Interior option

Cloth is durable, but I moved ahead and put on same color GT seat covers as preventative maintenance. You cannot tell they are seat covers and I have greater piece of mind.

 

In the 4 previous vehicles I had, I always had cloth seats and liked them. In my Prius, I opted for the leather because I didn't like the fact that the arm rests were all cloth.

Now, I love it and am very glad we went with leather.

 

Once again Toyota hasn't used good sense in determining packages. The top package from the factory is the only one that has leather. So that makes the Prius nearly 30K with all the bells and whistles. Leather should be offered on some of the lower packages, but in their brilliance they decided to not do that.

Anyway, the fabric is very stout, however it is still fabric, which means that it suffers from all the problems associated with fabric, including susceptability to friction based wear and staining. Leather is superior to fabric in these areas. With a little care leather will remain soft and supple for the life of the vehicle, and it will resist stains and will not show wear nearly as soon as fabric will, no matter how good the fabric is.

In short the fabric interior is really nice, but it is still fabric. I prefer leather, and always will, so it is a dissapointment to me that leather is such a high priced option in the 06 trim grades.

 

I admit leather is a nice touch 'cept that I've found it gets a little cold in winter and a little hot in summer

 

With 59k miles on my 04 the only Ivory fabric wear showing is a little discoloration-roughness on the door and center arm rest. VERY minor. Most of the door arm rest discoloration was from snow falling in.
I also Scotch guard all fabrics every 6 months.

 

We've had leather installed by the dealer in the last 2 cars we've purchased -- an '03 Accord LX then our '05 Prius that replaced the Accord (Sorry, Honda!). They actually subcontract with a local company to do the install.

We love the durability and ease of cleaning. We have a toddler and a dog who both are quite capable of making a car dirty. Getting dog hair or milk off leather seats definitely beats trying to get it out of cloth.

The leather in our '05 Prius comes with a 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty from the leather company. We paid $1500 for the upgrade, and they did a perfect color match to the interior of the car. You might be able to haggle the price down a couple hundred bucks, but it definitely beats shelling out the $$ to buy a top-of-the-line option package to get factory leather...

mike

 

The dealer also had leather installed in ours which was the floor model. Since we have leather seats in our Acura MDX, we are accustomed to it. We love it's durability and ease of cleaning. Plus, it keeps the car smelling new. The only thing we miss is the heat which we have in the MDX.

 

I've never understood why people like leather seats... just make me sweat. An it seems random, like someone said oneday, "Let's put leather on seats" and everyone agreed. To me, that's like saying you want mittens on your turn indicator because it's a softer touch.

 

I have heard just about every concern about leather. Albeit I'm sure those concerns are all honest comments about the distaste for leather, mostly about heat, cold, etc; but the truth of the matter is that leather, true leather, is a natural item and as such has some rather unique properties regarding heat and cold, as compared to vinyl. Now vinyl seating is truly hideous in extreme cold or hot.

Leather seating in cold weather is cold when you initially sit on it, but tends to assume your body temperature quickly, much more quickly than vinyl. Vinyl seating will stay cold for a long time before it assumes your body temperature. In hot weather, vinyl can potentially burn exposed skin, or at least be very uncomfortable. However, leather will initially by hot to sit on, it assumes your body temperature very quickly and doesn't remain super hot.

Yes, leather can be hotter or colder than fabric in extreme temperatures, but it assumes body temperature quickly as compared to other easy to clean surfaces like vinyl. Maybe when I pay off the Prius (not long now) I will consider having a local upholsterer put leather in mine.

 

I had leather in AZ and loved it

 

I much prefer leather...

I'd have it put in the Prius but my fiance doesn't like it, and I don't drive it all that much so...

 

I was lucky. When I bought mine, it came with leather and side airbags. I wanted both of these options ($1200.00) and do not think I could have gotten the leather alone for a cheaper price in the aftermarket arena. I like the leather. It feels more comfortabl;e to me and is easier to clean than fabric, as well IMO more durable.

To each his/ her own. If you like it, get leather, If you do not like it, keep the fabric

 

If you opt for leather, just make sure it's perforated. It will help it breath and cool easier. I picked up my car Sept 1st, so the majority of the heat was gone around here, but we did have a number of days that were 80-90 or so. I never found the leather to be too hot.

I'll add - I was never really of fan of leather prior, but it seemed to suit the Prius nicely.

 

I got leather option with ordering of car and it was installed by Southeast Toyota Distributor before arriving at the dealer. My biggest gripe is that the seats were leather, but the armrests on the doors and the middle console remained covered in cloth. Have had leather on most of my cars and never had it done half-way like this.

So it sounds like your installation came with leather all around. I'm envious and now going to have to look for way to cover the armrests too. It looks -half-fast- without it. :angry:

 

Perforated is harder to clean up, though. (Think of a toddler spilling milk on the seat, for example.) One thing to consider...

mike

 

My dealer installation (done at Coach Leather in the Bay Area, through Toyota 101) included all the armrests, door panels, etc... Guess that's something to confirm when you make the arrangements with the dealer.

 

Yeah, it covers the arm rests on the doors and center console. I would have been concerned about 3rd party leather if I hadn't seen it before, but the test drive car was the salesguys and it had the same leather install. In fact, his car is identical to what I got, color, package and leather

 

I own a leather couch in my home and I"ve had it for about 7 years... you can't tell I didn't buy it yesterday. When you have to put seat covers on a seat to protect it... why have nice seats?.. I don't see the logic that in the name of protecting a nice investment, you have to cover it up so no one can see and enjoy it?... leather gives you the best of all!
If you sweat, then its your climate and metabolism, I wouldn't get them either, but many don't have that issue.

 

Isn't it a little backward, having leather seats in a earth friendly car? It compromises the integrity of the vehicle!