You just drove home a new car and you want to make sure it stays looking great. No problem! Grab a few seat covers at an automotive store and you will be set, right?

Hold the phone!

If your car has side air bags, you might not want to mess around with covers.

It is true that seat covers are excellent for keeping a car looking clean. They are awesome for preserving new-car appeal, too. They, unfortunately, can also prove to be rather dangerous when they are used in certain vehicles. Believe it or not, these handy protectors can spell disasters if they are installed without a care.

Seat covers are a problem in vehicles with side air bags. When a cover is in place, a bag, which is normally installed into the side of a seat, may not be able to deploy in the event of an accident. If it does deploy, it might not function as it should. Even if the bag has enough power to rip through a cover, the bag still might not work right.

While seat covers do serve a fantastic purpose, they are just not right for all cars. Before splurging on a set of covers, take the time to understand how your car works. If you do have side air bags, skip the covers and take extra care to protect your seats by avoiding spills and stains. It is not worth preserving a seat only to run the risk that the safeguards in place to protect you in a crash will not work!