Seat covers are an incredible way to add some character and longevity to your car.

Small spills and outdoor mud and muck can be frustrating to clean. If you have an active lifestyle, children, or pets who are always along for the ride, your car seats likely take a beating. Protective coverings on canvas or neoprene can save you the trouble and keep your car looking brand new. Or maybe you want to add a bit of comfort and luxury to your ride with velour or leather look seat covers.

Whatever your reason for wanting to purchase car seat covers, it is paramount that you find the right fit for your car. Covers that are too small aren’t going to work and if you get covers that are too big, you’ll spend all your time fiddling with them.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind when looking at seat cover sizes and trying to decide what is best for your vehicle:

1) Understand the language

The language used in describing car seat sizes may seem simple but to get the right fit for your vehicle, it is important to understand exactly what each term means.

Car seats are often measured by shoulder room and hip room. Shoulder room is the upright portion of your seats, or where your shoulders rest when you’re sitting. It is measured horizontally across the entire width of the seat. Hip room is the bottom portion of the seats, where you sit. Again, this is measured horizontally across the entire width of the seat.

Depth measures the bottom portion of the car seat from the front, where your knees would be, to the back upright portion.

The height of your car seat is not measured from the floor up. Instead, it measures the back upright portion, from the top to where it meets the bottom portion where you sit.

2) Measure

It’s time to break out your trusting measuring tape. Be sure to measure across the car seats to determine shoulder room and hip room. Measure the base of the seat for depth, and the back for height. Write down these measurements and have them with you when you go shopping or looking online. They matter.

3) Account for “minor” details

Never forget the details. Do your seats have headrests and armrests? Are there built-in screens or airbags? It is important to keep these things in mind because they will help determine the seat cover sizes you choose. And besides, do you really want to cover up these features?

4) Try to find the best match

Most seat covers are made to fit a range of makes and models so in many cases, the best you can do is hope for a close fit. Compare the measurements you took to the measurements of the seat covers. The closer the numbers, the better the fit will be. If there is a big discrepancy in the numbers, it means you will be constantly adjusting the covers. That level of frustration is barely worth the effort.

5) Go custom

Why cross your fingers and just hope for the best when there is a better way? The only way to be sure that your seat cover sizes are correct is to purchase custom car seat covers. All you have to do is enter the make, model, series, and year and you’re set. No fussing with measurements and product specs. With custom covers, all you’ll need to worry about is colour and material. In other words, custom covers remove the worry and leave only the fun options.