Poll: Are you Satisfied with the Prius Seats ?

I find the seats are fine, though adjusting the back angle is a bit harder than I like. Better lumbar support might be nice too. With my recent development of right knee arthritis, I have yet to find a fully comfortable car seat, but I think that is my problem, or at least my knee's problem.

However, backs are really individual things, and I give credence to the folks who say the seats are terrible for their backs.

 

Bob,

My wife (knee replacement, arthritis in other knee and other places) agrees on the wider opening passenger door that wouldn't swing shut--ours tends to do that on anything that isn't really flat.

There have to be a lot of families like yours--and like mine that are coming to have your aches and pains too.

I just had a thought--might someone make a business out of customizing Prius v's for folks who need easier access, wheelchair/walker space, etc. ?? My feeling is that the regular Prius is just a bit too small for what you want to do--but I'm often wrong about visualizing space usage.

Good luck with your mods, and don't be afraid to go back to a real minivan if you have to. Your comfort and hers will be worth it.

 

We drove a 12 hour road trip to Colorado, and even SLEPT IN THE CAR TWICE! The seats are great!

Yeah, the seats aren't for anyone who slouches or has otherwise poor posture, but in my 5 hours of driving, I had NO issues whatsoever. I like the Prius seats because they recline flat. I feel like this is possible because they are so basic. My Ford Fusion with fancy ultra-plush leather seats doesn't fold flat.

As a passenger, it's really nice to fold the seats flat and take a nap.


All in all, it's an economical, practical seat for an economical, practical car. Did you think you were buying a BMW?

 

I don't understand when people say stuff like this. Do you think we don't know we are buying a Toyota?
Does buying a Toyota automatically mean the seats suck?
Is a BMW the only car you can expect decent seats?
Do you think you have to spend over $35K to get decent seats?

The Prius is not a $15K econobox. I expect better. I've had great seats in some of my other cars, and none of them were over $26K. I'd like to be able to drive for a few hours without my back hurting, and although I've had probably 20 news cars since I started buying cars, I can say these are the worst seats I've ever had. I like the car, just not the seats.

 

LOL...I'm sorry but when scanning these posts and glanced at that picture, I first thought it was a hemorrhoid cushion.

 

I think you're right about perceptions. Here in the states, there seems to be more pickups and suvs riding my bumper than anything else on the road. I went from a 2005 Scion xA to this Prius and to me, this car is a limo. I drove the Scion since new in Dec. 2004 and still have it. Took many many trips 10-14 hours in duration in that car with 3 people plus packed to the ceiling with luggage. I was the only driver and only stopped for gas/food. I'm 6'4" tall and weighed between 320-349 during most of those trips. Have not taken the Prius on a long trip yet but from my local driving and the dealership where I bought it (about 50 minutes away -3 trips there) I can not imagine not being comfortable in the Prius. I found out early on in the Scion, that if I reclined the seats just a little to far, it made my back start hurting. With the seat in a fairly upright position and using the cruise control, I can shift my legs around etc. and remain pretty comfortable for extended times. It's all relative to what someone is used to and their own physical makeup.

 

Amazon $29, works for me.

 

Jeffrey,
I've been doing web searches, including looking on Amazon, for seat covers with built-in lower back support just like this one. I've seen this and others like it. It's an excellent suggestion. For me it's a little ugly, at least in the photo. Maybe it's nicer in person, but I'm going to keep looking for something comparable to this. Right now, I'm using one of those small back cushions and it's made a world of difference for me, but I'd prefer something more permanent that doesn't move around as much. I could see where this is a good answer for a lot of people.

 

I rather like the way it looks and fits my personality. My wife's side has a Hello Kitty cover on her seat but I wasn't willing to go there just for the sake of symmetry. With the center divide the car has, plus me being the only driver, I figured I would just personalize each side to our own taste. That's the least I could do since she is paying for half the car...Lol.

 

Gen 1, 2 & c seats Suck. Hire a Ciropractor now.

 

I'm 6'4" and 250lb and drive the Prius 3500-5000 miles a month. I'm constantly on trips over 5 hours.

While I do miss the comfort of my Lexus, these seats are fine. When I sit up and don't slouch, I don't get too tired.

 

NOOOOOOOOOO . the seats are S***t the backs are not to bad but the bases are rubbish sag very easy give me dead legs , cabin cramped . id say if you over 6" tall they are very hard to live with . im 6"3 and they really do hurt after a couple of hours , and I got this for another 4 and a half years errrrrrrrrrrr

 

I drive an hour to and from work and about 15 minutes in, I find myself shifting every minute trying to get comfortable. I have never had issues with seats in other cars. I have the same problem with being uncomfortable in my '09 and '10 Priuses, which both have leather seats. My '04 had cloth seats, which I found MUCH more comfortable. In fact, before I got my '10 I told myself I'd never buy another one with leather seats, but the solar sunroof package won me over and I "settled" with a IV model Maybe I just need more padding down there. :/

 

I bought a 2013 Prius four with Softex seats 12 days ago. I upgraded so that I could have fully adjustable seats. Not really, you go from a super slouch position to a high less slouchy position with the angle button. I have tried everything including angle seat cushion, back support, little pillow, sheepskin. I can't get comfortable. Dealer says if I sell it back to them, I'll lose $4,000. I have neck and back pain even from a 5 minute drive. So............. I wouldn't say the power did me any good. On the test drive, I knew the cloth and pump seat wasn't going to work. Little did I realize that with the uncomfortable seat and not being able to tilt the bottom seat at least to level, I would be in such pain. My Subaru was perfectly comfortable. Absolutely love the Prius, can't stand the seat. What an expensive mistake.

 

Does yours have the power lumbar pump feature? Maybe you haven't found that yet.

If you have back and neck pain after just 5 minutes, methinks you have other issues quite frankly.

 

I know the seats didn't come out of a Rolls, but they seem very comfortable to me and I have pain in my neck and back 24 hours a day. The seats don't seem to make it any worse, and in fact, I'm very comfortable driving for hours in this thing.

Oh damn, I sound like a fanboi

 

I have similar problems with deep seats in modern cars. I always used a folded towel that fit in the low section of the seat and this helped. When I installed Clazzio seat covers I installed them over the folded towel and it is permanently trapped there. I now have few problems with comfort.