Grab hold of the back corners close to the windshield and pull upward firmly . Once the back is free repeat above the instruments and its off . Reglue the leather .(I Used an epoxy ) and it looks as good as new . total time to repair less than an hour and it didn't cost 250$

 

I wonder if this leather dash problem has been fixed for later models..

 

I believe there are a few threads on this. From what I gather AM updated the glue they are using and it has not been an issue on the newer cars.

 

Leather upholstery, if you find the right people, isn't really too expensive. Through Aston or any high lux brand for that matter, it's insane haha. BUT this makes for good negotiating skills when buying a used Aston that happens to have that damage cause 99% of the time they'll warrant a discount on the price at the cost of replacement as if you were going through Aston... like in my case

My current Aston had leather shrinkage on every dash panel including the air vent pieces. I did the leg work and removed all the panels which saved me probably 3-5 hours of labor but then had a shop in Tampa, FL do the everything thing for $650. They replaced all of the leather and matched the stitching to the factory. Black leather with silver stitching which is easy peezy. It was done in 3 days.

 

Given enough heat, all automotive trim adhesives can fail. So, if you live in a hot climate and leave your car baking outside under the sun, this can be an issue even with the newer cars.

 

I wonder why they don't just rivet or staple/stitch them down?

 

This is an issue with all cars, not just Aston. Leather is usually stretched around the edges and glued from the underside. Using staples or rivets would show through the top side.

Also, without adhesive, the leather will still stretch, but the holes from the staples or rivets would cause it to tear.

The contact cement used provides the largest surface area for maximum adhesion, but shrinkage from extreme heat can overcome its ability to hold.

Fixing it, however, can usually be done rather easily by re-stretching and re-gluing the leather to the substrate.