Structure of Driver's Seat

I think it would be interesting to see if a qualified body repair person would find this car has previously suffered damage from a rear end collision. And you can forget about what a Carfax report might show because the best they can do is report what has been reported to them. You can imagine how that works.

 

Your car is out of warranty so obviously you are going to have to pay to get it repaired. Why don't you just take your car to a Toyota dealer and have it repaired?

 

As best I can tell, the actual remedy to the situation is still unknown. That said, there are two choices (three, if you include do nothing): pay to have the seat replaced or pay to have the problem diagnosed. As a diagnosis is more than likely going to cost you anyway, if it was my car, I'd have the seat replaced. Do a quick check for possible seats but get it taken care of. If there is a structural issue, you don't want to have the consequences manifested in an accident. Good luck!

 

jhsteel82,

The driver's seat in my 2010 Prius made a metallic click upon acceleration and braking much like what you are describing. The noise is harmless, but very annoying. I tried for about a year to find the cause and finally found that one of the locking pawls for the seat fore-aft travel adjustment was allowing the seat to shift in its track just enough to make the click. I bent the pawl to tighten it and the noise went away. All of this alarmist "you are going to die in an accident" talk is way out there in left field. Just inspect, or have someone else inspect, your seat. Any serious damage will be obvious. If there is damage, replace the seat. More likely, no serious damage will be found and you have just another Prius type annoying noise to deal with.

 

Where are people coming up with the opinion that it is incumbent upon the manufacturer to keep a vehicle in safe working condition in perpetuity?

You purchased a used car from a non-Toyota dealer. The vehicle has over 100,000 miles on it and is somewhere around 60 month old. Things are going to break. Just because things break doesn't mean they are defective - it means they're old. The fact that you've on your 15th car and have "NEVER" had this happen means nothing. For all we know, you've leased your last 15 vehicles and never owned one outside of warranty, so let's skip the histrionics and try a different approach -- applying logic & common sense.

There are a multitude of items which could be construed as safety-related. Just because they break or wear out doesn't mean Toyota has engineered a "defective" product, nor does it make them responsible for the repairs. If you're truly concerned for your safety, then the only logical thing to do would be to source a new seat directly from Toyota. Somehow, I don't think that will happen.

 

I wouldn't expect Toyota to cover this under warranty.

Yes it's a "potentially" a safety issue.

But it's a 4 year old vehicle.

Worn out tires are a safety issue. But Toyota makes replacement and maintenance of them a owner responsibility.

I'm sure Toyota does design the seats in all their automobiles to be as safe as possible, and be durable and long lasting.
But they can't be responsible for everything that might happen to a seat over the course of many, many years.

On a higher mileage, 4 year old used Prius, I'm afraid the responsibility is the owners.

 

Has there been an update to this situation?

I realized after driving my wife's Prius that my seat had a problem. I checked and something is definitely broken. The back of the seat has several spots where the steal from the seat is poking through.

Has anyone replaced the factory seats with after market seats? If I have to replace the seat I want to put something in that is more comfortable. I spend 3-4 hours a day in the car and have never liked the seats. I stopped by PRP seats last week to see what they may have. We have a set of the UTV suspension seats in our Rhino and love them.

Since we have decided to keep both Prius's instead of upgrading(I'd rather have the cash we are getting from selling some toys than spend it on a new car), we are going to spend some money on upgrades for these(new sound systems, some paint work, seats, tint, floorliners, etc).

PRP have a Daily Driver series of seats including the Rally Venture. They recline and can be ordered in pretty much any color. Obviously I won't need the race harness accommodations, but the lumbar and crotch support is really great. These would be a HUGE improvement over the factory seats, and would probably help my mood during the day since they will cause less fatigue from my 1.5+ hour commute to work.

PRP Rally Venture Seats
RallyVenture Reclining Suspension Seat | PRP Seats

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

Without looking at it, it sounds for all the world like the clicking was a crack, and the snap, was it finally breaking loose. Reaching for a wallet usually puts a lot of strain on the seat (I've broken a seat that way myself).

If they tore it apart and didn't find the break, that doesn't mean it's not there. Replacing it is a good idea, and I doubt you'd be able to prove that it was defective, because you didn't report it as an issue earlier-on. You might find someone who could weld it, but that's not always a long-lasting repair, and it might cost you almost as much as the used one.