Fabric-Trimmed Seats vs. SofTex®-Trimmed Seats

Well except I don't think it is 'poof' your car appears

 

I moved from a Gen 2 with leather to the Gen 4 softtex. I find that is is essentially the same - cannot split the hairs... Maybe the summer "performance" will be different?

 

Interesting. My wife and I hate leather and Softex so much that we wouldn't buy a four *because* of it, even if it were less money!

 

To each their own...

 

Surely someone on Priuschat has performed the poorly secured coffee cup lid and/or the upside down buttered bagel test?

Not sure if the Softex will perform as good as the hide of a dead animal, but that is my hope.

 

You can always install leather aftermarket. Most dealers will use Katzkin, a well known aftermarket leather supplier, and will offer much better pricing than you will get going direct. For instance, our Prius Two Eco is getting Katzkin leather seats, front/ rear, in custom 2 tone design, for $1700 vs $2195 direct from Katzkin. No need to buy all the other options we don't want to get to artificial leather.

 

Indeed -- for me, the non-leather aspect of Softex was a big selling point given my (ideological) allergy to anything leather .

 

I agree! Although It would be nice if car makers would offer cloth on their higher tier models in general. There are lots of reasons that people wouldn't want leather even those without an allergy

 

To each his own.

I bought a v in 2012 and looked at the armrests and thought how they would look after my sweaty and sun-screened arms rested on them (I play golf). The v option level three came with cloth so I negotiated a deal to have softex put in on all seats and arm-rests. It came with a Toyota part number and has worked well for 4 years and around 30k miles. Local upholstery shop did the actual install though the dealer handled everything.

Glad I did it.

 

I thought the same thing on my gen 2. The cloth on the armrests and center console looked like they wouldn't last long. At the time somebody on ebay was selling leather covers for them at around $100. Best investment I could have made. When I traded the car in they were basically untouched.

 

Yes I noticed the flap on the Gen-4 I test-drove Sunday. It's not on my Gen-2. What's the flap for?

 

I don't think I've ever used an arm rest in a car... I'll have to think about that

But my first car had cloth seats, they didn't look bad at all when I sold that car. I also tend to use a towel when I go to the gym or other situation where I might be sweaty or wet and sit on my car seats. My husband's car is 16 yrs old and has cloth and his seats look really good. We also don't have kids.

 

I have a dog too, and when she isn't wet or muddy she rides shotgun, keeping a sharp eye out for chipmunks, squirrels, and cats. Yes leather would be slippery for her, plus I don't like the feel of leather for myself and don't want to pay extra for it. My solution has been to get custom Wet Okole seat covers for the front seats, about $260 for two. They are made from neoprene wetsuit material so they give a touch more cushioning and are not slippery. In addition I have a large towel (a "sheet" towel) covering the dog's seat. Because they are waterproof, when I remove them to sell the car the stock seat fabric is perfect.

I would avoid choosing a light color for the center panel. I had off-white center panels in the Wet Okoles I had in my Subaru, and they got stained from driving in sweaty athletic gear even though I put a towel under me.

When the dog IS wet or muddy, she gets stuck in the back behind the rear seat. A rubber cargo mat (the Cargo Tray Plus looks like it would work well) makes cleaning up after her much easier.

And yes when she rides shotgun I drive very carefully in town, and on the highway put her into a harness that clips onto the front shoulder belt. Wouldn't want her to fly through the windshield if I stop suddenly! The Prius has a cutoff sensor that thinks she's a child (she weighs 55b) and disarms the airbag on her side.

 

I have 2 dogs, 1 would sit quietly but the other wouldn't so not an option for front seat. The backseat cover I has now is ok but it does seem to move a lot.

 

Beware of black softex seats. They are hot as is the steering wheel. This is the first summer type week since we got car and i sure wish the seats were beige.

 

Are those constructed safely at the outboard sides to allow the side airbags to pop out?

-Chap

 

It's a very old thread (2¼yrs ago) - not sure if you'll get a reply " "