Prius v front seat alternatives...help requested.

Only real solution is get the Prius 3/4 with power seats.

 

I'm not sure what this guy's deal is, but he seems to have something against the Prius v. It's like the 5th different post where he's plugging his Prius III on a Prius v forum. The funny thing is, the same arguments he makes to support the Prius III can be used against him for anyone arguing for the Prius c.

Bottom line, you can probably disregard this guy's opinion. I doubt he even sat in a Prius v, and if so, probably only did a 5 minute test drive. Other people on this forum seem to have previously owned or currently own both the regular hatchback and the v, so I'd take those opinions more seriously. In general, those people tend to favor the versatility of the v.

 

Well, I'm another clueless neophyte who does not understand why the power seats are being promoted so persistently. If you upgrade to power seats, do you get *better* (softer?) seat cushions?

Color me befuddled.

 

I don't have any easy answers for you, but have often pondered what the seat-swapping availability might be as well... I haven't checked out the Corolla seats, but I can say that the Camry seats (at least the leather ones) from the past few years look somewhat similar to the Prius, but cushier, so perhaps someone has tried swapping them in?

My gut would say that the seat most likely to work as a direct bolt-in would be the Lexus CT200h - since it shares a platform, in part, with the Prius. However, I've not (yet) heard of anyone actually doing the swap. The CT200h seats are easily available on the used market, generally around ~$500 each. (See Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market)

Also - Recaros can be great, but that's like saying Mercedes are great. Recaro is just a well-regarded brand of seat, and they make many, many different seats - mostly geared toward performance driving, so they'll likely be harder than the Prius seat - certainly not more plush. (They might be more comfortable though, as plushness is not directly related to comfort...)

That said - if you go to a higher-end automotive customizing shop - the
places that sell sunroofs, wheels, big stereos, etc. they will be able to show you a wide selection of seats that they can install in your Prius. Again - most will be performance oriented, but if you put in the time, you can likely find a Sparco, Recaro, Momo or some other seat that you find comfortable. A good shop will be able to install any of these seats without a problem. For the sake of argument, figure prices starting around ~$1000 per seat, installed. (Wildly variable based on the seat & material you choose.)

Finally - if you do swap seats for aftermarket ones, know two things:
1) You'll lose the side-impact airbag that is in the seat. You'll still have the side curtains, but no side-thorax bags. Although aftermarket seats with these bags do exist, they are unavailable in the states, and your current airbag cannot be retrofitted into a Recaro or other seat. (Using a Toyota/Lexus seat with a similar airbag *may* work however.)
2) Virtually none of the aftermarket seats will have power adjustments. The ones that do will be much more expensive, both to buy and install.

So installing a Lexus or Toyota seat might be the best bet, as that's certainly where you'll have the most luck with the airbag sensors being plug-and-play. However, since the Prius V doesn't come with full-power seats, if you attempt to swap in a power-seat, you'll need someone very handy with electrics to make it work. Unfortunately power seats these days don't just take a 12v supply, but rather they interface with the ECU, so the easiest swap would be a manual seat from another Toyota... With one of those, any shop should be able to fabricate the necessary bracket and get you on your way.

If you've got the time and inclination, the best place to start is with a tape measure and hit the dealerships... I'd be willing to bet that there ARE Toyota/Lexus seats that will work as a direct swap, but it's almost impossible to tell until someone does it. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

I've seen it mentioned before, but maybe you should just get a seat cushion. That would probably be the most efficient and effective way to address the fact you find the seats too firm. My wife (who is 5 months pregnant) and I did a 2 hour drive last weekend and found the seats just fine.

 

PS - Adding leather and heat to the stock seats will be easy and straightforward - there are lots of threads about it in the GenII and III forums. The general consensus is that there are a few companies that offer excellent leather replacement seat-covers, and a good auto shop can install them so they look 100% stock - ditto for seat heaters. It's possible to do yourself, but a difficult job to be sure. FWIW - some dealers even offered it as a dealer-installed option in the GenIII.

Although if you do actually swap seats - don't expect to be able to sell the stock seats very easily. The stock leather seats might have some value on the used market - but the stock fabric seats would be a tough sell indeed! (Think - who would be the target buyer?)

