Body Oils vs. Cloth Interior

Not counting my wife's cars, the Prius is my first car ever with cloth upholstery.

In a warm climate, cloth is infinitely more comfortable than the leather that I was accustomed to.

The upholstery manufacturer, Alcantara®, has very good maintenance instructions for this very resilient (and expensive) material at this site: Alcantara® Maintenance.

 

My armrest got really nasty over the summer. I used Simple Green. It worked great.

 

I think the only things you may potentialy have problems with are the armrest and center console. but i would guess the material to be easy to replace. I've heard of ink coming out of the seats with just soap and water. I had an ink mark and it came out with me sitting on it. hehe. the seats are truly awesome from what i've seen so far.

 

i had fabric protection put on by my sister (she works for the local ford dealer) and i have had several spills already. taco sauce cleaned up perfectly. ketchup didnt stand a chance.

and yes i had a small accident with a pink gel pen, it also cleaned up easily.

i dont know how much was due to the fabric protection, but i no longer worry about stains.

i am more concerned with the coating that is on the hard plastic interior areas. things like the buttons for the glove boxes have started to show wear already. it seems almost like paint peeling.

whatever it is, it has depth and color. seems like latex paint...

 

the plastics "scuff" easy.. if you get them wet the color comes back. and it looks richer. I went to www.moreshine.com and purchased the case of products. While a few are not needed, the rest work wonders. More shine, Less time put a nice coating on the inside. it does not make it look a gross shiny like armorall or other products would. it simpley brings out the burgandy color in my dash and i no longer get those marks from people fingers. if you need to keep the MFD clean.. i would recommend having the screen off or the car off. I use a microfiber type of cloth from lensecrafters. do not use produts on the screen. it can stain it and cause other problems.

 

I've heard of others who protected.. but i have not notices a difference between those who have protected theirs and those who have not. I did not want to put anything on my seats. I already know about the company that made them and didn't want to mess with their high class product. but my ink came out no problems. I have not had anything else stain. dirt and everything simply wipes right up.

 

Some of the cars that feature Alcantara® fabrics:

ASTON MARTIN
- AM Vanquish V12
- DB7
- Le Mans

AUDI
- A3
- A4
- A8
- Quattro GmbH
- S3
- S8
- TT

BMW
- 3 Series
- 5 Series
- 5 Series Chrome
- 5 Series Sport
- 7 Series
- Individual
- M3
- M5
- X5

CITROËN
- C5
- C8
- Xantia
- XM

FORD
- Focus RS
- Puma Racing

HONDA
- Civic
- Civic Type R
- CR-W

JAGUAR
- X-Type Indianapolis

KOENIGSEGG
- Koenigsegg CC 2001

LAMBORGHINI
- Diablo
- Murcielago

LANCIA
- Delta HPE
- K
- K S.W.
- Lybra Intensa
- Lybra LX
- Phedra
- Thesis
- Zeta

LAND ROVER
- Discovery
- Freelander

LOTUS
- Elise

MASERATI
- 3200 GT
- Quattroporte-Evoluzione

MAYBACH
- Maybach

MERCEDES BENZ
- A-Class A210 Evolution
- A-Class Designo
- S-Class
- SL-Class AMG

MG
- TF
- ZR
- ZT

NISSAN
- Almera Tino

OPEL
- Astra Coupé

PEUGEOT
- 206 GTI
- 206 RC
- 206 RG
- 206 SW
- 807

PORSCHE
- 911
- Boxster S

RENAULT
- Clio Sport
- Espace Initiale
- Laguna 2.0 turbo
- Scenic 4x4 Salomon
- Vel Satis

SEAT
- Alhambra
- Toledo S5

SMART
- Smart Creamstyle

SPARCO
- Sparco
- Sparco

VOLKSWAGEN
- Passat
- Passat Highline
- VW12

VOLVO
- C 70
- S 80

Alcantara® Gallery

 

Interesting that the Prius is not mentioned!

 

i take it no other toyota has it either?

 

That's because the Prius's interior isn't Alcantara.

It is available as an optional extra in Europe though. A snip at a mere £1350 here in the UK. :crazyeyes: Otherwise, as standard all European cars come with the same grey ("Millbeck") cloth used in the US. We don't get the ivory interior.

 

I don't know what it is made of but it cleans up easily. I spilled a bit of coffee on the rear seat from my thermos and did not notice it for most of the day. In the evening I saw it and had a bottle of water in the car. That and a paper towel and it came right out! I was pleasantly suprised!

 

I've always had cars with cloth interiors, and I've never had a problem with body oils or other stains. But if something is being studdorn about coming out, Nature's Miricle (pet stain remover!) works wonders (can you tell I have dogs & cats? LOL). I love leather, but that's aweful cold to sit on in the winter (and blistering hot in the summer!).

 

Yes, it is on North American specifications Prius models.

Just as the European models have some standard and available features that we don't get in North America, we do get some standard and optional equipment that is extra cost or not available in Europe.

The Alcantara® Gallery is not meant to be an all exclusive listing of all makes and models featuring their products.

 

How can you be so sure? Is there a label on it? Do Toyota state it in the specifications?

All the photos I've seen, it looks exactly like our standard upholstery, and nothing like the European Alcantara brochure photo.

 

This prompted me (yet again) to run out to my car and look in the manual. Now I know; on page 263 it clearly states the interior is Vinyl. :crazyeyes:

 

Because my manual tells me so!


Seriously, I think someone at Toyota was a wee bit confused since the manual actually does mention 'the vinyl interior' with respect to cleaning. Sheesh! :roll: