We now have 9000 Mi on our Gen lll which is carefully cared for. It has the light grey seat interior. The seat material looks to me like that used in the Kimberly-Clark (Noah) paper product car cover my son has to protect his Mustang. I don't care what anyone says; THIS IS A LOUSY MATERIAL to use for seat covering and in a very light color with a very thin felt like texture. The seat material Toyota used in our Tundra and Scion xb is black, very good quality, showing no wear or discoloration after 5 yrs. The Prius seats show wrinkles, staining and wear already. We changed out the junk SE Toy Dist mats for WeatherTech rubber mats which are excellent and now we will consider leather seat covers so the seats will last and be serviceable.
Weird. I just turned 22k and my seats look new. SoftTex may have been a better choice for you. Are you going with Clazzios? Until the try Zep Upholstery Cleaner. It can be found at Home Depot. I haven't had to use it on my 2012 but it kept my 2005's ivory seats clean.
If you use Scotch fabric protectant when the car is new, you will have a peace of mind for the seat stain,liquid,coffee.....resist forever.
Are you referring to this? Amazon.com: 3M Scotchgard Auto Interior Fabric Protector, 10-Ounce (4104D): Home Improvement
Yesthat's a new type from Scotch. I used their previous product. But for sure they are the same and only new packaging. Get two cans. Clean the seats thoroughly. Let dry and then spray one can till it's empty to say the front seats first. Then the second can to the rear seats. Make sure the seate are wet which means the fabric have absorbed the magid spray. Open the windows,roll down all windows and let the seat dry overnight. When dried,the seats will back to it's original touch,no smell,no anything. You can try by pouring some coffee or Coke on it. The liquid will form beads and stay on top of the fabric. Never absorb. Just wipe dry with paper towels. Enjoy the stainless seats foe many years.
I agree it's lousy material. I bought Honda mini van instead of Toyota. It's ONLY because of seats! Anyway, after owning Prius for a month, I can't stand anymore, I'm very happy to install clazzio leather covers. Btw, I asked questions on the live chat then give me 10% before order and free 2 yard extra leather, $405 total.
Thank you, SE Toyota DIST Toyoguard is suppose to have interior protection, I was charged for it, but I have seen and it has been proven to me that Toyoguard is gyp junk and in Florida its hard to near impossible to find a Toyota without it and be charged $699.
I have 51k on my 2010 with dark grey cloth interior. Mine are still in like new condition. My wife has a 2007 Honda Accord with similar cloth interior material.
Obviously Toyoguard did not treat the seats in my Prius with any quality product like Scotchguard. This still does not explain the wrinkles which have formed along with wear in the side wings of the seats. When we bought our Prius last Christmas, of the 21 in the dealers stock, only one had the dark color seats, which I would have preferred, and it was in a body color I did not want.
The misty grey material seems to be different than the dark one, IIRC. I can take a picture of mine at 42k, but it has some large creases in the bolster area.
Yes, there seems to be more complaints from the light gray than the dark gray. I did have my seats treated with Scotchguard so I am sure that has helped to some extent.
The misty gray interior has to be cared for like white carpeting at home, buts its very attractive. I will seal mine immediately on my new Prius. The darker gray seemed the earier route to take in terms of upkeep, but I opted against it.
