Wheelskins Steering Wheel Cover my Favorite Mod

My installation of my Wheelskins is similar to yours.
In other words not perfect.

But also similarly while I wouldn't say it's my favorite "mod", I almost call it a necessary modification.

I'm NOT spoiled, I don't need "Fine Corinthian Leather" at every place around me. I don't mind a plastic dashboard, infact I kind of like the durability and ease of maintenance.

I bought a Prius 2, and it seems plenty well appointed for my desires.

But the "standard" plastic steering wheel in a Prius? Oh my god, it's not just plastic and economically produced, it's absolutely horrible. Why Toyota produced a steering wheel, even entry level plastic with the feel of fine grain sandpaper? I don't know.

Yeah, wheelskins are nice quality leather. Gives a nice feel to the steering wheel. Installation, especially I think on a wide spoked Prius wheel is NOT easy. But outside of buying an entirely new wheel, I would say it's just about a necessary modification.

I don't consider myself a particularly picky person, and I've owned and driven vehicles with simply standard plastic steering wheels, but the hellish feel of the original Prius Steering wheel demanded SOMETHING be done. Therefore for me the Wheelskins became almost undeniably necessary.

 

I agree! This has been the first mod I complete for my last 5 cars. This is kinda tricky to make sure that the leather doesn't bunch up. Each of the stitches needs to be very tight as you are going along. Well worth the $38!

 

Yup, one of the first things I put on a car that doesn't come with an OEM leather wrapped wheel.

Gotta love that nice smell of real leather too.

 

I spent 2 hours installing my Wheelskin, well worth it. No wrinkles, and feels great. You do have to put on some gloves, and pull the lacing very tight. I bought mine from the PriusChat store. Best price around.

 

I bought a WheelSkins cover for my steering wheel, even though it is leather. The finish was coming off at the 9 o'clock position (where my hand rests), so I wanted to cover it. I did have an automotive interior upholsterer install it. Cost me slightly more than the price of the cover, but, to me, it was worth it. I've done them before and they're a PITA to be sure. And, mine looks close enough to perfect as to not make a difference. (I'll try to remember to grab a photo and post it up.)

 

Same thing happened to me and it is a factory defect (replaceable under warranty). But I simply replaced it with the much nicer JDM piano black steering wheel for $190.

 

32k, by the time the "defect" appeared, I was at about 70k miles, way outside of any warranty, wear-and-tear or otherwise. Sometimes, things just wear out. That doesn't mean they're defective.

 

It's not normal for leather to wear out in that short period of time. An extreme example of factory defect can be found here.

 

Mine wasn't anywhere near that bad. I know that when I worked for VW, we found a correlation (right, wrong, or otherwise) between hand cream usage and how quickly the finish peeled off the steering wheel covers of MkIV Jettas.

I feel that, after 70k of my hand primarily touching that one spot, the failure was not out of line and indicative of a manufacturing defect. There may have been a nick or some other inflicted blemish there which accelerated the process (not unlikely, given that's my main point of contact). Either way, I'm certainly not going to blame Toyota for a wear-and-tear cosmetic issue on a vehicle which has accumulated over 80k miles in less than four years. If I wanted near limitless durability, I would have chosen the plastic wheel option. But, I understand the tradeoffs.

To wit: while my great aunt's covering of the couches and chairs in the living room extended their longevity where cosmetic issues were concerned, it certainly didn't make them enjoyable to use. I'd rather enjoy the use.

 

Fair enough, as that's your prerogative. In my case, the deterioration happened to be aligned with the path of the sun while my car was parked outside on the weekends and I don't normally drive with my right hand there. I'm fairly certain if my car were to sit outside daily it would have looked like the OP in that thread.

 

I just installed a wheelskins cover today. I LOVE IT! My install looks similar but I had a little more puckering at the bottom spokes. I think I went a little overboard on making it "tight".


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