 

Altering seats is not feasible or safe as the seat design is part of the safety design. Not feasible as in expensive. If you found the seat uncomfortable (as many do) only real solution is getting the power seats where you can alter the seat to suit.

 

I love the seats in my Prius v. I'm guessing they were designed to fit a standard 1951 body style like mine.

On the other hand, they were apparently not designed to fit a body style like yours (or your GF's). Every car is a compromise and unfortunately this is a compromise that you can feel in your bones

If modifying the seat is at best a very uncertain solution, then it may be that the Prius v is not for you. As far as I know, no model of the Prius v has electric adjustable seats. A later model might but not at this time. And I'm sure you know better than to buy something you don't like and try to make it into something you do like.

I never found a car that was as comfortable as our 1998 Sienna. Best seats in the house, as they say.

 

Lol, hilarious.

 

I had upholstry shop add foam to my seats the had to cut away a little bit of front edge of seat foam in order to not make seat to high under legs. These seats are very comfortable now soft and padded I have a level 5. Also added to back rests feels as good as highlander limited we traded. Total cost was $175 well worth it for comfortable seats.

 

See link at bottom so you know where coming from ...

My opinion - if you really don't like the seats in a car, do not buy it. Buy something else. If you do buy it and spend $$ to fix, what if you don't like the fix?

Seats are not interchangeable between any models of cars (i.e. Corolla to Prius). Why? Toyota realllllly does not want anyone putting a Corolla seat in a Prius. Liability reasons. Seat fails, mondo lawsuits.

I thought the Prius v seat was shaped an awful lot like the regular Prius seat, but I did notice the bottom cushion is somewhat firmer than on regular Prius.

Call up Toyota and ask the price of a brand new Prius power seat unit. I'll bet their price is between $2,500 and $3,000 for it.

The power seats give exact adjustment of seat bottom. Something you could only get if you had a seat bottom tilt knob in addition to height adjustment. Power seats also have power lumbar adjust, nice bonus.

Dropping Recaros, etc.. into a new car? Not worth it. Where you going to store the original seats? Will the original seat mounts be unharmed? If can't put it back to stock easily, forget ever trading the car in. What about the airbag in the stock seat?

Too many problems, don't bother.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...eight-adjustable-drivers-seat-2009-prius.html

 

Lot of suggestions about swapping seats between Toyota / Lexus models.

Seats are specifically engineered for each model of car and not intended to be interchanged. Because a seat feels good in a Lexus CT200, it might feel like garbage in a Prius v. Why? It may not have the adjustment range to suit the v.

What about interfacing the connectors in a CT seat to a v? The electronics? How about the seat position sensor? Would it work with the steering wheel airbag setup on the v? etc, etc....

Again, if you really don't like the seats, don't buy the car.

 

Hello I know this post is months old, but do you have a picture of this?

This may be a ridiculous question, but most upholstery strops know how to get under the fabric of the car seat?

I've had some initial discomfort with the seats in my Prius v. I might adjust over time, but I'm not sure.

 

The factory fabric is actually a seat cover, just a well built one. So they can take them off, pad the area and put them back on, assuming not too much padding was added. You can see some of the factory covers on ebay.

Other options on ebay: search for 2012 prius v seat. I use a separate lower back support from an auto supply store. Solved it for me and I about the same size as the original post owner.

 

Thanks for this response. Do you know how to take the seat covers off? I might even be able to make a little mod myself.

My issue is not with the portion of the seat under the butt or the lumbar portion. It's with the portion for the upper back. I am tall, and I have an unusually straight upper spine. I feel like the back of the Prius V seats are more curved than the average car seat. Therefore, the middle of my upper back doesn't quite touch the back of the upper portion of the seat, and I think that's why I've had a bit of back pain after a few long car drives in the past few days. I've already helped this issue by draping a hand towel underneath the headrest and over the top of the seat and folding it over to provide a little extra cushion in the seat's most concave area. I bought a dark gray hand towel yesterday. This $6 mod may do the trick, but I wouldn't mind putting something under the cover to make a slight adjustment. I don't need much of an adjustment for the seat to be just right.

The rest of the car's interior, and even the seat material, are so nice looking and comfortable, in my opinion. I just have to sort out this one issue.