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Front "leather" seat falling apart. Warranty issue?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by DavidA, Jun 21, 2012.

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  1. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    Repaired a couple weeks ago. Brought it in, the car then went to a third party interior expert, and was returned to the dealer in under 5 hours. I picked up the car the same day.

    A new panel was sewn in to the left side of the driver's seat, and another to the front lower panel, which I hadn't expected. The material looks to be similar, but a tad lighter in color. Unless one was specifically looking for it, no one would ever be able to detect a repair was made to the seat.

    They washed the car, and even cleaned the interior as well. The only thing I was out was the time and mileage to the dealership twice in a day. I consider this a win/win on my part.

    [​IMG]
     
    #21 DavidA, Aug 9, 2012
    xs650 likes this.
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I got mine replaced in June (took them a while cause the part was mislabelled so they ended up with a passenger seat cover instead).

    The seat feels a bit different in terms of padding (I don't know if they changed the padding along with the seat cover) and of course the cover is not as tight as it is from the factory.

    Hopefully it's not a recurring issue.
     
    #22 Tideland Prius, Aug 9, 2012
  3. KCKC

    KCKC New Member

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    Driver seat back of our 2010 was replaced under warrantee for premature wear after just 1 1/2 year of use and under 25 k kilometers. Now after just over 3 years and past warrantee period, the seat bottom has the same tear as DavidA shows in his picture. Right now Toyota Canada is only offering to cover half the replacement cost as a good will gesture! Bought Toyota for it's product quality and reliability reputation, which was obviously misplaced. Seating material must bedefective when it fails in such a short time frame. No chance of UV damage due to short time, UV sun protective glass and location of damage gets no sun exposure.
     
    #23 KCKC, Apr 10, 2013
  4. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    The seat repair above was completed outside of the warranty period. And like I mentioned, it was even before they knew I bought the car there. It was their prerogative to do so, but ultimately in their best interest due to the obvious nature of the defect. It helped that Brian had seen this issue before several times.

    When we were on vacation at Hilton Head a few months ago, a small front brake problem developed and needed some quick attention. Luckily, a Toyota dealer was located nearby. They took a look, fixed the problem gratis, and I was on my way. They could have easily charged me (and should have probably), but luckily their philosophy was similar to my local dealer's. You want to keep the customer in the brand, and in obvious real defect situations where a small investment in time will accomplish this, you just do it. Helps everyone but the competition. When I was in business, this was called a "goodwill adjustment."

    Your local dealer can and probably should take care of your problem as well. At least they are willing to go halfsies. I would not call that a win, though. Perhaps a call to Toyota Canada might help? Or show them this thread to let them get a clue that it isn't just you who has this problem?
     
    #24 DavidA, Apr 11, 2013
  5. Ridder

    Ridder Member

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    I test drove a Prius before I bought mine, and it was 2 years old with some 75K mi on it.
    It had the same wear and tear as yours....and the dealer didn't notice it, and offered to fix it.....but I didn't want a fix but a replacement.
    So I bought a different Prius, one year old only 6K mi and no tears in the leather.....not yet.
    I heard from other people on the Dutch Prius forum that it happened to them as well.

    I also test drove a Lexus CT200h and the leather in the Lexus is in a complete other league.....
     
    #25 Ridder, Apr 11, 2013
  6. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    Vinyl is used where the tear was.
     
    #26 DavidA, Apr 11, 2013
  7. The Dude

    The Dude Member

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    That section is actually not leather, but vinyl. Only the actual seating surface is leather. Cheap, cheap way all car manufacturers save money and rip off good folks. Hope you get that worked out...
     
    #27 The Dude, Apr 15, 2013
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yeah that's why it's listed as "leather seat surfaces". You won't get a full leather chair unless you buy a Bentley or Rolls Royce.
     
    #28 Tideland Prius, Apr 15, 2013
  9. The Dude

    The Dude Member

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    You used to when a chair wasn't dissected into 23 different areas lol.
     
    #29 The Dude, Apr 15, 2013
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Guess it was before my time :D
     
    #30 Tideland Prius, Apr 15, 2013
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  11. KCKC

    KCKC New Member

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    Glad for some who had their torn seat covering repaired even out of warrantee. So the last word on our split seat cover, the vinyl parts, from our dealer who happens to be the biggest Toyota dealer on the B.C West Coast is that Toyota will cover just half the cost to repair the failed material. It will cost less if I go to a third part upholstery shop here in town and get the repair done on my own. So much for Toyota's reliability and customer satisfaction where we are concerned. Car was just months past its warrantee when we brought the problem to dealer's attention.
     
    #31 KCKC, May 9, 2013
  12. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    Its not as sad that Toyota won't repair an obvious defect with their own product just out of warrantee; it is more sad that a dealer refuses to repair a customer situation to keep a customer, one who inherited a Toyota defect. The Dealer, the customer and Toyota all lose. Good dealers understand this connection. Bad ones never will.
     
    #32 DavidA, May 9, 2013
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