How can you pick auto seat covers that truly fit your car? And avoid getting ones that are too big or small for your seats?
Auto seats are sized differently. The Mazda 3 is smaller than the Toyota Tundra. The Fiat 500 is a little poodle compared to the Chevy Silverado.
So how can you make sure you buy the correct fitting ones every single time?
1. Know your seats sizes
Your seats are measured in two ways: the hip and shoulder room.
The hip room is where you sit, measured from door to door. Basically this is how wide or roomy your seats are.
The shoulder room is the upper seat measured from door to door. This is how wide your upper seat is or how much room your shoulders have when you sit in the seat.
2. Measure your seats
Break out the measuring tape to figure out how wide and tall your seats are. Measure across each seat. Measure the height (or up and down) each seat.
Or check out Edmunds.com. Just plug in your car's make, model and year on the home page and hit "go." On the next page, scroll down until you see Features and Specs. Click on that.
On the next page, scroll down until you see Specifications. Under that will be a listing of your vehicle's measurements and specifications. You should see Interior Measurements and that's where your rear hip and shoulder room will be listed in inches.
NOTE: If you choose this route, you won't get the up and down measurements of your seat, which you'll need in a few steps.
3. Check out the seat covers
Typically the seat covers will have a size listed in the description. Hunt down this number. Usually it's about 60" x 30" and is listed under the description or the specifications.
4. Headrests or not?
See if the seat covers go over your seat's headrests or not. That can impact the size of the covers. They might be bigger if the covers go over the headrests. Or smaller if the covers loop around the headrests.
5. Compare the size of your seats to the seat covers
Compare the size of your car's seats to the size of the seat covers.
For example, if you have a Mazda 3, your upper seat is about 50" (shoulder room) x 30" (top-bottom measurement). If you're looking at a seat cover that is 60" x 30", it's going to be really loose across the seat in the shoulder room.
6. Aim for close numbers of seats to covers
Try to get seat covers that are very close in size to your actual auto seats.
The bigger the difference between the numbers, the worse the covers will fit. And the more time you'll spend fiddling with them.
But if the numbers are close or the covers are able to be tightly strapped to the seats --- not just loosely attached with elastic or looped around the headrests -- the covers will fit your seats better.