Leather or softex

If that's leather, it looks much nicer than my leather seats. I don't remember seeing stitching down the middle of the seat as well. Looks more luxurious than mine.

 

In general, the leather you get on a Prius has a hard shiny surface. Softex is, well, soft. A dealer -could- install better quality leather, of course. Easiest way to know for sure is to inspect the inside surface. Be aware, most "leather seats" are only leather on the centre panels. The side panels are "leatherette". Also they seem to impregnate Softex with leather smell. So no luck telling by smell.
My Softex seats are not perforated. Though I think I will have to look again to be sure.

 

It's a matter of personal preference. Leather pretty much mandates heated seats (for cold days), and it's more work to clean. Fabric is more "durable" and "forgiving." If you want leather, go for it.

 

that looks like leather. my wife has soft-tex. I really love the soft tex.

 

I love the look of the interior, but how do you keep it clean. Mine is a white with black interior. Every time I take my dog for a walk I end up with paw prints from dust or mud. Someone mentioned Armor-all. My wife suggested Scotchgard.

Any thoughts?

Kevin

 

A good quality cleaner and conditioner are indicated. I don't care for the shiny look of Armor All and I'm not sure Scotch Guard is good for the surface.

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I haven't heard anybody else anywhere say this, and I'm putting on my flame suit, but:

Eff Softex. It's vinyl upholstery. Fake leather. Replacing leather with fake leather was a downgrade, full stop.

There's a reason why luxury cars offer real leather as their top trim level, and only recently have some of them started offering vinyl as standard equipment on the base model – most of them with an extra-cost upgrade available to real leather. Real leather is more breathable, feels different and wears differently. You can't convincingly fake the desirable aspects of leather seats any more than you can fake a leather bomber jacket with a PVC one. I'd choose the velour of a Prius Two over vinyl every time, and I'd emerge with a lot less sweat sticking me to my shirt.

I can see an argument for Toyota cutting costs on the upholstery in order to free up money for upgrades elsewhere in the car starting in 2013, such as Entune and a heads-up display. But don't insult my intelligence by saying it was for environmental reasons. One man's opinion, take it or leave it.

 

For US spec cars, I think the 2010 and 2011 Priuses offered real leather on their higher trim lines. Starting in 2012, the leather was replaced by softtex. I have softtex in mine and is quite nice, easy to keep clean.

 

Tideland, you're right about the German makers offering vinyl for a number of years, and I know that among those brands' buyers, it has its devotees. I reviewed a Jetta several years ago that had it, and they'd even fragranced it with leather smell. In calling this a recent development, I was speaking more about Lexus and Acura.

As for the weight, sure, leather is heavier. It's much thicker than a layer of vinyl -- it's genuine animal hide.

As for the environmental benefits, I'm not saying vinyl has none. But remember two things: The skins of all those Big Macs have got to go somewhere, and vinyl is a petroleum product.

 

Amazingly (and not in a good way), Acura made vinyl standard on the full-size RLX. Quite a car, that RLX – compared to its predecessor, Acura deleted real wood, real leather and AWD while keeping the base price near $50k. But on the positive side, they made it unattractive enough to repel car thieves.