[silver19]

Does anyone have experience with basic protective covers for the front seat?

There are quite some options on Amazon, but I am asking because of this warning on page 1-45 of the manual (we have a 2019 hatchback):

What are those genuine SUBARU seat covers?

Anyone has recommendations about a seat cover that would not interfere with airbags?

I was looking at this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gorla-Premium-Universal-Waterproof-Cover/dp/B01LBRDARU. It does not cover the sides of the seat, so I was going to give it a try.

I just need some basic protection for the seats, since we have fabric, and I start seeing some signs of soiling.

 

[ScoffingYayap]

I'm confused as to how that would interfere with airbags.

The warning seems like both an ad for Subaru seat covers and a waiver "If you don't use our seat covers we can't be held responsible for anything happening"

 

[silver19]

Obviously, I am not privy of the details of Subaru arguments, but I can definitely come up with some ideas about how a seat cover could interfere with the side airbag.

 

[NoSlushbox4Me]

I replaced the cloth with leather in my car and had a good look at the seat airbag setup. The cover you linked from Amazon doesn't look like it would interfere because it's not wrapping around the sides of the seat back. It doesn't look like it would impede airbag deployment. I don't recommend getting in an accident to test that out though.

 

[silver19]

I replaced the cloth with leather in my car and had a good look at the seat airbag setup.

Interesting! What did you do to build confidence that the side airbag would deploy with your new leather covers? Or did you use the "genuine SUBARU seat covers" for the replacement?

Also, I realized I should quote the manual for completeness, to accompany the pic from the previous post: "SRS side airbag: in the door side of each front seat seatback which bears an “SRS AIRBAG” label". Side airbags are inside the seatback, thus the concern for interference by an extra seat cover.

 

[NoSlushbox4Me]

There were features built into the new seat skins that are specific to the airbag stuff. When I talked with Katzkin reps, they told me that's how they would be built. I do not plan to test the airbag feature with my seats either.

 

[NoSlushbox4Me]

The airbag deploys through a slit in the foam, shown in this picture.

This link is my seat upholstery fun:

Upgrading to Katzkin leather seats with Degreez...

Another option that I wanted in my car was leather seats. Because manual transmission was my #1 requirement (with not being front wheel drive my #2 requirement), that left several of the Subaru options unavailable to me when I ordered the car. I started by getting a rear leather seat from a...

www.impreza5.com