Before our Model YL was even delivered, I was already thinking about how to protect the seats. That is how a Model YL kick guard ended up in my AliExpress cart alongside the floor mats.
Two kids ride in the second row, so the backs of the front seats get kicked. That is not something you fix by telling them off.
If the kicking is a given, the seat is the thing that has to change. So I ordered a pair of kick guards for the back of the first-row seats at the same time as the mats.
Three months later, here is what they cost me and how they have held up. Short version: this is near the top of my list of things I am glad I bought.
The seat covers I ordered in the same batch came from the same shopping spree.
The Model YL kick guard cost ¥2,874 on AliExpress
I placed the order on 10 May 2026.
The item was ¥3,205, a discount took ¥331 off, shipping was free, so I paid ¥2,874 (approx. $19 USD) through PayPal.
That is not the cheapest thing on AliExpress, but it works out to around ¥1,437 (approx. $9.50 USD) per seat. For covering the entire back of a seat, I think that is fine.
The listing said it was made for the six-seat Model YL, so I never had to measure anything. Buying a model-specific part is worth it just for that.
The shipping label (in Japanese) reads: “Leave at door OK.”
I had several orders running at the time, so the seller consolidated everything into two bags. The kick guards were somewhere in there. Everything gets dropped at the front door, so you have no idea what is inside until you open it.
That happens every time I bulk-order from AliExpress, so opening the bags has turned into a little unboxing ritual.
The kick guard I bought
This is the one.
No tools needed. You drape it over the seat back, then push the edges into the gaps around the seat.
It sits flush against the back of the front seats
I fitted both the driver seat and the passenger seat straight away.
This is what it looks like once it is on.
Being a model-specific part, there is no slack, no stretching, no bunched-up corner. It does not read as something bolted on afterwards.
The colour sits close enough to the interior that nobody in the second row notices it.
Here is the view from the second row.
Both seats got the same Model YL kick guard, so they line up with each other. If those two did not match, the whole thing would look cheap, so it is a small detail that matters.
Tucking the edge into the seat gap
The fixing method is as simple as it gets: you push the hemmed edge into the gaps around the seat back.
The two red boxes mark where it tucks in. One is the gap deeper into the seat, the other is the near edge that goes behind the seat bolster.
My seat covers slide out of place every time somebody gets in or out. These do not, because nothing pulls on them from the back. Three months on, I cannot remember re-seating them once.
Same tuck-in fixing, completely different result depending on where it lives.
For comparison, the roof sunshade write-up covers another part that just sits in place, and the centre console organiser is the interior tidy-up that came before this one.
One wide pocket up top, two below
Storage is one long pocket across the top with two more underneath.
The Model YL has a factory pocket on the seat back, which the kick guard does cover up.
That has never bothered me. My phone goes in the top pocket, and the two lower ones will take a magazine or a folder.
The gap behind it holds our sunshade
The kick guard also leaves a gap where it stands away from the seat itself.
We keep our folded sunshade slid in there.
A sunshade is one of those things with no obvious home. Throw it in the boot, then getting it back out becomes a chore. Slid in here, it is within reach from the second row, so the storage problem solved itself.
Anything flat and bulky that will not go in a pocket can be shoved in here.
Worth it if you carry kids
Three months in, I would call this essential for anyone driving kids around.
The reason is simple: the seats really do get kicked.
Feet reach the seat in front whenever they are back there, and shoes brush past it on the way in or out. That is our every single day, so without something on the seat backs the upholstery would be filthy by now.
Because the kick guards have been on from day one, dirt is just something I wipe off. Not having to think about the seat itself is the biggest win.
Nothing about the cabin looks different, yet the function is there, so this is the kind of part I want to recommend to anyone still on the fence. If you want to check the trim you are working with, the official Model Y page has the interior details.
Summary
Three months with a Model YL kick guard on the back of each front seat.
- ¥2,874 (approx. $19 USD) on AliExpress, model-specific so it follows the seat shape exactly
- No tools; you push the hemmed edge into the gaps around the seat
- One wide pocket up top with two below, so storage goes up even though the factory pocket is covered
- The gap behind it doubles as the parking spot for a folded sunshade
- If you assume the seats will be kicked, there is no downside to having these on
Of everything I have bought for the Model YL on AliExpress, the kick guard is one of the best returns for the money.
This article is also available in Japanese.
