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The War Zone

Best Heated Car Seat Covers: Protect Your Seats and Keep Yourself Warm

Get super toasty fast while driving with an efficient and powerful heated seat cover.

byChris Rosales|
The Garage
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BYChris Rosales/ LAST UPDATED ON May 10, 2023

Take it from us: heated seats are easily one of the best car inventions. Ever. Unfortunately, not all cars come with them, and adding them in the aftermarket can be expensive and dangerous if done improperly. When that wave of icy air settles over the winter calm, being able to quickly heat yourself up is invaluable. Enter the heated seat cover.


They do nearly everything a normal heated seat does with some added bonuses. Because they’re seat covers, they protect the original upholstery from spills, stains, and scratches. This means they’re removable if you want your normal seats back in the summer. They might not be integrated or have the ultimate comfort of a real heated seat, but they are much, much cheaper.


Lucky for you, we rounded up a variety of heated seat covers that hit all of the bases. There is a dizzying array of options and narrowing those down can take hours. Save some time and check out our recommendations below.

Best Overall

LUSRAIT Seat Cushion

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Summary
Though it's a little on the pricier side, this heated seat cover gets top marks for its full-cover aesthetics, excellent function, three levels of heat, and an automatic off function.
Pros
  • Fits over the seat for maximum comfort and stability
  • Three temperature settings and automatic shutoff
  • Universal fit for most cars, trucks, RVs, and boat seats
Cons
  • Relatively expensive
  • Three heat settings only, no adjustability on level of heat
  • Covers whole seat, which some folks might not want
Best Value

Mynt Comfort Heated Seat Cover

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Summary
It’s affordable at half the price of the best offering, while still offering adjustable heat, safety functions like automatic shutoff, and is low profile to maintain seat comfort.
Pros
  • Small form factor makes it light and easy to handle
  • Heats up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in three minutes
  • Adjustable range of heat up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit
Cons
  • Slides around a lot in the seat, making it uncomfortable
  • Difficult to adjust heat
  • 140 degrees is almost too hot
  • Looks cheap
Honorable Mention

KINGLETING Car Seat Cushion for Back and Seat

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Summary
It’s in the middle of the road in terms of price and aesthetics, but functionality is still top notch and it offers more than a normal heated seat cover in terms of its smooth aesthetics.
Pros
  • Rubberized underside that provides maximum traction for the seat cover
  • Fits over the center of the seat for stability and aesthetics
  • Includes an overheat protection system to prevent accidental fires
Cons
  • Doesn’t provide additional back support
  • Might not get warm enough for some folks
  • Reviews indicate some unreliability

Summary List

Our Methodology

We scoured high and low for the best heated car seat covers, but that was all behind the computer. As we can’t test every single product, we used our institutional knowledge to find the best heated seat cover just for you. 

Best Heated Car Seat Covers Reviews & Recommendations

Best Overall

LUSRAIT Seat Cushion

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For its price point, the Lusrait offers a serious array of features. It’s size, shape, and construction as a full seat cover makes it incredibly incognito. It’s fairly high quality and breathable, making it comfortable to use every day. Finally, its simple and lightweight, making it seamless integrate into the cabin of any car. It’s almost the perfect seat cover. But it does have some limitations. It’s fairly high commitment to install, meaning that it will stay on. If you share the car with other people, it may affect their comfort. It’s also a little expensive, approaching $70 and it doesn’t have extras like massaging or variable heat. All it has is three predetermined heat settings. But overall, it’s one of the better options for a heated seat cover. It will be the most seamless in terms of aesthetics, and integrates extremely well with most interior styles and colors. Best of all, it adds functionality without removing any comfort.

Best Value

Mynt Comfort Heated Seat Cover

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This heated car seat cover is built to fit in most vehicles and plugs into a 12-volt power socket. Its non-slip, compact, and foldable design helps it hold tight to any seat surface to give you the most comfortable driving experience. The breathable, high-quality soft polyester fabric is a great addition to help make sure you get the most heat from the cover. The cover reaches a decent temperature in a short amount of time. Sojoy claims it can reach the highest setting within just three minutes. It comes with a high, low, and off setting to give you complete control over how warm you want to be during your drive. It’s even fit with a 45-minute timer so it doesn’t continue heating up without your knowledge. You can even tell when it’s working with the built-in LED light set onto the plug.

Honorable Mention

KINGLETING Car Seat Cushion for Back and Seat

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Kingleting made a strong contender for the top spot. It’s form factor integrates well with the interior aesthetics of most cars because of its thin, light design. It doesn’t provide additional back support, but it integrates well with the seat, preventing slipping and sliding. It also has strong heating capabilities while avoiding bulkiness. Really, the only downsides to this cover is the lack of lumbar support and the fact that it does not cover the entire seat. For the price, it offers a lot of versatility. But it is missing that final edge.

Best Heated Massage

Snailax Massage Seat Cushion with Heat

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The Snailax seat cushion gives excellent vibration massages. The 10 massage motors are quite powerful and designed to target the upper, middle, and lower back and thighs. They cover five zones and have five modes and eight intensity levels, so you get to adjust the power and speed according to your preferences. The cushion features a user-friendly design and comes with a handy remote, so setting up and switching between different modes should be very simple. The main benefit of this car seat cushion is the lumbar heating mode that keeps drivers warm during the winter. It even features extra foam to cover the powerful massage motors. The plush polyester fabric is super soft and durable and provides enough comfort on long rides. All you need to do is plug the unit into the socket in your car, office, or home.

