Custom Seat Covers vs. Inflation

Businesses are hardly exempt. For example, at Ruff Tuff everything that goes into making custom seat covers – fabric, thread, foam, labor, and more – keeps getting more expensive. Last summer we had our first price increase in more than two years, in response to price increases from every one of our suppliers. At the rate things are going, it may happen again in 2022. 

At my house, one of the ways we’re coping with inflation is postponing the replacement of our well-worn 2009 Subaru Forester. We tend to buy used – let someone else experience the depreciation of driving a new car off the lot – but the used car market is kinda crazy too.

Friends and neighbors say we’re not the only ones postponing new or used vehicle purchases. And I’m starting to hear stories like this: The other day, someone came to one of my neighbors and offered a very generous price for an old compact my neighbor hasn’t driven much in the past few years. The prospective buyer wanted the car for a child who needs one. My neighbor politely refused the offer – because he’s decided lately to drive it more, and his newer, shinier SUV less, for the sake of better fuel economy.

It’s not that much like a new truck. Custom seat covers won’t help with anything under the hood, of course. Don’t quit changing the oil or anything like that. But if you upgrade the interior, maybe you’ll be happier with your ride for a few more years than you thought. It’s the “smile at an old pair of shoes” philosophy I learned in my youth, when the price of new shoes exceeded the available funds.

Second, whether your vehicle is used or new, custom seat covers protect the original seats – in case you want to take advantage of the seller’s market in used vehicles somewhere down the road.