Last summer, my 2017 Prius steering wheel cover looked similar to the attached pictures. I went to Joseph Toyota (JoTo) who said it was cut and not a defect. I objected. They sent me to Fisher-Griffin Upholsterers (FGU), where they send all such problems. An employee (no doubt Fisher or Griffin) said it looks like the cover stretched, forming a crease or wrinkle, and said to go back to JoTo and tell them that "It's not a cut but a stretching and gathering of the fabric." Toyota objected. So i was on my own. I paid FGU $165 to fix it. They did such a good job that i called on the way home to praise their work. In January, i found the smaller "wrinkle" shown in my attachments and called JoTo, who said to send pictures. They then said to take it to FGU and see what they say. Same guy looked at it and said the same thing that he said about the one they fixed. Conclusion: "The cover is defective " (He hadn't seen how the wrinkle grew in size over just two weeks. Other attachment. Neither had JoTo.) JoTo agreed. Rather than just fix it again or attempt cover replacement, they took FGU's evaluation to heart and replaced the steering wheel. (While waiting for its delivery, the wrinkle grew to the size in the second picture. Its cover feels different, more solid, but soft enough. i expect no more wrinkles. Its design is only similar, having just two "radius stabilizers". I'm okay with it. JoTo wrote "Good will" on the paperwork. I noticed the cost was $638. This doesn't really bother me, but didn't they have to fix it under warranty? Anyway, i wondered if other Prius drivers experienced similar problems. P.S. Joseph Toyota wouldn't refund my $165 but said to call the Toyota 800 number and see if they'll cover it. I'm preparing a letter to convince them that clearly JoTo misdiagnosed the problem, thereby having me pay for an unnecessary repair. I'll keep y'all posted. But one reason for this post is to be able to honestly tell 800 Toyota that this isn't the only instance of my problems. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
There are other threads about the damaged steering wheels. Mine was replaced free of charge at two years.
I definitely had the same problem with my 2016 Touring 4. I used stretch tape to fix it. I am way outside of the warranty period. It is definitely a defect. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
FYI, Mine appeared only 1 year after I bought my brand new 2016. It appeared at the top of the steering wheel, around the 1-2 oclock position. I tried to live with it for a few months, and it's not like it got huge, but it was about 2 inches long when I finally mentioned something. The regular service guy made ZERO effort in helping me resolve my issue. He said once a week, if I got lucky, I could catch the actual Toyota Corporate guy that shows up to do inspections on warranty issues. I followed up with him again twice in the month, no return calls, nothing. When I got a survey a few weeks later, I blasted the sales rep. The General Manager of Longo Toyota actually called me directly. I sent him pics, he sent them directly to the Toyota guy. They offered me a new steering wheel, admitting no fault, and saying it was a one time courtesy replacement. I've had my new steering wheel for around 18+ months now, and it's still perfect.
I also had my steering wheel develop a split in the wanna be leather, on my 2016 Prius 3 touring. Crown Toyota in Ontario ca replaced the steering wheel no problem. Now the black coating on the Qi charging pad has wrinkled from something overheating. Funny thing is I’ve never once used that charging accessory. If I could do over, I would buy a Honda.
