I am considering a 2020 Prime Limited, but my wife does not want the simulated leather seats. She asked about swapping the passenger seats between the Prime and my 2013 Plug-in Prius. Would this be practical?
I don't know the answer to your question but I would guess Gen3 interior is sufficiently different from PRIME which prevents a simple swap. Cloth type seat cover for your PRIME is far easier and cheaper, I would think. BTW, I am with your wife on not liking pleather in my PRIME.
I'm all about the pleather. The cloth seats didn't do it for me. I have a friend with a Gen4 and she got some leather aftermarket seats (or perhaps covers only).
one other consideration is that ben 4 seats are supposed to be much more comfortable, aside from whatever cover they have. even if they are compatible, i would drive it awhile before making a decision.
I'm sure there are after-market real leather seat covers available, if that is what she is looking for.
That may be true for lighter colors, but I had no trouble with the gray leather in my 2009 Prius. I found the leather to be more comfortable in extreme temps than the pleather in my Prime.
Seat covers are the obvious work-around and you can find some surprisingly good ones. I think swapping the seats out is fairly doable as any custom shop could fab up or alter mounting brackets if needed to match up the anchor points. For example, that's been done by folks here who are extremely tall who needed extensions. The biggest concern would be seeing if the electronic airbag sensor connections are the same. Again, not a huge issue for a competent shop.
They are different platforms. Even if the bolt holes line up, the different seats could mean the occupants are out of place in regards to the design of the safety systems.
I can't stand either leather or pleather seats. One of the reasons I end up with base models is to avoid the leather and fake leather stuff. Cold in the winter and hot in the summer, UGGGHH, no thanks.
