Touring Pkg 6 seats ALL leather?

Another question here ... I noticed the arm rests and pad are all leather in the Pkg 6 as well ... am I wrong in thinking this wasn't the case before 2008? Thought I remembered someone complaining about the middle console and arm pads in the door not being leather.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NJPriusA @ Oct 5 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]521732[/snapback]</div>

I had dealer installed leather. They inadvertantly left out the console and rear panel leather, but sent it out to have it installed for me

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NJPriusA @ Oct 5 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]521732[/snapback]</div>

Received my '08 Touring, Pkg 6 two weeks ago. The center section of the seats are leather, the outside trim is synthetic leather. Our Prii is Barcelona Red with Bisque leather interior. My wife and I like the vehicle interior, leather wrapped steering wheel and the contrast between the red exterior and tan leather interior. My wife and I have always had leather seats in our vehicles and have no problem with the Pkg 6 leather interior. Looks and comfort are first rate.

If you buy Pkg 5 and you want all leather seats, you will need to go to a third party vendor to have your fabric seats re-finished. However, you will need to make sure the seats are re-covered by a dealer that can certify the air-bag functions have not been impaired.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 5 2007, 11:54 AM) [snapback]521767[/snapback]</div>

Get the leather seats through the dealer. They are full leather seat covers. Pressure the dealer to do it for $1000. Unless you need the 6CD player or Navigation, just buy PKG#2. In fact use an Ipod player instead of the CD player--these are now obsolete. We have a Garmin Nuvi680 GPS device which provides more features than factory nav.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Oct 5 2007, 11:54 AM) [snapback]521767[/snapback]</div>

Get the leather seats through the dealer. They are full leather seat covers. Pressure the dealer to do it for $1000. Unless you need the 6CD player or Navigation, just buy PKG#2. In fact use an Ipod player instead of the CD player--these are now obsolete. We have a Garmin Nuvi680 GPS device which provides more features than factory nav.

 

Unless you specify full leather when ordering, any leather seat cover is leather only on the centre panels (seat bottom and back). When you specify full leather it usually costs two to three times as much. Aftermarket leather covers wholesale for around $700 for the Prius. They are a lot of work to install, but a good installer can do the job for you for around $1000-$1500. This does not include leather steering wheel and other bits. Dealer prices would be a little higher as he would want to take his "cut".
Other options you can specify are "perforated" leather (tiny holes all over the leather parts). These breath better but are more susceptible to tearing.

The OEM leather seats are not too bad. Even though the side bolsters are not real leather, it's hard to tell the difference. Often the only way to really know for sure is to look behind the cover to see if it's a rough leather or cloth backing.

As mentioned above, care must be taken to ensure the covers have "breakaway" stitching so the airbags work properly. This is automatic on the OEM leather, of course.