[shankar.balan]

It only happens in India! Why buy a nice spanking new car with nice comfy seats if one is going to have to sit every day on those horrible plastic seat covers?

Perhaps the dealership staff should suggest to all new car buyers at the time of delivery that they will remove the plastic covers in a clean, professional way to avoid dirt and stains etc!

But it is true that we Indians like to try and preserve our stuff as much as possible. We have a certain reluctance to get "down and dirty" with our new possessions.

This may possibly be a hangover from the bad old quasi-socialistic, protectionist economy days when one lived on "second-hand goods" and "hand-me-downs" and generally had to go through great hardship, difficulty, waiting period and other such efforts to be able to buy and own "brand new" things and therefore tried to preserve the pristine newness of such possessions as much as possible.

[aniketi]

Very interesting thread. It really surprises me that T-BHP has almost all the threads for all the things you can imagine about cars

Coming back to topic, i kept my plastic covers for almost 2 months till the time i fitted the seat covers of my choice (Art leather). Other plastics i removed on day one only. I kept it because when i purchased the car, my daughter was very small (1 year) so the chances of getting seats dirty was very high. So i kept with it. But it was really bad experience with it. I used to slip with those .... LOL. Mu neighbor gave me comment that i am so busy that i had no time to even remove the plastics also

[caprico4]

Nice Thread. Although i too always advocated people remove the plastics from the seats stat, but i must admit, in my first car i.e. the 2010 Wagon-R, i kept the front seat plastics for almost a month and the rear seat plastics were ripped off last month (almost after 4 months) by my brother. but that was mostly because no one usually sat on the rear seats in my car.

and while talking about seats, what are your views on the aftermarket seat covers? i personally think the OEM seats should be used for a 2-3 years and if they get soiled and dirty u can go in for a upholstery change, or get new seat covers stitched properly like they do in the factory.

my dad and uncle and dad got brand new OHC in oct 2003, whilst my uncle put on some expensive padded leather seat covers, we never bothered and even my uncle removed the covers after a few months saying they took away the comfort and plushness of the OHC. i fully agree to that. and to this day we have never put seat covers in the City, also not in our 2006 Swift and my 2010 Wagon-R.

[vkumars]

I remember when a friend of mine who bought an Indica kept the plastic seat covers on for many months. I myself don't do that. I feel the behaviour has come from the days when the car was a precious commodity to be protected life-long. The solution would be to only deliver the cars fitted with proper seat covers, though one must hope that the buyers do not request for additional plastic covers to be put over the seat covers.

This behaviour is not limited to car seats alone. I have seen people keeping the plastic covers on dining chairs for long periods so that the chairs would not get dirty.

[ViMo]

Have recently come across an Alto VXi with its plastic seat covers intact. Now When did Maruti stop producing Alto VXi?

I can’t imagine living with those plastics (have travelled in few cars whose owners decided to keep them)

- It’s so uncomfortable to sit on

- It makes one hell of noises while driving

- It generates heat and smell. Sitting inside one on a hot sunny day is unimaginable.

This is nothing but self torture.

[v.anand]

I agree with @caprico4 that putting ill-designed seat covers in brand new cars is a waste of time and effort. They never manage to give the designed level of comfort the manufacturer under-takes with extensive r&d and would work against what was desired.

If its change of seat covers, it has to be something way better in quality than what comes standard like genuine automotive grade leather with model specific standard stitching as made by Stanley for example. Factory fabrics are way better than any after-market fabric or stuffy art-leather seat covers.

I remove all the plastics at the time of purchase at the dealership itself. What's packing material must be used only as packing material imo.

[bluevolt]

Interesting thread. Team-BHP has everything, from engines to nut bolts, from expensive ICE to plastic covers on car seats.

I will be honest in telling you what I do with our cars. Our four year old Maruti Wagonr still has plastic covers on visors. Even the rear head rests have plastic covers on till date.

It’s around six month since we bought ANHC and still have plastic covers on. Actually the main intention is to keep the beige from getting dirty as we still haven’t founded the right aftermarket upholstery. Many people have suggested using the current upholstery for 2-3 years as aftermarket ones will not match the one provided by the company.

My dad always wants to remove the plastic covers as soon as the car is out from showroom. But I keep fighting with him to not to remove them to keep the new car smell and feeling intact for a while. I know it’s not sensible but after all I am a human being. I see most of you laughing after reading this post.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

My dad always wants to remove the plastic covers as soon as the car is out from showroom. But I keep fighting with him to not to remove them to keep

It's usually the older generation that generally cares for the new car this way. In your case, interestingly it's the reverse. My neighbor, who is in fifties, still has the plastic covers on, though the car is already a year old. In my case, I removed the covers from the driver's seat at the dealer's place itself. And removed the rest of them as soon I reached home.

