AS GOOD AS NEW
JIMMY HAS BEEN PARKING HIS BACKSIDE ON MSA 4X4’S CANVAS SEAT COVERS FOR EIGHT LONG YEARS, AND THEY’VE SURVIVED EVERYTHING.
IHAVE been running a set of MSA canvas seat covers on a Navara for the last eight years. The seat covers were fitted at 35,000km and have amassed more than 150,000km of abuse without ever being removed. The time had come to move the Navara on and remove the covers to check out how the seats had held up under the neglect. Made from specifically designed 12oz heavy-duty polyester/ cotton blend canvas and impregnated with Dupont Teflon, the MSA seat covers are built tough. MSA 4X4 are one of the only canvas seat-cover manufacturers that are certified ADR compliant (full crash testing completed), which ensures the factory airbags deploy as the manufacturer intended them to.
Correct airbag deployment is probably not a top priority when you’re selecting seat covers, but it is a very important feature to have. In this day and age when an safety rating is a big consideration when purchasing a vehicle, it makes sense to ensure all those safe features are operating as intended if the unexpected occurs. MSA 4X4 has invested heavily in testing its full suite of seat covers available to ensure they are fully ADR compliant. There are many seat covers on the market, so it pays to do your research and ensure you’re purchasing compliant products.
The MSA seat covers are extremely well-fitted and will take a bit of time to install, but once they’re on, they’re on! The covers have a polycotton lining offering a 100-per-cent water-, dirt-, mudand kid-proof barrier between the canvas and the car’s soft seats. The set on the Navara well and truly tested the claims of water-, mud- and kid-proof, withstanding countless hours of off-roading, wet shorts at the boat ramp, coffee spills, the back seat being used as a tool box and, the toughest test of all, six years of kids treating the back seats as a food-fight playground.
When the time came to remove the covers, my expectations were exceeded, with the seats and centre console armrest still looking as good as they were at 35,000km. Not one blemish or mark made it through in eight years of serious abuse, making the seat covers one of the best investments in the longevity of the vehicle’s interior ... plus it increased in resale appeal. When the car was being appraised for trade-in, the dealer even commented the seats were the best condition he’d seen on that model Navara with those many kilometres.
Heavy-duty seat covers should be at the top of the list for interior fitouts for anyone serious about 4Wding or, like me, a bit relaxed (read: lazy) when it comes to looking after your vehicle’s interior. MSA 4X4’s canvas seat covers are durable enough to withstand life’s adventures, ADR compliant and not too stiff that they are uncomfortable.
After eight years of real-world testing and constant abuse, I can safely say they do their job and I will be fitting a set to my next vehicle.