Cloth or leather? Please advise!

My wife in I are in the exact same situation and had the same concern with the baby making messes. We ended up pursuing an option to get cloth with a PermaPlate Fiberguard treatment (http://www.permaplate.com/), which is supposed to make any liquid poured on the cloth bead so it doesn't stain.

My dealer did a Paintguard/Fiberguard treatment for a few hundred dollars and it even came with a guarantee that if we couldn't get a stain out, they'd reappolster the vehicle.

I'm sure we were getting gouged on the treatment, but it nevertheless saved us about a thousand dollars over going with the leather.

 

We just purchased a 2007 Prius, Package #5. It came with cloth, which I liked, my husband did not. We purchased the "Stone leather used in the Camry". Yes you can request a different color leather than they normally put in the Prius.
We split the cost of the leather with the dealer as part of our purchase.
With a new child coming, I personally would get the cloth interior just because - if you take the car seat in and out of the car, the leather could crack easily if not maintained really well. If you leave the car seat in the car all of the time, the leather still may crack and become dry from the constant pressure of the car seat. Let us know what you decide. Good Luck!

Susanne

 

Get leather! And get one of those seat protectors that goes under the carseat.

You have to be tidy and vigilant to keep fabric seats decent. If you have just had a baby, you haven't had enough sleep to be tidy or vigilant. Make your life easier. Get leather. If you have a major spill, you can deal with that when you have to -- but minor spills are very, very easy to clean with just a swipe on the way out of the car.

Congratulations!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cooljw @ Apr 11 2007, 06:08 PM) [snapback]421673[/snapback]</div>

My wife and I have a 2004 Prius with cloth (gray color) and a 2006 Prius with tan factory leather. We also have a 16 month old boy, and a three year old girl. Both the cloth and the leather work well with spills. I think Toyota must have something on the cloth (we did not do scotch guarding) because a wet cloth with a normal household cleaner removed stains easily for us (quite remarkably). The leather does not really stain in the first place, but if something gets on it then that wipes up easily off the surface even after it dries.

We outfitted both cars with special pads designed for protecting the Prius seats from the baby car seats, and there is no sign of pressure creases, wear, etc. on either the cloth or leather Prius. In fact, on the leather Prius the leather under the baby seats/pads seems completely 'as new' after about 12,000 miles. So, I do not believe there is any danger of leather drying out or cracking etc.

Personally I really like the factory leather because it feels so nice, and looks fantastic. It does not seem to collect dust or dim in its luster at all. The feel of leather on the steering wheel is hard to give up, when I compare and drive the Prius without leather. The difference is really noticable. The Prius with leather feels luxurious and classy somehow, every time I get in. And, on longer trips it seems to be a bit more comfortable. To me, the leather in combination with the Nav computer, voice activation, keyless entry, roomy hatchback storage, oh yes and the futuristic hybrid technology bring a fantastic driving experience with the leather worth the extra expense.

Best regards,

Eric

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cooljw @ Apr 23 2007, 12:16 AM) [snapback]428154[/snapback]</div>

Awsome choice. I really like factory leather came with Prius.

 

Well, I was going to add my $.02 and say the cloth on the Prius sucks, I share livelychick's viewpoint. Recently, I bought a new set of factory cloth seat covers from an '07 that was converted to leather for $100, and replaced mine. Looks spectacular, and took a few hours to do by myself.

I'm glad you went with leather though, I wish I had had that option when I got mine.

 

Like Charles said, "A matter of opinion and personal preference..." I prefer leather" I find leather more comfortable. I had the Ivory cloth seats in my prius and it was a pain to keep clean I ended up getting clear vinyl seat covers for it.

As for having dogs or the wife dropping cherry soda on the seat :blink: That was a bear to clean-up btw.
I would go with leather or a plastic/vinyl seat covers as babies can ruin cloth quickly. Think of it in the long run are you going to have somone ride in your car (family / friends) and they may look at the seat and see a stain and think oh gross what was that? Cant they keep their car clean? or man it sure smells back here in the back seat almost like sour milk..

A friend bought a honda mini-van loaded with everything but had cloth seats 3 months ago his wife with 3 kids and a baby have made the vehicle nasty.... He complains that he gets it cleaned and with in 2 wks theres old food, spilt milk/drinks and mac-donalds wrappers on the floors and ground food in the seats.
He refuses to ride the the New van, until the wife cleans it out instead of it looking like white trash owns the car.

As for leather being hot in the summer? There is a product that has been around for a few years it's called window tint and it works very well. Not only does it keep the car 10* cooler it also saves the interior from the suns harmful rays that ruin the seats after years of being exposed.

The Hycam I just bought, I ordered it with leather. They had a local company come to the lot and do it there. It still cost me $2k but after dealing with trying to keep the cloth seats clean... This was the better alternative. Not to mention when I add the burlwood trim it will have that luxury Lexus look & feel to it.

I drove a camry loaner car with the factory leather and the new car with the add on leather and I noticed the add on is more plush & comfortable... B)

I would have to say that Fabric arm rests had to be one of the worst ideas, as arm oil will stain them and when you clean them the glue will eventually let go and the edges may begin to lift..

 

We have leather in on car and cloth in the other, we also have two kids in car seats and no matter which vehicle the car seats are in we always put a folded bath towel under each car seat. They're great for catching spills and come in handy all the time. Kids don't care if it's cloth or $1000 worth of leather, to them it's just something else to puke or spill on.

 

I just went to our dealer today to ask about after-market installed leather. They said it's better quality than the factory installed & he thought it was comfier (is that a word? ha). It also didn't seem to be that bad of a price to me. Just pushing me closer to buying.

When I purchase my 07, I don't want all the "other stuff" that comes in the leather bound package. & having an 80lb Golden Retriever & expecting to have kidlets soon, I don't want cloth!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Apr 12 2007, 11:14 PM) [snapback]422371[/snapback]</div>

While you may be right in your technical analysis, who cares? Leather is the prefered seat cover. Aside from looks and ambiance, it has no static electricity and is much smooth getting in-out. If one does not get it from the dealer, there are aftermarket sources which may provide an even better leather cover. We did it on two Prius and they look and feel far better than the stock cloth interior. Besides I only care about what I pay, not the dealer's profit margin. Do you ask the same thing when you get a $3K HDTV from Best Buy?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(h2photo @ May 7 2007, 03:38 PM) [snapback]437027[/snapback]</div>

Our two Prius Touring models are absolutely awsome looking with the leather--from aftermarket through the dealer for $975 ea. The black exterior with the tan exterior and grey exterior with grey interior are top notch. If you can afford to get it, the ambiance, feel and comfort of your car will dramatically increase.

 

With the factory leather after you remove the babyseat the
leather is severely damaged from the weight and being in
the same spot. Does not look good.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KFERN @ May 7 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]437231[/snapback]</div>

Thats why they sell pads for underneath baby sets...