I finally hit the minimum number of replies to post on my own, thank you!

Looking at used 5th Gen 4Runners and a question about seat material...How expensive is it to change cloth to real/synthetic leather, and how is the quality compared to OEM? Dealer install, Aftermarket install? It's really hard to find anything used in our price range and most have cloth seats. We have a dog and dusty cabin road so want to stay with leather or the new vinyl, but it really limits our choices in the used Market 🙁.

Five years later! Consider something like this Custom Fit Seat Covers

One of my coworkers recently purchased a Tacoma without leather seats and he had the dealer install Katzkin covers on all the seats for about $1300 and they came out great. Looks like they are leather seats from factory. He got the TRD logo emnroided on the headrest for an additional $130. Maybe this is an option your local dealer offers?

Good luck !

Katskinz or Leatherseats.com. You can get them installed but it’s also not super hard to do it yourself

Katzkin leather is very nice but not cheap. Worth it though if you want top notch leather. I would recommend having it professionally installed though.

If you want a cheaper, DIY solution then check out Clazzio seat covers. I installed some in my FJ Cruiser and they looked as if they were OEM.

Wait for them to go on sale via Costco. I have the neoprene on the 3rd gen they are really nice. GF complains they make her ass sweaty though. I have that 3rd gen driver crotch fan going so not a problem for me

@RobS10 If you still haven't purchased your vehicle yet I would definitely just get a premium vehicle with softex from the get go. When I purchased my 2016 new I thought I wanted just the base model (non-premium) since I knew I was going to mod it out and didn't want any of the extra features. I think at that time the price difference from non-premium to premium was maybe $2,700 retail. I have a dog that sheds quite a bit and after a year I was sick and tired of shop vacuuming the 4R every 2-4 weeks since his hair would just get stuck everywhere. Spoke with a Katzkin dealer who gave me the best price for 2 rows and added heated seats. I believe it came out to be like $1,800 after all said and done. It's been a great upgrade and I don't need to vacuum so much anymore since I can just brush the dog hair out. However had I just sprung for a premium model from the beginning I would have had factory softex heated seats and extra's like sunroof, homelink, heated side mirrors, dimming rear view mirror, garage door buttons, etc etc that all come with premium models.

So yes I think leather seats are a very worthwhile upgrade especially if you have dogs that shed but if you can just get a premium model to begin with. Although if you can find a great deal on a non-premium truck then adding Katzkins would be the first mod I'd do.

We're looking at the Used market...so many more cloth seats in my area, OR, LTDs, which I don't really want to pay the extra for stuff I don't need.

No kidding, I was looking at their rhino ones but the neoprene is $170 less through Costco. How much cheaper do they get on sale? My parents have a membership, for that price difference I'll probably just give them some cash to grab me neoprene.

For "genuine neoprene wetsuit" it was $300 shipped for 2 rows. I think the sale price was $50 off Costco's already cheaper price of $350. They fit great and look great (I got totally plain black) and water proof. The 2011 sr5 seats are holding up quite well though so it will be a while before I get 5th gen covers. I'm impressed with how well everything holds up on these 5th gen so far. Interior is basically flawless and i don't baby it by any means. If you mountain bike or surf or something they are def worth it over the old towel on seat method.

I'd look at Clazzio.Clazzio Seat Covers - #1 Trusted Site - Customizable Leather Seat Covers

Would you have any photos of your friends leather job buddy? Thanks.