How long does a roof lining replacement take?

Most cars are a same-day job — drop in the morning, pick up in the afternoon. SUVs, wagons and European cars with sunroofs are usually one full day. Classics and full restorations get quoted by the job because the time depends on what we find when we strip it back. If a workshop tells you they need your car for a week to do a normal headliner, get a second opinion.

This is a guide to what's actually involved on the day, why most jobs are quicker than customers picture, and what makes the rare longer ones longer.

Why same-day works for most cars

The job has six steps and they don't take as long as people expect:

1. Trim removal — pillar trims, sun visors, grab handles, dome light, sometimes the rear deck. About 30–45 min on a normal sedan, longer on a wagon.
2. Headliner board out — drop the board out of the car. 10–20 min depending on how it's clipped.
3. Strip down to bare board — peel the old fabric and crumbled foam back. 30–60 min, faster on simpler boards.
4. Re-cover with foam-backed automotive fabric — the precision step. 60–90 min on most cars.
5. Refit board — reinsert into the car. 15–20 min.
6. Refit trim — reverse of step 1, but with care so everything lines up against the new fabric. 30–45 min.

That's roughly 3–5 hours of focused work for a sedan. Drop at 8:30am, ready by 4–5pm. We don't book a second job in over the top, so you're not waiting in a queue.

What makes a job take longer

Sunroofs

Add about an hour. The fabric has to be cut and finished cleanly around the sunroof opening, the sunroof's own shade comes out, gets re-covered, and goes back.

Panoramic glass

Add 2+ hours. There's more headlining to cover, more trim around the edges, and the panoramic shade is its own piece.

SUVs and wagons

The headliner is bigger and there's more rear trim. A lot of SUVs have a third-row headlining section that's its own job. A full SUV is usually a full day rather than a half-day.

Multiple trims at once

Pillar trims and door cards age in step with the headliner. A lot of customers ask us to refresh those at the same time. That extends the job by half a day to a full day depending on how many trims and what condition they're in.

Classic cars

We quote per job. The unknown is what we find under the original lining — sometimes the metal roof itself has corrosion that needs treating before new lining goes back on. We're honest about that upfront and never start a classic without giving you the realistic timeline.

What "we'll need it for a week" actually means

Two things, usually:

1. The shop is outsourcing — they're not doing the upholstery on-site, they're sending it elsewhere. That adds transit time and quality risk.
2. It's not their main work — at a general workshop that does headliners occasionally, the job sits in a queue behind their bread-and-butter. A week-long quote often means "we'll do it when we have time", not "the work itself takes a week".

For a regular sedan or hatchback headliner, neither is necessary. Same-day is the standard.

What to do on the day

• Drop at opening (8:30am) — gives us the full workday. Earlier is better than later.
• Empty the boot if it's stuffed — we sometimes need to access rear cargo trim. We'll work around it but it slows us down.
• Leave the keys with us — we may need to operate doors, sunroof, electric trims while testing the refit.
• You don't need to wait — most customers drop, walk to a coffee, leave it with us, and come back at pickup time. Massey is well-served by cafés on Don Buck Road.

What most days look like

9am: car is in the bay, trim coming off. Noon: board is out, old fabric stripped, new fabric being cut. 2pm: re-cover done, board back in, trim going back. 3:30pm: keys ready. Customer picks up between 4 and 5.

That's the rhythm for the bulk of the work. The rest is the exceptions, and we're upfront about which one your car is when we quote.

Related reading

For pricing across every car type, see our 2026 Auckland roof lining cost guide. If you're tempted to try it yourself first, our DIY headliner guide walks through what works and what we keep re-doing. And if you drive a European car and you're wondering why yours sagged earlier than your friend's Toyota, this is the one.