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new seat skins for an i tech gen 2

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by T1 Terry, Sep 26, 2023.

  1. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Has anyone found new leather seat skins for the i tech gen 2 rear seat swab? My seat swab was lost in the workshop fire and they seem to be like rocking horse droppings at any of the car dismantlers here in Australia.
    Easy enough to fine the cloth cover ones, so if I could buy a skin and recover that, I fell it would be the best solution for my problem

    T1 Terry
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You've lost me here at the tech 2 generation rear seat. I don't know what the tech 2. gen 2 is. Is there upholstery available for a generation 2 '04 to '09 style Prius I would like to think so I haven't really gone to looking It also looks like which has nothing to do with this post seats from a generation 3 might bolt right into a generation too The back probably not but oh well here in America it used to be no problem to get your seats recovered at an upholstery shop that used to be plentiful that's kind of a lost art I can't even hardly get my mother's couch reupholstered anymore because nobody does that kind of work or they don't advertise heavily or something of course if you see the tufted tuck and roll couch you'll know why.
     
  3. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    It was worth a try, to get the whole seat swab shipped to Aust would be mind boggling as far as $$ go, but just the leather cover could be sent in the mail.

    T1 Terry
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Did you look on amiyama.com to see what's available for those chassis numbers for some models you can get the original upholstery without the foams and all of that
     
  5. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Thank you for the lead, I checked out the price delivered to Australia .... and no, between $1,100 and 1,500, just for the cover ..... I'll keep searching through the parts dismantlers over here to see if I can find one .....

    T1 Terry
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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  7. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Thanks, they say they have an installation type platform, not suitable for me because I'm in Australia and they are in the USA, nut I'll try contacting them to see if they can make an original copy to suit the i tech trim of the rest of the seats

    T1 Terry
     
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  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I don't know what an iteck is Is that a generation 3 Prius or a generation 2? Is it very special seating like in USA Federal and Canadian cars of persona trim level comes with soft tex rubber type of seating It's way superior to leather it stretches its waterproof I think it can come and colors and so far it's 7 years it seems to wear better than the leather perforated seating surfaces that I have here from 07 to say 2011 I think the tech material came out for 11:00 or the 12 model year and it seems to wear way better than the perforated leather that we have in the solar roof 2010 way better it seems to give and stretch and goes back like memory foam kind of but I'm talking about the skin that your jeans are against not the padding.
     
  9. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    The i Tech is the up spec model, leather seats, sat nav, 9 speaker JVC CD/radio, reverse camera, keyless entry and ignition, just needed the fob with you.
    I believe Toyota changed from genuine leather to "Softex" (thermoplastic polyurethane) in around 2011 -2012 because it was cheaper .... no matter what fancy name they give use, it's not leather, just a synthetic.

    T1 Terry
     
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  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Softex holds up slot better so far in my vehicles . I have models with solid leather seating surfaces that shiny. 08. Perforated leather seating surfaces same generation to car 08 and '09. And soft text in a 2011 and a 2013 persona so far the soft tex wins hands down.
     
  11. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    I guess I'll have to drive a late model Prius with these softex seats to decide for myself, then find a local upholstery place to recover a fabric base in which ever we like better, although, only the same leather is going to look the same as the other half of the seat ....
    We cleaned it and polished it with dark grey shoes renovation cream and bought some dark grey leather touch up paint to apply to the damaged surfaces areas, too silver finish to be honest, so I'm going to try mixing it with some black and see if that looks better as far as colour, but the actual leather finish and feel, it really brought the aged seats back to life .... that fire extinguisher powder is hard on everything, took a lot of work the get the plastic bits back up to an acceptable finish, those Armorall wipes are great as a finish off

    T1 Terry
     
  12. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    If you look on leather restoration sites I'll try to find this guy's video where he mixes up some stuff and he's working on the dark gray perforated leather seating surfaces in an '08 Prius they also make this same car in non-perated leather seating surfaces and then an 11 that's 2011 I think is when soft text was introduced to the Toyota market maybe and that is the rubbery stuff that kind of looks like leather but it has pretty good memory to return when you get off the seat where the leather doesn't do that it just starts to leave hunch marks and whatever in the seat The soft text when you get up off it you can watch the material rise up like your Tempur-Pedic bed if you will I think if black soft text will probably match black leather It's the grays that will get you in trouble just an '08 alone there's two different shades of gray interior I own them both and they are different CRTR information on the label.