they could have managed that one better so I could have other shops do work on it too. Total price was $ 900 for both. Yes, very steep indeed!
They were nice enough to drive Blackie up the street to the Line Up Shop for alignment. The Line Up Shop finished their work in a few hours, and I was summoned there to pick up the car.
I get to the Line Up Shop and proceed to take her down to Yuri’s place for final buffing, and discovered three dimples in an otherwise-​perfect roof. Yes, that perfect paint job was now ruined. I call the manager of Bright Auto Upholstery (Mike), and ask him WTF??? He tells me, «Oh yeah, I was going to call you about that, but I got busy.»
Evidently, they put one of their new guys on the job, and while he was installing screws and brackets ??? to hold the headliner rods on, he either let the drill bit go too far and hit the outer sheet metal from the inside, or used screws that were too long. Long story short, they F’d up my beautiful paint job. Luckily Yuri was in the neighborhood, and stopped by to take a look at it.
Yuri quotes me $ 600 to repair it, which would include metal repair, a complete reshoot of the roof, and color sanding/​buffing. Mike says no problem, he’ll pay it. Two weeks later, Yuri tells me it ended up being $ 800 due to the increased cost of paint and supplies, and way more labor than he first thought, thanks to the damage caused by Bright Auto Upholstery’s «not so bright» employee.
I pay Yuri his money, and go back to Mike from Bright Auto Upholstery to collect my $ 800. He calls Yuri a «shyster» and says he won’t pay a dime. I try to explain that the $ 600 was just a quote, and sometimes stuff costs more, especially with body work and paint. He says no way, and wants to see a materials break down and hourly labor accounting.
No problem… Yuri writes one up, and even includes the paint/​materials cost list from Industrial Finishes. I give all this documentation to Mike, and he still says he won’t pay it. I tell him that he needs to talk to Yuri, and give him the number. He never calls. But he does tell me I have to watch out for «those Russians» because «they’ll try to take you for a ride every time». WTF dude??? How dare you say that! I’ve known Yuri for over a decade and he has NEVER taken advantage of people… if anything Mike, you’re the damn shyster and you’re trying to take me for a damn ride!!!
Three weeks ago (if you’re doing the math, that’s 3 months I’ve been waiting for my money), I finally give up and tell Mike at Bright Auto Upholstery to pay me the $ 600 and I’ll deal with Yuri for the other $ 200. He says no problem, takes my mailing address and says he’ll send payment. Two weeks go by, still no check. Last week I call Mike again, and he says the check came back and he must have written the address wrong. Yeah right… he must have thought I just fell off the pineapple truck yesterday. I tell him I’ll be right over to pick it up in person.
I go there, and sure enough there it is. It sucks because on the way over I’m preparing myself for a big argument, possible incarceration due to me kicking Mike in the throat, and what happens??? he hands me the check. It looks legit, signed to me, for $ 600.
All’s well that ends well, right? Not so. Here’s the tally:
— Bodywork on what WAS a perfectly straight 122 roof
— Respray on what WAS a PERFECT paint job (Yuri did an incredible job redoing the roof)
— Numerous phone calls and in-​person trips to Bright Auto Upholstery and Yuri’s shop
— Having to find another upholstery shop because I will NEVER, EVER, EVER take my cars there again, and will steer everyone I know away from them.
And I highly recommend you don’t take your business there either. Consider yourself warned.

Bright is the best in town. Not cheap and they are busy. The owner has been doing it for many, many years. Have a tear in your seat? They can replace that panel of material, perfectly matched with the rest, and return your vehicle with a nice protective coating on both seats. Their shop is also filled with many curious exotic restorations, like a BMW Isetta!