I just got my new metallic gray a week ago! Now it's time to get some good floor mats, but I'm not sure which of those two options is better. Other than asthetics, does one have an advantage over the other, like better spill protection, better fit, etc? Most of all, I'm wondering how they look in real life. Anyone have pics of either the OEM All-weather or the ExactMats Clear mats, in a dark gray interior? BTW -- the Weathertech's are nice, but too expensive, so I've ruled those out.
Go with the all-weather mats. The ExactMats will stain when mud and dirt gets on them and they wont hold dirt or liquid. The all-weather mats have a lip around the edge to catch dirt and liquid. Trust me and get the all-weather mats.
We got the Weathertech mats as the first accessory for the car. It's proven itself a worthy purchase. More than once. Just yesterday the baby barfed milk all over the back seat and the floor. Not his fault of course, all babies do that every now and then. If it weren't for these mats, I probably would have had to rip out the entire carpet to clean it up and get rid of the smell. As it turns out, I just needed to take out the back seat, the rear cup holder, and the mats, and washed everything out real well. Now the car smells as good as new. Phew...
I'll offer a different view. I have the ExactMats and I like them, especially for their looks. Without the grooves and channels of a typical floor mat, they allow the tone and texture of the carpeted factory mats to show. Their fit is great, lining up almost perfectly with the factory mats. I haven't had the experience that Jay describes of them being hard to clean; no problem with dirt or a little mud. Having said that, their lack of channels and a lip on the edge is their biggest drawback. If I had small kids or a dog, or I was frequently getting in and out with wet or muddy feet, I'd probably want something else. As it is, I have a small (designed for a rear floorboard), cheap, clear, and grooved mat I throw down on the driver's floorboard in bad weather.
I have the ExactMats in the cargo area; It has, of course, the apperance of a vinyl carpet runner (cheap) but for the cargo area, I don't care. I have the Toyota All Weather mats even though the car came with the delux carpet mats (here in the Portland, Oregon area the great majority of these cars come with the delux mats ($199)). If there wasn't a long wait list on these cars, I would have insisted that the dealer swap out the delux mats for the all weather and save me the money.... The Toyota All weather mats look great and they are suited for my locale (lots of rain and leaves most of the year). The MSRP is $99 but if you look on eBay you can find the black ones for around $72 (plus $10 to $15 shipping). The OEM mats also have PRIUS in large letters on the front mats. Cost wise, the ExactMats are around $40 to $50 as I recall, so there isn't that much of a difference in going to $72. If your car came with the delux mats and you are installing the All Weather mats, you will need to remove the driver's side mat so that the All weather driver's side mat will engage the floor hooks. This will prevent the mat from loosening and migrating forward, potentially jamming the gas or brake pedals.
No worries there, my car didn't come with any mats. Let me explain. Like everyone else these days, I had to pay MSRP. The dealership I bought it from apparently gets a mix of deliveries, both with and without mats. The price is adjusted accordingly -- $24,900 with mats, $24,700 without mats. So by getting no mats, I saved $200 off the purchase price, and I'll spend less than half of that on something better. It's win-win baby!
for your area of the country, i think you'd be better off with the weather tech mats. they'll hold the water, mud, slush. for my needs and location (in SoCal where it rains twice/year), the exact mats are preferred.
I've got the OEM All Weather Mats and they are the best and they'll look awesome with your gray interior Been using them for years in my other Toyota's and never had a problem. They have saved my carpets on more than one occasion. If I had to recommend one item as something you have to have it would be the OEM All Weather Mats. PS: And I live in an area where it rarely rains
LOVE my weathertech liners. I know they are pricey, but they should be considered, as they offer the ultimate protection, and look great. This post may interest you. Save some money on the package by getting some indoor/outdoor carpet at home depot, and cutting it to fit the cargo area. Use the "hook" side of some adhesive velcro to stick it to the carpet. Use enough to get a good hold, especially on the edges and corners. An added bonus here is you can run this "liner" up the side of the car for added protection, and the total cost is like $20, which includes enough carpet to throw it away and redo in a year or two. This is what I did in my previous prius, and it gave great protection and looked just fine. I splurged on the cargo liner for this one so I could be more confident hauling liquids.
I'm pretty sure he's referring to the OEM all weather mats which you can see on Toyota's website: Toyota Prius Accessories There's also a pic of a shredded one here on PC: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...xtreme-duty-floor-liners-photos-please-3.html I was afraid they would be the same size as the OEM carpet floor mats (which I felt didn't cover enough of the bottom) so I ordered the WeatherTech floor liners from PCShop. But I just saw OEM all weather mats for my brother's new Volvo and it fits his car like a glove. I hope WeatherTech meets the challenge!
The advantage of the Weathertech Liners is their height. They have the ability to hold much more liquid and because they have tall edges you are less likely to get dirt/mud on the carpet edges when people lean their feet to the side. I had a 24oz can of ice tea explode in the back seat and the Weathertechs contained the entire can (except that which got airborne). There was just a huge puddle of tea in the backseat and normal floor mats would have flowed over for sure. My liners do not fit as perfect as I would like them but they are so close it that I am pleased overall and they do look much nicer than the stock carpet floormats the car came with.
