Driver's seat and dash lights 2004 Element

Anyone got a nice way to repair the driver’s seat which has cracked open on the left side? Also, many of the dash lights around the heater controls have loosened and gone out. I opened up the dash and noticed the bulbs are loose. Is there a nice way to tighten them up?

For your driver’s seat, I would recommend an automobile trim and upholstery shop. They can replace the defective area with a procedure they call “inserting”. Talk to the used car manager at a dealership. These managers know the good shops that do this work at a reasonable cost because the used car managers use the trim shops to fix these problems before putting the used cars on the lot. I’ve found that most used car managers are friendly people and it is to their advantage to have you fix the problem. Why? If you would trade the car at the dealership, this is one repair the used car manager wouldn’t have to pay to have done.

I don’t understand your dash light problem? Are these screwin bulbs, bayonette based bulbs or push-in bulbs?

Thks for the ideas on the seat. I’m betting all element driver seats have this early wear problem.

The bulbs are bayonet type which reside in a metal insert directly on the green circuit board. The bulbs do not feel tight no matter how I monkey with them. I think the setup defective or the bulbs are not a correct match for the metal mount.

It might be possible to put a sleeve of foil around the bulb just above the bayonette. Do this carefully so that the foil does not drop down and hit the center contact and the shell of the socket and cause a short.