Do you remove the seats on a INTERIOR DETAIL?

[fredcandetail]

I've noticed a few detailers do this ... I personally dont but may consider it if its not a royal pain ... and i guess at this point there is only one way to find out!
For those who do.. Is it a chore to remove them? Are there certain vehicles that should go on DO NOT REMOVE LIST?

[Grizzly]

Some Nissan vehicles allow you to remove the rear seats with ease.

On a couple Chevy box trucks I have removed the front.

Never tried on other vehicles as the blow option on my shop vac is handy.

Some vehicles do need seat removal for proper cleaning though.

[Nick McKees37]

When I go all out on my interior I remove the seats. Four 17mm bolts and a couple wiring harness plugs is all it takes to remove them. The seats are not power operated so they weigh next to nothing.

The seats on say a Tahoe, or luxury car such as a BMW might be much more complex because of the drive mechanisms for the power adjustments. Not only does this make the seat much heavier, but it also makes it more cumbersome to remove from the vehicle.

[Kristopher1129]

I don't take them out normally. I would take them out if someone paid me to do so. But, we'd be talking about a $250-$300 interior job in that case.

I do take out seats that pop right out though. A lot of middle, and 3rd rows just pop out. :xyxthumbs:

[SeaJay's]

I'm with Kris on this one. I was debating starting to do this a few months back and was doing some research on them. I forget where I found it but there was something with higher end cars that taking the seats out can mess up the airbags? Or something with the computer. Let me see if I can find what I'm talking about. I forget exactly where I read that!

Either way if someone is willing to pay me the extra money to do it I will. If not, I'll work around them.

[Bates Detailing]

Have never taken out seats.... and see no point other than clearing room for ease of working - but then again you can work around what you need quicker than taking them out and putting them back in IMO.....

[Roz]

I'll always remove them, IF I can. Especially on an interior DETAIL (vs interior freshen-up). IMO, it makes vacuuming so much easier, allows for more room to move and they're usually not that hard to remove. Plus, stray debris under the seats will almost always find it's way to your freshly vacuumed/cleaned areas.

You can remove seats w/airbags, just do not turn on the ignition switch once the airbag connectors are unplugged. You'll trip an airbag light for sure.

[DLB]

I'll always remove them, IF I can. Especially on an interior DETAIL (vs interior freshen-up). IMO, it makes vacuuming so much easier, allows for more room to move and they're usually not that hard to remove. Plus, stray debris under the seats will almost always find it's way to your freshly vacuumed/cleaned areas.

You can remove seats w/airbags, just do not turn on the ignition switch once the airbag connectors are unplugged. You'll trip an airbag light for sure.

I agree 100% here with Roz.

If I don't take the seats out, it's an interior clean up. For it to qualify for an interior detail, seats come out.

There's a big difference in what you can get clean with seats removed (not just the carpet under them.)

The only issue really I have encountered is the plastic covers on some of the bolts can be a pain to get off without messing them up. Just be careful taking the seats in and out because as someone else mentioned, they can be really cumbersome.

DLB