putting the speculation to rest. 2009 carryover from 2008 CONFIRMED.

One thing for sure they aren't going to improve the seats in the '09 model. I talked to one of Toyota's customer service reps at their headquarters. He has never heard of anyone complaining about the comfort of the seats. No letters, no calls, never heard of priuschat.com either. He was genuinely surprised to get my letter and he followed up with a call.
I wrote to complain about the seats and said I loved the car but hated the seats and asked when they will change. He said there are no plans to change the seats. He thought everyone loved them!!
So much for being in touch with the customers!

 

Do the upgraded seats even stink? I paid the extra grand to get the upgraded leather, hopefully they are decent.

 

upgraded only in that it has animal skin on it.

 

For the size vehicle they're in I think that they are the most comfortable seats I've ever had. I had 4 Camry's before the Prius and all were too soft. Our Highlander is worlds better though.

I hope they never change the seats they just fit me better than any other.

 

I really feel that we can all say what we want or dont want but if we want any of these things stick we need to voice our concerns to Toyota HQ. maybe if they have a in-rush of concerns from us loyal consumers they can get word of this website and than they have tons of feild reviews without paying a dime.

sounds like a win win to me. I am going to look up there link or e-mail address now and I will post what I find.

 

Can I get a link to this, or at least a rundown on the color options? I tried Googling, but nothing good came up with what I searched.

 

cycledrum, you nail it! those are the BIGGEST 3 Biggies indeed. I am 6'4" and have ABSOLUTELY MUCH more head and leg space in my kia spectra5 compared to my wife's prius, simply because the driver seat cannot be height adjusted in the prius, whereas it can in the kia... (note: kia is ~$10K cheaper, so please don't see it's a $ issue...).

I was thinking of selling my kia for the 09 prius, but if there are no major changes, especially not on interior and leg/head space (read: comfort) I see no reason too, and will wait for the 2010 GEN III instead. If the current gas price trend (currently almost $5 gallon in nor-cal) continues, I should be able to sell the kia, which gets a decent 30mpg on average, for decent $s because everybody and his dog will be scrambling for fuel zippy cars, as they are already starting to do now.

Maybe I'll buy the Kia Soul instead: with a proposed 1.6 diesel engine option it will do 40-50mpg on average... but, it will still be $10K cheaper than the prius GEN III.

 

Don't hold your breath that the Gen III will have better seats. I talked to Custom Service at their main headquarters and the guy in charge never heard of one complaint about the seats. He said they will be the same. He acted shocked and like I had to be the only person in the world not to like them as they were. I suggested he check out this site!

 

That's surprising. The sole reason I traded in my 2005 Prius and bought a Camry last year (a non-hybrid model b/c the hybrid ones were rare at the time) was the lack of lumbar support in the Prius driver's seat. I have a minor back problem, and after driving the Prius 3-4 hours/day (long commute) for two years, I had such severe back pain that I couldn't stand up straight at the end of the day. Switching to the Camry fixed that problem. The Prius seems to have the same driver's seat as the Yaris I had as a loaner at one point - not exactly a high-end seat. I really liked the Prius otherwise (aside from road noise), and really hope Toyota upgrades the seat for the 2010 model.

 

Yes I understand, one of the main reasons I traded my '05 Prius for a BMW was the cheap uncomfortable seats. The lack of road feel in the steering system also contributed to my decision. I found the Prius a pretty good around town and short trip car but when you needed/wanted to drive 500 or 600 miles a day on the highway it had few redeeming features other than low fuel usage. I had hoped they would fix these problems but if it's true they don't even know about them I would think there is little chance.

But I'll wait and see what they come up with, hope for the best and expect the worst I guess.

 

Anyone driving 500-600 miles a day needs a Prius more than anyone else. With the suspension upgrades mine is a pleasure to drive. Granted it is not a BWM, Porsche, Ferrari, etc., but it suits me fine for a daily driver with the mileage I get.

 

The Prius isn't a good car for someone who drives 500-600 miles a day. In fact, no car is good for anyone driving 10h per day on the highway (150 000 miles per year)

 

I agree if you mean someone who drives that many miles per day every day, I don't. I may drive that much per day several times a year but most days I don't go over 20 or 30 miles.

But the Prius would be much better for some of us if it had better front seats and a better driving position. That shouldn't be to hard for Toyota to engineer, they have done so in some of their other vehicles. I would be more than willing to pay extra. The reason I didn't have after market seats installed in mine was because of the air bags.

Cairo, I understand the touring package is a vast improvement to the suspension, how does that compare to what you have done on your own?

Please don't get me wrong I think, with a few exceptions, the Prius is a great car and I love the HSD system, fantastic engineering. Even though my BMW gets very good mileage for a sports sedan I miss my Prius and hope the G III is even better.

 

You confuse me. From what you said a few posts above I thought you drove 500-600 miles per day.

Several times a year I need a big truck to haul stuff (lumber, 4x8 plywood, furniture, a friend moving, etc). Should I buy a big truck for those several times, or is it ok to go with my Prius and rent the big truck when I need that extra cargo space?

Agreed. the 2nd gen needs better front seats, and it needs a telescopic steering wheel. Me too I'd be willing to pay extra to have a more comfortable driving position.