Sponsored

Kielly

TRD Sport
Well-known member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Jun 14, 2023
Threads
57
Messages
666
Reaction score
690
Location
Alberta, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2024 Tacoma Sport+ 6M
EKR seems to be the most popular seat covers these days for their affordability and quality standards.

I've been watching them for months and one day my impulsive behavior got the best of me and decided to buy them from their website.

About 3 1/2 weeks later it arrived at my door. It was a nightmare leading up to. Their website states 1 day processing, in my experience, that's incorrect and I definitely called them out. My first email to them was asking if I missed the processed/shipped email because my Gmail did back up. They replied no and they'll soon send me tracking. A week went by and I grew annoyed, sent them another message, mentioned about their 1 day processing policy. They replied and apologized, informed me they had no stock on the seats I wanted and had to get it made and shipped from China. Great.

A day later (weirdly enough) they sent me my UPS tracking number. Excited, I watched that tracking number, and watched, and watched, and watched. A long while went by and I (very annoyed) emailed them again asking why UPS is stuck on "shipping label created, package not in UPS' possession". She replied and said it was strange, give it another couple of days and she'll watch for it to. (Weirdly enough) A couple days later it was scanned as arriving in BC. Absolutely no tracking from China to BC. Whatever, got the package a couple of day later.

The whole time, I was self doubting myself and wondering if I accidentally bought the covers on some spoofed website. What really made me nervous is their lack of professionalism and punctuation within their emails, and the fact that most scammers will go through the trouble of creating a fake shipment with a parcel service but never actually ship anything.

It was a sketchy transaction for sure, but it all worked out. Here's tip #1, buy from their Amazon, NOT from their website. Everyone I talked with that bought from Amazon got it on a couple days. That's because stock is secured and fullfilled by Amazon.


Got the box, removed the covers (by the way, they package and tape that box up like they're shipping cocaine from Mexico into Australia). There's Chinese lettering on the inside which I assume is probably labeled with the seat location, as there's small stitched-in tags in English that says what cover goes with what seat, but some of mine were missing, so I had to guess for a few.

The front seats are the worst of it. It's SO tight trying to feed the top and bottom covers between your seat and backrest. I had to move back and forth, up and down, pitch forward and backwards so many times I lost count. The installation is pretty straightforward and the video they have helps but there's a very important thing they left out in the video that left me scratching my head.

There's a piece of fabric (and plastic behind it) that is attached to the original seat cover back that swoops down underneath the back of the seat that will stop you from feeding any of the EKR seat cover straps through the seat/backrest. This piece is held in by two elastic straps that hook into hooks underneath your seat. These are a headache to get off. You have to fiddle and use quite a bit of strength. Once you finally get them off all I did was tuck that piece up behind the original seat cover to get it out of the way, as it can't be reinstalled for obvious reasons.

TIP #2: as I was on my last piece to complete the set, I noticed a orange plastic piece in the bag of seat covers, it's a trim tool to help tuck the seat into the nasty tight gaps. Great, my hands could've been saved if I seen that the first time.

Take your time with the install, have a few drinks, listen to some music. In total, it took me roughly 3 hours, two days. Had to try and beat the dark and failed the first night (interior lighting is SO low). As I said, the worst is the front seats, especially trying to get it tight enough so the velcro reaches.

They do provide a center console cover, it is very comfortable, but it fits horribly. Wrinkles everywhere looks cheap, probably won't stay in my truck.

Anyways, I now have 40 different cuts on my hands, I'm fairly certain both my index fingers are sprained, and definitely got carpal tunnel lol.

Here's some pictures after the install. You'll notice the passenger seat more wrinkly than the drivers. That's the difference of one day of someone sitting in the driver's seat. I expect the more these seats get used, the less wrinkles I'll have. I don't really care to spend another god knows how long to get it completely wrinkle free (although I expect it's possible)

2024 Tacoma EKR Seat Covers - My experience, pictures, and tips. 1000009845
2024 Tacoma EKR Seat Covers - My experience, pictures, and tips. 1000009846

Sponsored

 
Last edited:

1stTaco

TRD Sport
Active member
Joined
Apr 26, 2024
Threads
1
Messages
31
Reaction score
23
Location
Toronto
Vehicle(s)
2024 Tacoma TRD Sport (6MT)
Thanks for the detailed write up ... I was going to purchase these once it gets warmer .
 

Miqie

TRD Sport
Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2024
Threads
11
Messages
430
Reaction score
308
Location
Missouri
Vehicle(s)
2024 TRD Sport-Bronze oxide.
Would it be easier in warmer weather to put these on? Material would be more stretchable.
 

1stTaco

TRD Sport
Active member
Joined
Apr 26, 2024
Threads
1
Messages
31
Reaction score
23
Location
Toronto
Vehicle(s)
2024 Tacoma TRD Sport (6MT)
Would it be easier in warmer weather to put these on? Material would be more stretchable.
I think the material might be a bit more pliable and easier to work with once warm . Plus I don't feel like installing these seat covers when its minus 15 outside 🥶
 
OP
OP
Kielly

Kielly

TRD Sport
Well-known member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Jun 14, 2023
Threads
57
Messages
666
Reaction score
690
Location
Alberta, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2024 Tacoma Sport+ 6M
Would it be easier in warmer weather to put these on? Material would be more stretchable.
Absolutely, I had them staged outside the truck in -15⁰c ish (which is a warm day) and they were definitely harder to work with but once they sat in my warm truck for a bit I was able to work with them a lot easier.

Definitely recommend waiting for spring or summer for .. easier results, but I was too impatient and my grey cloth seats were starting to look real bad 😅

I think the material might be a bit more pliable and easier to work with once warm . Plus I don't feel like installing these seat covers when its minus 15 outside 🥶
I'm just glad they arrived right after that -40 cold snap Alberta was having, that would've been REAL fun 😂
 

Baltimore

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2024
Threads
23
Messages
347
Reaction score
173
Location
Maryland
Vehicle(s)
4g hybrid
Sucks to hear about the lack of proactive communication. In your instance though the extended timeline was likely happenstance. As your timing hit the lunar new year holiday window, which shuts pretty much every factory down for 2-3wks. That was the last week of Jan & first week of Feb this year.

And yes. Bulky but soft direct shipments come looking stuffed and wrapped like a bundle of illicit drugs to have sure they don't break open along the way.
Sponsored

 
 



Top