Last week I was backing up the C and I placed my hand on the back of the front passenger side headrest. I placed some slight pressure with my fingers and I felt the foam crush under my fingertips. I was very alarmed that the foam gave way so easily and I'm afraid I've damaged it. I can only describe it as small open cell styrofoam that crushes with light pressure (3-5lbs pressure?) and doesn't rebound. If I feel around, I can find the light depressions left in the foam. It makes me think if I had whiplash in an accident the headrest would need to be replaced from my head striking it. My 1998 Honda Civic was in excellent shape, but I only had 160,000 miles over 15.5 years. In the last 5 years, I drive round 5000-6000 miles a year. For those of you that have had your Prius C for a year or so, have you noticed much wear and tear? The interior isn't the most luxurious and I'm a little concerned how it will hold up long term.
Haven't noticed anything like you've described after 1.5 years, but I can say my wallet has left a nice crease in the driver seat....and it's definately not from being loaded with money.
in my c1 the headrests are strong. have any pics of what exactly happened? toyotas have been pretty strong for me. the only nasty part i hate about the interior is the little cloth armrest on the front doors. i hope its easy to re-upholster it.
On the armrests do you think that could be a diy sort of thing, surely any auto upholster shop definitely could.
My carpet floor mats are getting chewed up from me constantly getting in and out for deliveries, tearing at the attachment point. Aside from that everything seems to be holding up fine. Gonna replace the mats with Weathertech or similar, which should hold up a bit better.
You might indeed need to replace the headrest if you were in an accident that resulted in a significant impact to the headrest. My speculative guess is that it is designed to absorb X amount of energy and impact, which like a motorcycle of bicycle helmet might include using a filler that "crushes" or absorbs impact but isn't designed to rebound. This is too bad if the headrest is crushing with just simple day to day handling. I've never had a vehicle in which I couldn't at least grab the headrest with "normal" grip without damage. If this is common it may be something Toyota should look at improving.
In my c2, the headrest provides a good cushion. When pressed, slowly returns to the original shape. Kinda like a slow moving memory foam.
Ok, so I take back what I originally said. I guess I wasn't pushing hard enough because the first 1/8-1/4 inch is a crushing sensation. I didn't want to push further that first time I discovered it because I was afraid of leaving a large permanent dent. I pressed much harder this morning on the underside of the headrest (so I didn't leave any visible damage) and after the first 1/8-1/4 inch, it will smush like soft foam and rebound after letting go. Though I'm not quite sure if the first 1/8-1/4 inch complete rebounds. I want to scotchgard this spot since I think it will get dirty. I wonder if someone will come out with a carbon fiber kit where the upholstery here can be removed and be replaced with a carbon fiber piece.
First thing I got was those clear plastic floor mats. Forgot the vendor name, but they have a full set that matches the C interior. Since my shoes get dirty, I'd rather let the plastic take the beating than the carpet.
