seats

aprildancer,
I just traded in a 2005 Prius with cloth seats and bought a 2006 with leather. The seats are identical in shape and comfort. The only difference is the covering. I checked this out closely when I was deciding to trade or not and could see no difference. Hope this helps.

 

I put over 233,000 miles in my current vehicle, a '97 F150 (Lariat w/ leather seats). There's no way cloth could have put up with my abuse over the past 8 years. The leather seats, on the other hand, have developed a nice smooth hand, like a comfortable old glove. They still look great, and clean easily. My only complaint is that the driver's seat isn't heated.

I'll never go back to cloth seats, but I consider a heated driver's seat a necessity for NH winters.

 

my friend has a 2005 says the 2006 leather are lots better than her seats.

I love the leather looks and feel

 

Leather looks nice, but as a vegetarian, I couldn't abide doing it. I have friends with leather seats and I frankly don't like them because there is no traction. I keep sliding down the seat as if I were sitting on waxed paper. They are colder in winter and hotter in summer than cloth seats. The cloth upholstery in the Prius is pretty bulletproof, and unless you have kids with claws or large cats, the fabric should hold up just fine. My seats clean easily with soap and water and I read elsewhere on Prius chat that the ivory fabric survived a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with no stains.

It's an aesthetic choice, actually, rather than a necessary choice. This is my personal opinion, but I think leather upholstery runs somewhat contrary to the environmental ethic of the Prius and I think that was part of the original Toyota decision not to include leather as an option. The demand for it outweighed any naturalistic sentiments, so now it is available.

B

 

I believe that the Toyota "leather" isn't actually Leather. FYI.. It's some sort of PC cow-butt look alike

 

No, it's real leather or they could not advertise it as "leather seating." I would add that the Prius is all about saving fuel and reducing emissions. I see nothing in the ethic of the Prius that favors vegetarianism, although I have heard this argument against leather seating applied to Prius before. I find the leather seats more comfortable and far more durable than any fabric. And as you may have guessed, it does not bother me to consume the original owner of my leather seats!