If you know anything about infant seats and boosters you know your seat is not held in any way, shape, or form by friction from the base, but by the belts and latches. you could oil yuor leather seats and it wouldn't harm the car seat's safety. what does harm your car seat safety is loosing of the belts caused by slow crushing of the cars' seat bolstering and this prevents it more than a towel or a "rug pad"!

now onto the utility. this protector is the only one we have seen or used that is firm enough to reduce permanent depressions in a the car's seat and with a lip that does a good job at catching liquid and crumbs. If you have several messy kids you are better off getting a custom $150 to $250 washable full cover. Short of that, this item is affordable, offers great protection and is easy to use. it works great on benches or buckets.

Lastly a "rug pad" is a very uninformed suggestion. rug pads bleed color. sounds like a good way to stain your seats over time.

62 of 73 found the following review helpful:

This is Great - "Pros" Are Afraid of Lawsuits!  Oct 03, 2005
By Mads
This protector does the job on preventing dents in leather seats.

Remember that these days any type of professional is afraid of a lawsuit, and do not want to use any type of aftermarket product that could interfere with their "professional" installation. That is why no one will approve these mats, or even cupholders on strollers anymore!!!

As a carseat safety fanatic, and being pretty educated on carseat installations I felt confident that I could make a decision if this was inhibiting a proper installation. I see no problems. To be sure the carseat is strapped in super tight, I sit in it as I pull the straps. It doesn't budge one centimeter left or right, or front to back.

This saver was easy to put in the car, and did not need to be adjusted a million times as I tightened in the carseat using LATCH & tether (we use the Britax Marathon). A previous saver bunched and made installation impossible, but this one is very thin, firm and stays put. The add on back was the perfect height, and did not block the tether strap in our F150. It also stayed upright as I put the carseat into place.

This blends in nicely with our black seats and looks good. It's available in three colors - black, tan, and grey. Let's face it - if you're interested in this product it's because you care how things will look long term!

This saver is a great combo of safety and function. While it may not perform perfectly with every single carseat/car combination - if your seat is moving more than an inch in any direction it's not installed correctly whether you are using seat saver or not!

22 of 24 found the following review helpful:

what a pain...  Apr 18, 2006
By T. Cookson
I bought this after my second child was born to protect our car's seats from the child seat. I have the original thin Prince Lionheart from my first child and love it. This one is so bulky with the built in lip that it got in the way of anyone having to sit next to it in the car. Also, the two part design causes so many problems as it constantly comes undone causing the top portion to slip down (thus defeating the purpose of protecting the seat).

It does catch spills, but the original thin seat saver does too and actually does a better job. I have just recently moved the original one under my younger child and discarded this one altogether. I will look for something else to put under my older child's seat.

I do not recommend this product.

21 of 24 found the following review helpful:

Protects your seats but needs compensation for sliding.  Jan 19, 2005
By Heather Copeland
I just got a new 2005 Ford Freestyle with leather seats in place of my 2000 Ford Expedition with cloth seats. When I uninstalled my Britax Roundabout from the Expedition, there were obvious dents in the seat both from the base and the back of the car seat. I purchased this mat (in tan) for the new car to hopefully prevent these dents from happening with the leather seats. I can usually get my Roundabout to install very tightly and not even move AT ALL, let alone an inch. But with this mat, the base was sliding more than an inch. So I took the piece of non-skid shelf liner that the Fire Dept had given me a while ago, and which I had been using up until this point, and put it underneath the mat. That stopped all the sliding. I can already tell that the mat will prevent the dents. It seems to me the product manufacturers just need to add a non-skid layer to the bottom. But for now, the two layers together have gotten me back to a very tight installation with NO MOVEMENT WHATSOEVER! And I don't have to worry about scuffs and dents on the leather seats.

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:

DO NOT BUY IF YOU HAVE LEATHER SEATS!!!!!  Sep 23, 2005
By R. Stephens "R. Stephens"
Please do not buy this if you have leather seats in your vehicle. My son apparently spilled something or else the heat caused the "seat protector" to stick to my leather seat. When I removed it from the car, it pulled off little chunks of my leather all over the seat!! Now it is ruined! I don't have a quote, but I know it will be expensive to repair. Just opt for a towel or something that would rip your leather.

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