Floor Liners and Floor Mats

[blumonster]

Hello,

I like Weathertech floor liners, I see their ads on car magazines all the time.
I checked to see if they make floor liners for 1st Generation Sienna, sadly they do not, except for the cargo area.

They have got rubber floor mats for the front and back. 2nd and 3rd row mats are almost certainly universal since they fit 2011 Siennas also.

What is the best way (price-performance-appearance-durability-quality) to cover the carpeted area in our vans?

[Black Sunshine]

My carpet is way too far gone. With 223,448 miles on the way home today, I don't think that the carpet weighs very highly in the value of the van.

When we got the van it had universal mats that weren't even gray. They were brown or red or something. They were ugly and shifting around constantly so I trashed them. Our carpet looks terrible. Up front between the seats is a strong coffee odor. The carpet there is brown.

Two weeks ago I took the seats out and vacuumed the carpet with my shop vac. I was amazed at how much stuff was in there. The wells where the seats latch down were jammed up with batteries, french fries, rocks, dirt, grass, and little plastic toys.

I have been trying to find a very cheap floor replacement. I've thought about putting down laminate flooring, diamond plate, or even tile. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the bottoms of the seats would ruin any of those types of flooring when I'm taking them out and putting them back in.

I take the seats out and shove things in there all the time.

[blumonster]

Originally Posted by Black Sunshine

My carpet is way too far gone. With 223,448 miles on the way home today, I don't think that the carpet weighs very highly in the value of the van.

When we got the van it had universal mats that weren't even gray. They were brown or red or something. They were ugly and shifting around constantly so I trashed them. Our carpet looks terrible. Up front between the seats is a strong coffee odor. The carpet there is brown.

Two weeks ago I took the seats out and vacuumed the carpet with my shop vac. I was amazed at how much stuff was in there. The wells where the seats latch down were jammed up with batteries, french fries, rocks, dirt, grass, and little plastic toys.

I have been trying to find a very cheap floor replacement. I've thought about putting down laminate flooring, diamond plate, or even tile. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the bottoms of the seats would ruin any of those types of flooring when I'm taking them out and putting them back in.

I take the seats out and shove things in there all the time.

Thank you for your reply, Black Sunshine.

The carpets in our van still look nice even though they are tan in color.
The main reason I want rubber floor mats is to prevent the floor from becoming the way you described. I have 3 children, all of them are 'Happy Meal' fans. I do not let them eat in the van but my wife might.

I wish we could get the rubber and cut it into size and make our own...

[Potter]

We actually tried enjoying the carpeting in our Sienna. What a mistake. Not only are the piles totally flat, but when the fibers are wet they just wipe off with the skuff of a winter boot. In fact, between the seats there's a 5" round area that shows just the pad of the carpet - looks awful and we now have a plastic drawer that's squished between the seats to hold things covering it. It's the poorest carpeting I've ever had in a car.

Needless to say we reverted to floor mats, Costco's have worked well and cover the mess.

Never took out the other mats in the back and back seat; maybe that was a good thing in hindsight.

[blumonster]

Originally Posted by Potter

We actually tried enjoying the carpeting in our Sienna. What a mistake. Not only are the piles totally flat, but when the fibers are wet they just wipe off with the skuff of a winter boot. In fact, between the seats there's a 5" round area that shows just the pad of the carpet - looks awful and we now have a plastic drawer that's squished between the seats to hold things covering it. It's the poorest carpeting I've ever had in a car.

Needless to say we reverted to floor mats, Costco's have worked well and cover the mess.

Never took out the other mats in the back and back seat; maybe that was a good thing in hindsight.

In the cargo area of our van there is a few inches (in diameter) pad area on the carpet-mat. That is the only part which is worn badly.Maybe I should let everyone enjoy it too. We got the van recently.It has almost 160,000 miles on the odometer.I think we will be the last owners of the van, so we do not have to worry about re-sale value either. However I want to keep it in good shape as much as possible.

Thank you for your reply, Potter.

[Black Sunshine]

Originally Posted by blumonster

Thank you for your reply, Black Sunshine.

The carpets in our van still look nice even though they are tan in color.
The main reason I want rubber floor mats is to prevent the floor from becoming the way you described. I have 3 children, all of them are 'Happy Meal' fans. I do not let them eat in the van but my wife might.

I wish we could get the rubber and cut it into size and make our own...

Actually, I've seen something like this done. I didn't like it but you may. I saw in a pickup truck the owner had taken clear plastic hallway runner stuff and covered all of the carpet with it. It's cheap and it would cover the carpet.

The reason I don't like it is that if the carpet is covered then it may as well not be there. Carpet is there for comfort.

I wish that it had nice factory mats like a lot of newer cars have. Although I guess that Toyota doesn't have a good reputation for this.