Why get III over IV if you want leather?

reread my list below.

 

Ditto! would love to see pictures.

I've just agreed to buy a III rather than the IV I wanted because of availability. I would have rather had the IV... I wanted several of the upgrades especially the leather and the sks x3.

I'm working on "falling in love" with the version III now. My hope is that I can get a custom leather job done that will make it all ok. The fact that I can live with the fabric while I save my pennies is a definite plus. Not paying for it through the financing or dealer will effectively cut the cost by a significant margin I think.

I'm very interested in doing research on local (Oregon) shops for leather.

 

Actually, that's what the difference between $2800 and the cost of aftermarket leather buys.

 

I agree, I checked out the regular grade Klatzkin leather (felt as good as OEM) and the upgraded Tuscany and I can get a darker color then OEM. The direct quote from the after market firm that does most Toyota dealers in PDX, as well as other brands was $1,350 for the upgraded Katzkin Tuscany. This included $200 for the wrapped wheel with exact matching leather, (not wheelskins leather - thought they send it to WS), as well as the console, and doors (non-heated seat which I do not need here).

I went direct not only to save a few hundred dollars, but retain control. No need to have other people handle the car to hand off. I did decide to wait until next year and enjoy not caring what happens to the cloth (as they take it off anyway - this installer does not put the leather over cloth).

If I want want all leather on parts not where Toyota OEM is non-leather, its only an extra $200. $1,550 is very reasonable but probably going to pass. I did not want/need any of the other options on the VI which was good as there were none in Blue available in 3 states last month. My deadline was 7/31 to qualify for sales tax exemption of 8.5%.

PS interesting quote from other member about OEM being same quality as Lexus. I had an 03 Avalon with OEM gray (med - silverish color) leather that was a great quality but I did not find the 10 Prius leather to be as good. So either I test drove a outlier or Lexus leather is lower quality...but as he said, all in the eye of the beholder

 

Rose,
Who is your quote through? I'm curious about getting the contrasting stitching I've seen done. I wonder what effect that has on cost?

 

Coach Automotice - 503-526-1001. There was a guy recommended near downtown PDX who does a lot of antique cars. Even better leather, but not needed for a P - was $2,200 for everything including all leather. PS they know me by my real name, Ann - but as mentioned, I have not yet done it - just seen their work at a dealer's lot

 

I went through my dealer to get leather put on my Prius II. I decided to do this as I had a bone to pick with them for a screw up during the well check process the day I bought my car, that made me leave it with them for a day a few hours after I bought and paid for it. I also had an issue being shady and sneaking in tint at an exorbitant price during the deal. I managed to parlay that into a $100 discount off the leather upgrade, so it was $1299; 3 days of car rental while it was being done; and two certificates for a free oil change. I'm pretty happy with the job they did. The leather feels really nice, it's perforated, and is reasonably tight. I need to take a closer look at it tomorrow when I get a chance. It does have zippers in the back of the front seats, just like the cloth seats did. I'm pretty sure they took the cloth ones off first; the back of the back seats are carpet, not leather.

 

Concur with Dianne, if the absolute quality of the leather is NOT a pet peeve then the price difference between the IV and the III is not as wide a gap as one might think. My wife and I struggled much over saving money on a 2nd Gen III Prius (one week after purchasing the first one) with package III versus package IV.

The main problem in calculating the true cost difference is the 3 door SKS in the IV versus than single SKS in the III. (Apart from the potentially catastrophic DIY option) How can you reasonably cost this option when the +2 door SKS upgrade kit is not available ? As such, the 3 door SKS was the primary tie breaker, along with a IV/V add-on not mentioned above, front / passenger water repellent side windows !

[Can't tell you how many laughs my wife and I have had with our new Gen III "water repellent" side window upgrades !]

As for the heated seats, how many SoCal Gen III IV or V buyers were able to use that ill-packaged option to negotiate a lower price ?

(BTW - I'd love to know the experience of having electrically cooled front seats !)

 

I agree the cost is more than worth the value in the IV. The issue for me became finding one. The only IV's I could find also had the solar roofs, increasing cost by an additional 1800. I ended up with the III because that is all I could find.