So i just got back my Prius today with aftermarket, 2-tone leather(dark gray outer, light gray inner) and it looks great. Problem is now how have noticeable squeaks around the handle of the door panel whenever i open the door from inside. Also there seems to be a lot of give when i press the leather part of the door panel Anyone else notice any of this on their Prius, especially those who have had leather installed? Is this somehting that can be fixed or do i just have to live with it?
This is probably due to the re-installation of the door panel, and specifically how they re-attached the leather insert. Check that there are two screws holding the door panel on - the first screw should be in the "handle" part of the door, beneath the little rubber pad. It should be oriented vertically. The second screw is behind the door latch. You'll have to remove a tiny piece of plastic and see the screw there. It should be oriented horizontally. After you verify you have those screws, remove them. Pop the plastic trim pieces around the door (start in a corner) and pull the door off. You'll have to remove two electrical connectors that go to the power locks and windows. Look at how they re-attached the leather panel insert to the door panel. Can you take photos and show what you see? Hope some of this helps.
Sadly, anytime you take part of the interior apart it just never seems to go back together quite right. I've found this to be true on so many vehicles, so now I am extremely hesitant to remove any interior pieces. As a general rule when something squeaks you can get it to stop just by adding a little oil or lubrication, of course this may not be the case for you for several reasons. Good luck with whatever you try to do.
In addition to what was previously mentioned, try some Lexol leather conditioner, and apply some between the new leather and the adjacent materials. It will act like a lubricant. On a previous car I had an issue with squeaks coming from the back seat area, which was the leather pieces rubbing against each other, and the Lexol did the trick.
To the OP, is there anyway you can take off your doors and see how your upholstery guy reattached the leather inserts to the door panel? My guy is a little worried to do them.
I had the leather installer take a look at the squeaking and basically he removed a screw from the interior latch and within the recessed portion of the handrest(underneath flat plastic piece). From there it was just a matter of snapping off the entire door panel from the l/r edges and disconneting the connectors to the door lights and power windows. He then tightened the screws around the panel with leather and sprayed some lube in the area that squeaked. It seemed to work but time will tell. Forgot to take pictures but he made it look so easy that i'm not sure i could do the same without a lot of fuss.
So he used tiny screws instead of the little rivets to secure the leather inserts? How good do the upholstered inserts look? Do you mind taking photos of those? thank you kindly!
I dont recall if he used rivets or screws for the leather inserts but here are some pics which include the seats as well:
Those look great! I was playing around with the idea of doing two colors as well... dark grey and blue to match the car colors. ^^
Thank you for posting those photos! They look fantastic - in fact that's the same color pattern I picked out with my upholstery guy last week, except I'm doing the front of the headrests in the light gray perforated as well. Really looks fantastic!
Thanks! I paid just under 2k which included lumbar(drivers side only) and heated seats(drivers + passnger). Without the latter two it would have cost about $12-1300.
I debated whether to make the headrests the lighter gray but the installer told me that they typically do the darker color around the trim/headrests. As for the perforation in the headrests, that didnt even cross my mind but sounds very practical and great idea. Hope you post pics when it's all done!
Back from the dead, huh? (note the posting dates for the rest of the thread) To answer your question, no these are not Clazzio covers, they're Katzkin skins. The Clazzio covers are much "puffier" and add more bulk to the seats(naturally since they just slip over the existing cloth), plus they don't come with door panels.
Nope, they don't come with door panels, we just sell the extra PVC material that matches the seat covers, so you can do the doors.
