Leather Option

Leather is not a Toyota-sanctioned option for the Prius. Some dealers are doing it regardless.

I know that Diane from Carson Toyota mentioned the airbag issue before, which I'd say is a valid concern. No point having the airbags if they don't inflate/deploy properly because of leather seats.

I quite like the stock grey material in my 04, and I don't particularly care for leather, so it wasn't an issue in my case.

Dave

 

there are several after-market leather kit suppliers with prius configured kits available including kits that support the side air-bags with breakaway threads, etc. i noticed the group buy, but i'm getting the same prices approx. directly from the mfg. via my upholstery shop here in san diego, and am having leather installed i hope this week. as well, i'm using some tie-dyed leather as inserts, console and arm rest covers, and panel covers.
of course now that i've ordered all this leather work and have been driving for 3 weeks with the ivory upholstery that toyota has given us, i find the original equipment quite comfy and wonderful and probably should have left the whole thing alone.
i love this car!
black #8
art

 

Would you be so kind as to post a photo?

 

Just got my leather installed! It looks GREAT!!

I got my leather from Leatherseats.com. It arrived Wednesday, and today I had it installed. The installer, an auto upholstery shop, charged me $325 (plus tax), and includes the arm rests on the door panels. He said that he would never do it for $325 again. I took 5-1/2 hours, with three men working on it (although not all three for the whole time).

I have a Tideland Pearl (BC), and got a two-tone of Dark Brown with Shale in the seating area. I used the Dark Brown for the door panels and Console cover (although we ran out of the Dark Brown vinyl and will have to do the console cover when we receive more vinyl).

I'm thrilled to have it. I have two dogs, and when they ride in the car, the upholstery would get dirty. Plus I'm kind of sloppy myself. The leather gives me peace of mind.

I can highly recommend leatherseats.com.

Lou

 

It sounds great. Please post photos!!

 

I'm going to try to take some digital photos tomorrow, but I've never posted pictures before. Hopefully, it will be easy. I think that they need to be a lower resolution, otherwise the file size is too large. I'll check the home page for instructions.

Lou

 

i've been meaning to post my photos as well, but with work and the newbie thing of never having posted imgs, i have been lagging. it's a goal for this weekend.
mine is dark grey so that will give you a good feel for the variation.
-r

 

I appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile. I just picked up (3 weeks ago) a Silver BC and really want to add leather. Seeing your pics may be just the push I need to make it happen!
Thanks!

 

I just posted my pictures. I don't know if it's my camera or the conversion to JPG, but the Dark Brown doesn't look brown, it looks more like charcoal in the pictures. You'll get the idea, though.

Lou

 

It looks great. Thanks for posting, it's very helpful.

 

phew... wrapped up that goal by midnight.

i have posted pics of my leather interior in the mods category as well as putting more shots of my car in my personal gallery in case you want to look (m1j1tc0rn).

the company that did my leather was www.classicsofttrim.com.

of course i was struggling with the flash so sometime soon i will update them with better clarity.

anyway, hope this helps.

-r

 

You all motivated me to go out and order leather myself. I placed an order with Paymer & Phillips here in Maryland for Charcoal leather for my Silver '04. I went conservative: according to Katzkin (appartently the wholesaler for many if not all of the subsequent aftermarket leather resellers) during the last 60 days there have been orders for over 83 shales (the preferred leather color for the ivory interiors) and 29 Charcoals (ditto for the silver). Virtually no other colors have been ordered for the Prius.

I will post pictures after installation.

 

I dropped my Prius off this morning with fabric and picked it up this evening with leather.

I have a Black Prius. The interior is now charcoal and grey. I'll post some photos when we get a decent day for taking photos.

I went in on the group buy from leatherseats.com. Interestingly, the seats came packed in a Katzkin box. I wondered if leatherseats.com just use an old Katzkin box. The installer (who installs Katzkins) said it was a Katzkin product, including some of the Katzkin labelling.

BTW, the price to have this installed in Vancouver was C$325 plus taxes. The installer said there was nothing unusual about the installation.

 

I'm not going with leather, but I do like sheepskin seat covers. I have some rather generic ones from a previous vehicle, but this thread has alerted me to the possibility that they may compromise operation of the airbags.

Any chance someone could post about exactly what area needs to be left open? My wife is pretty good with a sewing machine, if we knew what needs to be done. Thanks.

 

When my leather from leatherseats.com was installed, the box was missing the piece for the console cover. I contacted leatherseats.com and they FedEx'd it to me. The packing slip said "Katzkin" on it, so I sent an email, just asking whether they are really Katzkin. Leatherseats.com sells Katzkin products, usually at lower prices than Katzkin themselves. Plus, Katzkin will only guarantee the leather if you use one of their installers (which are MUCH higher priced than what you can get elsewhere). Leatherseats.com will stand behind the product wherever it's installed.

I know that some folks have said that they prefer to go direct to the manufacturer, but if it's the same product at a lower price and a better warranty, why?

Lou

 

You raise a good point, but I feel that when doing something as monumental as installing aftermarket matters in my beloved Prius, I want the best. That's why I deal through Paymer & Phillips in Laurel, MD, who ordered the Katzkin and will install for a total price of $1099. Is that high? Maybe. But I'm willing to pay for piece of mind. They've done work on my vehicles before, is the number 1 referral from Toyotal dealers in the region and, IMHO, is a high quality organization. If I'm paying more for using them, then at least I know I'm getting quality. If I'm not, so much the better.