Guide to Removing Car Seats

Published on 02/12/2023 Last Updated on 09/22/2023

A common detailing question often starts: “is it even necessary to remove car seats to detail the interior of a vehicle?”

In short: it depends. Some detailers have found that this works to attract customers while others claim it’s too time-consuming to be part of every detailing job.

Pros & Cons of Removing Seats for Detailing

Here are some pros and cons of removing seats:

Pros

  • Easier to detail hard-to-reach places
  • Perfectly clean the car’s interior
  • Competitive advantage & selling point

Cons

  • Time-consuming & costly
  • Assume risk by putting seats back into a car that someone will drive
  • Spending time on something customers may not care about

How to Safely Remove Seats

Follow these tried & true methods to remove any car seat:

  1. Google: “how to remove car seats for MAKE MODEL YEAR”
    1. Replace the capitalized words with your vehicle’s information

In all seriousness, it’s best to consult a vehicle’s operating manual when removing seats, especially for modern vehicles. Here’s a summary of generic steps that apply to all vehicles:

  1. Move the seat(s) all the way forward
  2. Locate & remove the two bolts at the back of the chair
  3. Move the seat(s) back and remove the front two bolts
  4. Disconnect the car battery for power seats
  5. Lift the seat
  6. Safely disconnect all electrical cables
  7. Remove seat(s) from car

Looking for more? Check out Detail King’s full guide to interior detailing.