Opinions Please! Seaside Pearl, Grey vs. Bisque

Hi there and welcome... your indecision sounds exactly like mine about a year and a half ago.

I also really preferred the bisque interior... just like how 'sunny' it feels to be in it. But coming from an Accord with similar 'light' interior and knowing how it weathered and got dirty, we decided to go with the gray interior in the Prius.

Overall, I'm very happy we went this route. Previously, I owned a Toyota pickup with gray interior and that truck took a lot before it looked dirty whereas the Honda seemed to always look a little dingy.

With winter here again and sloshing muddy shoes and wet paws into the car, I'm not so stressed about it with the darker interior, though we have taken care to put seat covers on the seats to further help protect the interior.

Good luck with your decision and congrats on your purchase.

 

Welcome,

I rented a Prius last year (from a major rental company) which had a bisque interior with a lot of spots... My wife's car has an interior that is very similar in color to Toyota bisque. On the other hand, most of the miles I drive is on an automobile with a gray interior. When it comes to interior maintenance, gray wins hands-down.

Good Luck,

Keith

P.S. I don't think that either of your dogs will notice the color of the interior, just as long as they are with you....

 

One word,
Scotchgard!
Get which ever makes you happy and get the seats professionally cleaned every now and then. Don't forget to retreat with Scotchgard after cleaning.

If I regularly had a dog in a new car I'd put covers on the seats but that's just me. It does allow you to change the seat colour pretty cheaply though. I have sheepskin covers on my front seats.

 

My dog is black, white, tan and gray, so either bisque or gray, I'm screwed! I have gray in my Seaside Pearl, though, and I think if you're really worried about dirt showing, get the gray. And plan on vacuuming after taking the family for a ride!

Congratulations on the decision and have fun!

Jim

 

If you get seat covers, no problem.

Otherwise I would say that with two dogs, your bisque cloth interior will quickly degrade in appearance regardless of using surface treatments or not. If you are planning leather, that may be more durable.

 

When I bought my Seaside Pearl, the salesman said, "... and let me guess, you want Bisque". When I said no, he was shocked. Maybe I was being stubborn because I knew that Magnetic Gray was only months away. I liked my gray, but have since put on seat covers which changed the interior color scheme entirely.

 

I purchased a Seaside Pearl with Bisque for two reasons: 1. Since it is a lighter color it is cooler in summer, 2. It is much more contrasty with the black trim inside and I liked that look better than grey.

 

I thought about not using seat covers for about a month. Then I needed to shampoo the seats in my pickup truck ... PITA.

Now I use a driver seat cover always and will continue to do so.

I think both gray and bisque fabric will get dirty over time, but that can be minimized using seat covers.

 

I vote for grey.

Every bisque or tan fabric covered seats I've seen looks crappy (or at least dirtier than their grey counterpart) after a couple of years.

Even if you were to get seat covers, the bisque interior would look worse than the grey one over time because there's a lot that ends up not being covered -- all or parts of doors, arm rests, carpeting.

BTW, if you do end up getting the bisque and the upholstery gets damaged, right now you can usually find a new set of OEM bisque seat covers for around $50 on eBay (they're from Priuses which got leather seat covers after the cars left the factory). But I don't know how much longer you can get them because 2009 is the last model year of this generation of Prius (2004-2009). I myself bought an extra set of the grey covers. I'm keeping them just in case I ever need them. Note, however, that installing replacement OEM seat covers is not a typical do it yourself job. Almost everyone would or should use a professional auto upholsterer to install them.

 

I also have a Seaside Pearl with bisque cloth interior. If I had it to do over, I would go with the grey leather myself. My dog rides in the back with me often, and she sits on a towel over the seat. Every now and then I wind up with a pawprint, though so far it has cleaned up well. Also, when the seats are down for hauling, you want something over the backs so you don't get them dirty!

 

I know that you needed to know before Monday, but...... My opinion is the grey LEATHER, I got a 2007 package 6 with grey leather. I don't like any of the cloth seats in the Prius. They look and feel cheap to me, especially the door panels and console cover. I have never had cloth wear near as good as the leather nor look as good after years of use. This is my 4th car with leather, my 5th being a 2008 Camry HYbrid. Wouldn't have anything else

 

No, I don't have covers as yet, but the Wet Okole will get a hard look when the time comes. Something easy to wipe off when the dog or me trails in some grime.

 

It must be nice to have choices. I really wanted seaside pearl with gray, but settled for white with the beige interior. Waiting for a car was not something I wanted to mess with back in 06. I'm OK with the white, and the beige has held up better than I expected. I almost live in my car, 10 hours a week, 76,000 miles fince Jan 06. Even hauling my bike several times, with the seats down and wheels on, the beige has held up pretty well. The only dingy areas seem to be the console arm rest, and the floor mats. The floor mats respond well to shampoo, nothing seems to help the console top. Also, there is a dirty scratched spot on the driver's side of the console's vertical surface, probably from clicking the seat belt in place. It's just a car, after all, and I can live with it, but I think the gray would have been better, even with the white exterior. I still lust after the seaside blue. My brother-in-law, just got a Yaris off the lot with the blue I wanted. Maybe next time, if I don't have to wait.

 

Regarding the center console top, I think a very attractive fix is to get a leather console cover from Prius Hoods:

eBay Motors: Toyota Prius Center Console Leather Cover Fits 04 - 09 (item 110335164802 end time Feb-06-09 11:19:47 PST)

It comes in tan, grey or black. I actually think it looks best in black, no matter what color your interior is (black picks up the black that's elsewhere on the console and the dash).