I often come across many people who like to keep the protective plastic sheet on their mobile for a long time, even when the screen looks very dull. I usually pull out my old phone which hasn't been protected like that, thus having few micro scratches and tell them this: "Yours is a new phone and mine is two years old. But mine still looks better. So, when you spent so much money for the appearance of something, learn to enjoy it. Do not worry about what the phone will look like after years." The same goes for cars also. We don't get much out of keeping the upholstery super clean for 5 years. But we definitely miss out a lot. IMO.

[mi2n]

These plastic covers put on the seat/upholstery is purely meant for keeping them tidy and in pristine condition during transportation of vehicle to dealerships, warehousing and PDI. This is of utmost importance as during these times cars are prone to step-motherly treatment and accumulation of dirt, dusts and fingerprints. In case of fabric seat covers, the damage(read stains) could be irreversible, and no prospective owner would be willing to take delivery a new vehicle with tainted interiors. But, its usage should ideally stop right at the moment the delivery has been made, by that time these plastic covers have served their purpose fully.

For my current vehicle, the plastic covers on the front headrests were removed 5 minutes after leaving the showroom because it was irritatingly noisy. The rest was removed the following morning. The sun-visors did not come with any plastic cladding in the first place, which was surprising, but then again it was in pristine condition anyways.
Neighbor has his 2+ year old Santro with the plastic covers still on. It has torn off in places and is dirty. He has his logic though, fabric seat covers would still allow spills to filter down onto the original seat cover and cause stains, art-leather covers would still get hot and cause excessive sweating.
To each his own maybe.

[hillram]

My neighbour has bought a Ford Figo 6 months back and the plastic covers are intact to this day.they have thrown white towels all over the seats so that the plastic covers remain intact..leave alone the stock seat covers.
In addition to this,they refuse to remove the new blue ribbon on the bonnet and till today morning,the ribbon is 6 months old,faded,torn..but intact.I showed them that the colour of the ribbon is now clearly stuck on to the paint and even if they remove the ribbon,the V will be visible.They were horrified and said that they will immediatly remove the ribbon..but this morning..its the same story.

[racer_m]

I'm horrified after reading the thread in whole.
Its pointless to keep the Seats, visors, (and for humor, dashboard, door/gear knobs, steering wheels, mud-flaps, wheel caps, etc. ) covered in plastic!

What do the owners get from it when after months or even years pass by and the whole car is covered in small scratches/dents/faded plastics and bumpers(I really doubt any car is totally free from such blemishes in the city or anywhere else)!

It might be:
1. To feel totally oblivious to the fact that the car is old/being used and still keep thinking that the car is new seeing all the plastic around them.
2. To feel the joys of sliding/falling around on plastic.
3. To haggle on the resale value (Saaar, don't see the exteriors, even though the door/floor is covered in rust, see the interiors, still showroom packing!)

But anyway, at the end of the day, to each, his own plastic (and its uses)

[souravc]

I removed the plastic cover from the seats within 5 min of taking delivery of my car - thats because I don't like the plasticy feeling and the cover sticking to the skin .
Kept the ribbon till I reached home , post the pics and all removed it - just like hillram mentioned I have seen a friend's car paint catch stains due to the ribbon

[AvonA7]

Hi,

I am posting this query here, it may sound a silly query but I am not sure of the exact term used, hence would like to know -

I am looking for something similar to the tissue paper (kind of) thing used in flights for headrest.

What is it called for cars?
Where can I get it (Pune to be precise)?

*My car interiors are beige color and fabric seats, and the headrest is more prone to get dirty, hence this query.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by racer_m

It might be:
1. To feel totally oblivious to the fact that the car is old/being used and still keep thinking that the car is new seeing all the plastic around them.
2. To feel the joys of sliding/falling around on plastic.
3. To haggle on the resale value (Saaar, don't see the exteriors, even though the door/floor is covered in rust, see the interiors, still showroom packing!)

Here's another wacky reason:
4. You're in Bangalore, so you should know that if these plastic covers are removed, it'll block drains and cause a ton of misery during monsoons. These people are doing their bit to prevent flooding, dear sir!

[IQBAL VEERJI]

Originally Posted by bottle

i usually come home and tear everything off

That includes the seat covers?????