The evil door panel trolls have visited my car twice in the past few weeks and I am now looking for a way to deal with the result. I've read the many postings regarding this problem and I'd like to know if there has been any progress in finding a method to sucessfully repair the affected areas. I really don't want to buy new panels for fear that they will only have the same problems later. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Try an upholstery shop.

I have cloth seats and door panels, but If it happened to me, I'd go onto the internet to see if I could find the most poltically incorrect leather possible to have the panels reupholstered.

Back in the pre-WW-II era, the "class act" in sports car upholstery was elephant hide. It lasts almost forever.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 161k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, rear factory HD bar, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." -- Douglas Adams (1952-2001)