GT Seat Covers- Fitting?

After reading how great these covers are, I purchased a full set of GT seat covers (front & rear sets). I just received them and have succeeded in only getting the front headrest on snuggly. I had to take a time-out because I'm getting frustrated with the drivers seat covers: I'm following the directions completely but the Prius factory seat back upholstery flips over the back & under the seat bottom, thus blocking the GT seatback flaps from connecting. The directions say if that is the case in your car (which it is in my Prius '05) then connect the velcro from the seat back to the velcro of the seat bottom. That's fine and dandy for the front-facing velcro strip of the GT seat back cover, but then the velcro strip on the back of the GT seat cover back doesn't attach to anything. It just hangs there and the cover isn't snug there. Additionally, I'm concerned it will just keep grabbing the Prius' upholstery and shred it/snag it... certainly NOT what I paid for.

Then, what am I supposed to do with the four straps of the GT front seat bottoms? I've followed the directions and managed to feed the two straps for the buckle between the front seat fold and weave it out of the Prius factory seat back flap (remember that flap I mentioned earlier that prevents me from attaching from the seat back front to the seat back front) so that it actually connects to the buckle at the GT seat bottom front, but there are so many wires, and cables, and electronics (oh my!) that I'm not sure if I'll compromise the safety and functions of the Prius--- do I strap over everything or weave between the cables and the seat bottom? I haven't even tried to feed the side velcro straps of the seat front, yet.

And heaven knows I haven't even attempted the rear seat covers... I glanced at the directions and saw "bolts to remove" and figured I needed to deal with the front first. Please somebody tell me the Prius rear seat covers is not going to require use of the jaws-of-life and welding material!

I know everything I've written doesn't make sense, but I'm hoping someone who has installed GT covers into their 05 Prius can shed some light on the subject. I'm really not a moron with directions and handywork (I've rewired my entire home, ripped out old windows and replaced them, gutted my huge yard and laid new sprinklers, designed and built professional theatrical scenery, AND I've managed to put an IKEA office desk together. That must mean some meager degree of aptitude.)

Please, help me!

Thanks for posting this. I have been considering buying a set, now I'm going to wait and see what happens to you first. Because like you I have never put a set of seat covers on anything in my life.

okay. i'm headed outside right now to check how i did mine- sorry you're getting frustrated! give me a bit.

all right. i can give you info on doing the front ones- but we don't have the rear ones yet.

1. headrest. you got that one already.
2. remove the back flap from the original seat upholstery. there are little elastic bands with plastic hooks, that hook around a small metal bar underneat the seat. pull those off and you can pull up the back upholstery to make your life easier. the instructions i had didn't include this.
3. put on the seat bottom. sounds like you've already threaded the buckles through, but this will make it a lot easier. the velcro is a little tricker, but equally doable with some patience. make sure everything's good and tight. sit in it, move around a little. it will take a little time for these to 'break in' if you will, but for now if it's snug it'll be fine.
4. reattach the elastic band hooks to the bar under the seat.
5. pull the top seat cover over and attach the velcro in the front to the velcro from the seat bottom. you may want to tilt the saet rearward to make the velcro from the seat bottom more accessible.
6. pull the back of the top seat cover down as hard as you can to tighten everything up. now the seat bottom should be secure, the front velcro should be attached to the seat bottom, and the only velcro you have left that isn't attached to another piece of velcro is the back velcro.
7. attach the back velcro to the upholstery. i know you said you don't like that, but if you pull it down far enough wherever it catches won't be visible. and as long as you don't pull it off and put it back on and pull it off and put it back on, there won't be any damage to the seats. even it there was, it wouldn't be visible so it's not like your resale value will be diminished by having seat covers.

hope that makes things a bit easier for you. i had trouble with the first one i did too, but after figuring out the first one the second made more sense. good luck!

Thanks Galaxee!
You've given great info.
I'm going to attempt it again.

I suppose leaving the factory elastic band hooks off and just connecting the GT seat back covers is asking for a compromise in the safety of the seat side airbags if the cars actual upholstery shifts?

i personally wouldn't leave the hooks off, but on the other side of that argument, i don't know whether it would do any harm. so it's up to you really.

GT seat covers are very tight fitting and difficult to put on. I took 2.5 hours to do front and back seats. GT seat covers don't look like seat covers and most people cannot tell they are seat covers until I point the seat covers out.

I am very satisfied with GT seat covers, including front and rear head rests, center console, and rear seat side covers (vent and nonvent).

I ScotchGuarded everything in my car (including the armrests), but I look forward to when my burgundy GT covers arrive (for my Salsa Red).

I am thankful that I finally got those freakin' seat covers on!
Yes, it took about 2-2.5 hours total (broken up over three days) and I scrapped my knuckles on all the metal nav gear under the front seats (but what's a little blood?).
The important thing is that it's done, and the pulling, shoving, and yanking resulted in a REALLY NICE FIT. I love the way it looks. It's so worth it.

