Can anyone recommend some nicely-fitting car seat covers (hopefully matching my blue-tan interior)? I guess what I'm looking for is a company that goes out of their way to match the cover to a particular car.

thanks,

-- Frank



BTW, on a sad note, I finally sold my 1995 Saturn SC2 (which my hybrid replaces). I had that car longer than I've known my wife!

Wet Okole makes excellent neoprene seat covers; I recently had some installed for my 2006 HCH. At the time they didn't have the plans for the back bench but they did the two front bucket seats and added a free console cover. They fit well and they don't obstruct movement at all -- the seats adjust normally and the console can be opened and slide forward armrest-style just like before with no problems. The seats have slits to allow the side airbags to open and they test airbags with a bunch of manufacturers' seats to make sure it doesn't impede them.

I'll upload photos sometime later, maybe in a week.

I'll second the recommendation for Wet Okole. I have (soon had) a set on my Insight for over 100k miles. They fit GREAT.
I think there's still some pics of the seat covers installed on my Insight on my website in the Insight Gallery:
www.littlebluespitfire.com
Not sure if I'm going to get them for my HCH - the interior seems a whole lot more durable than the Insight's - plus the blue interior should hide dirt and wear better.

The thick padding does mess up the ergonomics of the seat a bit; it made it a little harder to find a comfortable seating position, and the headrest doesn't push my head forward as far as it used to... it's more like a normal car seat now. I guess some people would find that a benefit. But I still like them, and they definitely make the interior look nicer since I don't like the tan color of the existing seats.

The padding is half an inch thick on the seat, and a quarter of an inch on the headrest.

I was going to ask how they turned out. Did you get the color you mentioned earlier? (I won't ruin the surprise for everyone else )

Sounds like a great deal you got too. A perk of living near the factory. I bet I could of gotten the color pallette I wanted if I was nearby them.

Oh, and to add on: I second/third Wet Okole. I've got them in my Insight, didn't really consider them for my HCH.

'00 Insight "Wazabi" -75,000+ miles
'03 Toyota Matrix - 81,000+ miles
'03 HCH-CVT-OSBM-41,000+ miles (retired 04-10-06)
"I'm very secure with my little Insight, no Prius envy here."

What color / pattern did you get ? I have the galaxy gray with ivory interior and am trying to decide on a color that would look good. I already replaced the mats with the black all weather. The ivory is ok but seems to need constant care even after a few applications of scoth guard.

I got the bright green covers. I'll try to take pictures soon. I bought a UV protectant from somewhere else but haven't bothered using it yet since I'm lazy, but the color hasn't faded at all that I can tell, and the car is never garaged. But I suspect green is probably one of the most resistant colors to fade; I heard red is the most vulnerable.

How complicated/time consuming is the installation for the Wet Okole front seat covers? (I was just curious if it would be impractical to periodically install or remove the covers, depending on the occasion).

How do the wet okales compare to leather in terms of look, feel, and "breathe-ability"? I assume they are nothing like the old vinyl that cars had in the 70's that would make the occupants sweat in hot weather.