Most Versatile

COMFIER Massage Seat Cushion

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Perhaps you want to take your car seat cover to other chairs in your life. Like your home, office, or maybe even dining chair. Comfier has a solution that works in a variety of situations. It provides plenty of heat in all situations but has 10 vibration motors to provide a massaging experience in any chair of your choice. All you need is a power source. The only real downside is the upside: it’s incredible versatile. This means it isn’t optimized for car use, and thus has some disadvantages for cars. It won’t be as secure in the car as other options, and it might not work with all cars. It’s also reasonably expensive relative to other heated car seat covers. But if you need one that does it all, this is a strong choice.

Quickest Heating

CARSHION Seat Cushion with Fast Heat

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The final entry goes to Carshion. Not just for its clever pun of a name, but for its exceedingly decent product. This heated car seat cover is another entry in the smaller, more portable segment of the market but packs a decent punch compared to the rest. It’s wider than most other heated seat covers, with a wider heating element, making it useful for larger cars or for someone who wants more heat coverage. It’s also a smaller, clip-in style cover that makes installation and removal easy if you share the car with other folks. It provides furnace-level heat and comfort while being lightweight and breathable. Finally, it has the ever-crucial lumbar support for anyone who needs a bit of extra comfort on long drives. This is a solid choice, and all of our honorable mentions have staked a claim of their own. But with this list, there aren’t any bad choices.

Our Verdict on the Best Heated Seat Covers

This is a hot segment, no pun intended. There are a lot of options to choose from, with plenty of great ones, some good ones, a few bad ones. We gathered up a good variety of the best out there for you to choose from. All that’s left is for you to choose, like the Lusrait or Mynt.

Whether you want style, full-cover, partial-cover, massaging, or just a simple, portable seat cover, it’s all here folks. 

Heated Seat Cover Buying Guide

Types of Heated Seat Covers

Heated Seat Cover

This is your most common version of the heated seat cover. It’s just a slip-on or clip-on cover with heating elements inside the fabric. It works like a normal heated seat. There are several styles; some slip over the entire seat, some are lumbar-focused, and some slip over a certain portion of the seat. All of them will provide some level of heating.

Massaging Heated Seat Cover

A massaging heated seat cover is the same deal as before but with an added massage function. Using motorized half-spheres or vibration motors, it simulates a massage to help relieve tension and aid blood circulation on long road trips. Some of the more expensive covers use massaging and heat together in the massage. They are a little more expensive but are much bulkier.

Key Features

Automatic Shut-Off 

This is a key feature of heated seat covers. Without it, there is a risk of overheating and fire that can damage interiors or destroy a car. Most heated seat covers come with a weight sensor that only allows the cover to work while someone is sitting on it, and others also come with a safety shutoff that detects a fault with the heating element.

Number of Temperature Settings

Some heated car seat covers have their own heating options. These include controlling the temperature by choosing how hot you want the cover to reach. This feature could be a specific temperature; for example, 74 degrees Fahrenheit, or it could be as a simple three-mode heated seat. Consider purchasing a heated car seat cover that has a few options or controls for temperature settings.

Indicator Light

Some heated car seat covers have an indicator on the cord or seat itself that lets you know when it is functioning. The indicator lights up when the cover is on and turns off when the cover is off, or it may also show a green or red light. This will allow you to look at the indicator to determine if the cover is on without having to touch it.

Programmable Timer

A programmable timer allows the user to set a predetermined length of time where the heater is on, usually 15, 30, 60, or 90 minutes. This can help back pain immensely by providing a sort of cold and hot effect. Most heated seat covers will come with this feature, but all should allow continuous operation.

Heated Car Seat Covers Pricing

Heated car seat covers range in pricing but generally won’t be too expensive. Typically, they won’t be more than $60, unless they are fitted with more power options and settings. Extra features like massaging becomes standard at this price level. The only major difference between a $40 seat cover and a $60 plus one is material choice, massaging, and custom fitting to a specific car.

FAQs

You’ve got questions. The Drive has answers.

Q: How long does a heated car seat cover take to heat up? 

This really all depends on the cover. While some heated car seat covers will begin to warm up shortly after you plug them into a power source, others can take several minutes before reaching the desired temperature. Generally, a minute to three minutes is the working range.

Q: How long do heated car seat covers retain heat after they’re turned off?

Heated car seat covers can retain heat for a short time after they're powered off. Some may remain warm for between 15 to 30 minutes.

Q: Are heated car seat covers safe? 

Yes. They come with automatic shutoff technology to prevent them staying on or overheating. They’re safe to use.

Q: Will a heated car seat cover stay on when the vehicle is off?

It depends on the vehicle and the configuration of its 12-volt electrical socket. Generally speaking, if the heated seat cover has power, it will turn on. 

Why Trust Us

Our reviews are driven by a combination of hands-on testing, expert input, “wisdom of the crowd” assessments from actual buyers, and our own expertise. We always aim to offer genuine, accurate guides to help you find the best picks.

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