Thank you everybody who helped!

Happy Thanksgiving.

glad you like the covers, sure it's a pain but in the long run it's worth it.

how did the rear covers go? we're thinking of getting some before we head up north in january to visit family.

happy turkey day

The rear went as expected: Pulling, yanking etc, but when all was said and done, it looks as good as the front.

Because the rear seatback covers have a ton of velcro to hold it in place, it was a bit of a juggling act to pull the covers into position while continually "un-velcro-ing" the strips that would accidently grab the carpet backing of the Prius' rear seats. Eventually, I slipped some paper between the velcro and the Prius' carpet to keep it from sticking while I pulled the seat cover into place.

It also was helpful to have narrow fingers to help shove and guide the rear back seat covers between the folddown area of the seat back.

Surprisingly the rear seat bottom was the easiest to put the cover on as soon as I discovered the bottom simply pops out. There are two metal guides/attachments at the front of the seat bottoms that simply pop up, and then you need only wiggle it out as there is a small hook at the seat bottom back to hold it in proper postion for when you pop it back in. The hook (at least in my late model '05) is low and center... you won't be able to see it until the seat bottom is out, but just be aware that it may be the reason you'll need to wiggle the seat bottom to free it.

Also, while the seat bottom is out, take the opportunity to put on the two strips of fabric I initially thought were weired rear door armrest covers, but quickly realized were covers for the two seat back panel areas closest to the door (one side has the battery vent in it). They thought of everything!

I made the mistake of getting the seat bottoms back in nicely before I realized I needed to loosen those two panels by the loosening the nuts which can only be accessed when you have the seat bottom out. I'm now a pro at removing and reinstalling and removing and reinstalling the rear seat bottom (and I did find a penny that had fallen into the seat cracks!)

Also, it helped to have an extra pair of hands to help guide (and shove) the seat bottom back in as I was feeling for the back center hook to make sure it hooked on to the seat bottom properly.

Thank you again for all your help on the fronts. Good luck with the rear covers!

glad to hear you got everything on and to your satisfaction.

thanks for the tips- i'm going to order the rear seat covers soon so we have time to put them on before we leave. i'll definitely be coming back to this thread and reading what you encountered before i even attempt! :lol:

After spending a half-hour trying to install my GT covers, I could see that the job was going to take hours. I took my car to the local Toyota dealer and had the seat covers installed, along with side moldings, mud flaps, and Prius decals, for under $100. I considered it well worth it.

Well, that would've been a nice option! It never occurred to me to ask my local dealer since I didn't purchase the covers from them. Live and learn, but now I get the satisfaction of knowing I gave blood for my awesome covers. And who knows, I might find myself on some reality show like Survivor, where the challenge involves being able to put GT seat covers on a Prius...

heading back to an old topic...

put my rear covers on the other night. yes, it was much more of a pain than the fronts! i came home from work kinda (ok really) grumpy and decided i'd get rid of that negative energy by putting on those covers. plus, it wouldn't put me in any worse mood than i was already in :lol:

the velrco was a pain, but i ended up managing okay. i had to pull on them a lot to get them properly positioned and everything, and it was kinda cold out so my fingers started to hurt a bit. but they went on right and look great. DH pulled the seat bottoms off while i was making dinner so i didn't have to worry about that.

the only thing i'm stuck on is that center armrest thing. the cover seems like it's too short. anyone else have this problem? maybe i'm just nuts :wacko:

I'm glad some helpful people took the time to write up some really good instructions on this thread. I got the front seats on in no time. Now, I won't say that these covers fit so great that people who sit in my car wouldn't know they are seat covers, but they look pretty good and do the job fine.

As for the center armrest cover, I put it on and pulled it off about 4 times before I figured out which end is the front and which end is suppose to be the back. Now it fits pretty well and the arm rest can shut w/o constantly springing open on its own.

Over all, I would say my experience with GT Covers is mixed. I like the way they look, and the cost was reasonable. The minor negative points are:

- They took about 5-6 weeks to show up after my order was placed. They could have given an update via email. Especially since their website states 3-4 weeks is the usual time.

- Some of the seams are already loose when I unpacked the seat covers.

- The instructions are very lacking. Thank goodness for Priuschat!

-John

I've had them on for several months and was happy with them. I didn't know what a couple of pieces were for until I got a good look and saw they were for the area on either side of the rear seats (one side has the vent for the battery). The whole installation (front and back) took an hour or so. One thing that helped me was the installation instructions on installing an XM radio as they show pictures on how to remove the rear seat.

I got mine at a dealer, which was better for a couple of reasons. One, it was cheaper than ordering from GT and two, the dealer has swatches of the material so we could take them out to the car and see which would work.

Has anyone added extra padding before installing the covers to increase lumbar support?

This is the next thing I will work on. I will also try and add heat to the seats at the same time.

Great. Please keep me posted. I'd rather go this route than replacing the seats.