Seat discomfort--worth buying leather?

If you are in LA, I'm sure there is a dealer, somewhere near you, with the package and seats in leather for you to go check out, dealer installed leather is $1200 on the sticker. Check out other dealers and see what you can find.

 

Any opinions as to weather leather improves the seat comfort? Anyone out there get seats customized with extra padding?? Any other suggestions??

 

I have port added leather with the gel and find it very comfortable. I have not done a long trip in my vehicle yet though, but in town I couldn't be more pleased.

Subjective topic no doubt.

 

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i have the leather seats in my 2 month old touring model and hate them...i like the overall car very much but the seats are very uncomfortable....i suupose Toyota had to cut cost somewhere but IMO the seats were the wrong place to do it...the seats are the #1 thing the driver is in physical contact with at all times and when the driver is not comfortable his/her view of the car can be swayed negatively....i cannot tell you if the leather seats are any more comfortable than the cloth seats, but if they are the cloth seats must be VERY bad....the leather does look better IMO and they are easier to keep clean...i can tolerate the seats for my 1 hour commute each way to work and for local trips to stores, but when i go on a trip that will be over 1 hour i use a small pillow i bought at Wal-Mart which works surprisingly well...it was in the section for kitchen stool covers...it is shaped sort of like an elongated 'D' and is made of foam about 2 inches thick...i put the rounded end next to the seat back with the wider end under my legs...i have been on a couple trips of 3+ hours using the pad and it works OK....

 

I am having leather installed Monday. I will let you know then. IMHO it can't get any worse.than the clothe. i paid $1200 from the dealer. They do look more comfortable that the clothe. My biggest issue with the seats are the daggum head rest.
I saw an Leather install on a Prius at my dealer and I was REALLY impressed with the craftmanship and appearance of the leather. It was even perforated leather seating surface. Appeared to be mor plush even though I did not sit in it.

 

Well I have the leather, and I'm very happy with it, factory leather, its comfortable, but comfortable is in the behind of the user. Hehehehe I'm sure there are more comfortable seats out there, especially if you are willing to have softer seats and lower gas mileage.

 

I just realized why the seats are uncomfortable: they make you want to drive less, so you save even more on gas!

Actually, I have the OEM fabric seats and the only complaints I have are the shape of the seats not the quality of the material, and I'd love to have the manual front/back height adjustments that our Camry seats have. But I can live with the seats. I have 2 reasons for not wanting leather: 1) Hot weather, painful burning skin on sticky leather, 2) Why buy a car that saves gas, only to kill a cow so you can sit on its skin? Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

 

Cows have been here for thousands of years. Besides all of this green house effects talk are getting out of hand. Get leather if you want it. Driving a car like a Prius id more benifiting to the air than killing cows. At leadt the cows are being utilized for all of the parts. Right?

 

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i suppose my point of view is a little biased...i just sold a 1993 Jaguar XJ6 to buy my Prius...i like to work on cars as a hobby and the Jag was my latest project and my daily driver...unfortunately it used premium gas and only got 18 mpg...but the ride comfort was OHHHHH so sweeeeet...i did not expect the Prius seats to be up to the comfort level of the Jag seats but i did expect better than what i got for $27,000....now on the other hand the 54 mpg i am getting from the Prius on regular gas is also very sweeeeeet...the 20-30 minute test drives i took in the Prius before buying were not enough to alert me of the upcoming issues i have with the seats...as was said earlier everyone has their own opionion of the Prius seats...my wife thinks the seats are fine as they are...

 

Yea, my wife says the same thing. I have a theory that women are working with a wider platform.

 

I bought the package 2 and had the dealer add after market heated leather seats. I love having the heat on my back after a long run or skiing/climbing trip.

Definitely worth it. I guess here in the PNW I'm not worried about the weather being too hot for leather.

Whether or not it is worth it to buy leather? I think so! So does Scout, my shedding yellow lab co-pilot!

 

Hmmm,, I have had my Prius for 5 days and have no problem with the cloth seats,, I think they are very comfortable. I guess it just all depends on personal taste. I will be taking a road trip with the car this weekend and it will be a 2 1/2 hour drive, so I guess I will see if I encounter any discomfort, but for the in town driving I have been doing, I have no problem with the seats. I did buy some micro-fiber seat covers that are slightly padded, but I had no complaints with the seats before I put the seat covers on.

I did sit in package 6 in the dealership with the leather seats and thought they were really nice, but I could not afford package 6...