Leather, pros and cons

Leather: dead animal skins that are preserved using toxic chemicals.

Also, leather can get very hot if it's sunny. Leather can crack. Leather is slippery, which can be good or bad, but I never cared for it.

I prefer my cloth seats, thank you

 

Leather is sticky with shorts, and cold in the winter. I went with cloth.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Jul 19 2007, 03:08 PM) [snapback]481850[/snapback]</div>

Well leather will obviously be more durable; easier to clean and maintain; but more expensive.

I actually went for cloth for budget reasons. If you do, you will definitely need to treat with scotch guard and ideally put on seat covers. I went for exact fit covers especially made for the Prius, which are so tight fitting, it is almost impossible to tell they are covers. They cost about $80 and if they get damaged, the original seat underneath is still fine.

So in short, I would advise leather, if you can afford it; otherwise get covers to protect the original cloth seats.

 

I never had a desire for a car with leather seats. That is, until I owned one. Now I wouldn't get anything else. I even had the dealer install them in my Prius, since a package #6 was unobtainable in my area at the time I was buying.

Cloth seats are comfortable, but they are difficult to clean, especially if liquid gets spilled on them. They also wear. In fact, when I brought my car back to have the leather installed they gave me a Camry as a loaner, and I noticed how bad its cloth upholstery looked due to wear.

As far as leather being hot, sticky, or slippery, those are all aspects of vinyl seats, but the difference between leather and vinyl are night and day. And I've never had the leather crack in any car I've owned, including ones I've bought used.

They do use chemicals to process leather, but since the cloth seats are made out of synthetic fibers, there are plenty of chemicals in them too. And if you Scotchguard the cloth then you have a chemical that's going to eventually rub off onto you and your clothes.

If you can afford it, I would go with the leather (IMHO).

 

Leather all the way. Cloth gets dirty quickly and is difficult to clean. Cloth also absorbs odors that you'll never be able to get out -- not a problem with leather. Animals are not killed specifically for leather, so you're not saving any animals by not ordering a leather Prius.

Those interested in saving animals should start with what they put on their plates. Anything else is hypocritical preaching.

 

Haven't had cloth in years; as mentioned, the heat/cracking, etc is either old leather or vinyl, but for the last 10 years none of my cars have had problems like that and all have had leather.

I do keep hoping they'll come up with some synthetic that's spillproof/durable, smooth/comfortable like leather, and prices near to cloth.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBoyAZ @ Jul 19 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]481939[/snapback]</div>

I am a vegan.

 

The leather myths continue! The microfiber in the Prius cleans up more easily than leather. Ball point pen will come out of microfiber, but not leather. Plus, it's not leather anyway, it's mostly vinyl.

Nate

 

I have the best, or worst, of both worlds. My 2005 had cloth seats with GT seat covers. The covers kept the cloth in mint condition. I now have a 2007 with leather seats. I put the GT covers from the 2005 on the 2007. I get the durability of the leather and the leather stays clean. Not overkill, but peace of mind.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Jul 20 2007, 12:05 AM) [snapback]482013[/snapback]</div>

I'm curious about the basis for that last statement. Is it something you have on good authority? If so, then it sounds like time for a class action suit, if Toyota is charging people extra for a specific material, but actually giving them something else.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skruse @ Jul 19 2007, 11:14 PM) [snapback]482018[/snapback]</div>

I have a question for those that are putting seat covers on their seats. Do these covers have a provision to allow the airbag that is located in the seat to still deploy correctly?

I'm not a fan of leather seats for the hot in summer / cold in winter reasons. That and I haven't seen that leather is any more durable than a good cloth seat and leather requires more care to keep looking nice. Yes, the cloth seats in the Prius are very cheap and were showing wear when I bought the car at 25K miles but the cloth seats in my VW still look like new after 140K miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoDosch @ Jul 20 2007, 07:45 AM) [snapback]482146[/snapback]</div>

Yah, well good luck with that. Many other manufacturers besides Toyota use vinyl for the side and back covering for the seats, and leather on the seating surfaces only, and have been doing so for years.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DelerPrius @ Jul 20 2007, 08:13 AM) [snapback]482167[/snapback]</div>

I just looked at a local Toyota dealer's inventory listing for Prius cars and found one with leather. It actually says "leather faced seats" Which means only the seating surfaces, just like the previous poster said, but we all know that anyway.

I have had cars with leather seats before. They were used cars and just happened to come that way. I prefer cloth seats when buying a new car. When we bought our 05 Avalon we had to take the XL because any higher trim level came with leather seats. Would have liked to have bought one with more goodies, but didn't want leather.

When we bought the prius the one that was the right color had cloth seats so everything worked out fine. To me, leather is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. My wife doesn't like leather for car seats either, so we get along just fine when it comes to picking out a car. I am not totally anti leather though because I do like my leather jackets.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Jul 20 2007, 05:35 AM) [snapback]482153[/snapback]</div>

Yes the ones that I purchased (directly from my Toyota dealer) do. They were OEM, but I cannot remember the manufacturer. If you go OEM for Prius, and clarify that you have side air bags, you will get the right ones with flaps in the side to allow the airbags to operate. For seat covers, OEM is the only way to go, not only for this issue, but also to ensure the covers fit properly, and definitely worth the extra cost over the generic brands.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Jul 20 2007, 05:35 AM) [snapback]482153[/snapback]</div>

Yes the ones that I purchased (directly from my Toyota dealer) do. You need to make sure that they have the slit in the side for the airbag.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Jul 19 2007, 09:05 PM) [snapback]482013[/snapback]</div>

Having one car with leather (2001 Audi) and one with cloth (2005 Prius), and two young children to clean up after my experiences are the exact opposite of what you say. The Audi seats still look like new and that is the car the kids ride in most. The Prius seats look good, but definitely have some stains already.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DelerPrius @ Jul 20 2007, 09:13 AM) [snapback]482167[/snapback]</div>

My comment about a class action was meant facetiously. Yes, part of the seat are vinyl. There is also steel, aluminum, foam, etc. But the part my butt sits on is leather, which is hardly what I would call mostly vinyl. On my Subaru the tops and sides are leather-- only the back is vinyl. On the Prius it seems to be the same way, though since they're new it's a bit tougher to tell.