serious hip/leg pain after 2 days of owning

I'm 5'1" and my SO is 6'1''. I took the car on a 1300-mile round trip shortly after I just got it and had no problems. He and I went on an 1800-mile round trip, where he did over 50% of the driving, and didn't complain about comfort. Both of us have had back or neck pains.

Of course, this is not to say that because neither of us are experiencing discomfort, you shouldn't be. But I'm wondering whether it could be other factors that just happened to coincide with you getting the Prius. My last car was an Infiniti I-30, and there were times that I felt I could not get the seat adjustment right. Then other times, I'd go for months without feeling any discomfort.

Maybe you are tensing up more because you are anticipating the discomfort, which exacerbates any pain you might already have (that may or may not have anything to do with the car). Just a thought. Can you give yourself a rest from driving for a few days and then try again when you aren't already hurting?

It would be a shame to have to get rid of your Prius because of this.

 

There was a comment earlier about how after a bit it's possible to 'get used to' the seats...I remember how in my RAV4 the side bolsters on the seat cushions were too high and tended to cut off the circulation in my legs.

The cool thing is that they also got better after a little while; I also had more time to play with the driving position. But, yes, the reality of it seems to be that the current Prius interior is designed to accomodate 90th or maybe the 95th percentile person; the rest just sort of have to make do.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Nov 17 2006, 01:52 PM) [snapback]350888[/snapback]</div>

This is a very good point. The Prius drives differently than most cars, with its zero-feedback no dead-band steering, especially with the stock Goodyear Integrity tires. I had a 300 mile highway drive home when we first bought our Prius, and I white-knuckled and over-steered it all of the way home. It was very tiring. Now that I have adjusted to it, I like the steering. Just the slightest amount of pressure on the wheel and it responds. I no longer find it tiring, and enjoy long road trips. With the case in point, you are already expecting discomfort, which certainly won't help you relax. How does the passenger seat feel when you are not driving? Try that to see if it is inherent in the seat design, or is it limited to the driving position of your arms and legs. Perhaps we can extract some more information from this test case to help all of the other seat sufferers.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mccarlson @ Nov 19 2006, 02:14 AM) [snapback]351608[/snapback]</div>

No one has more 'documented' mri / catscan back issues than I. Read the 3 books by (NY Orthopedic surgeon) Dr. John Sarno. Come back in 3 or 4 months & let me hear what you have to say.

 

It sounds like your lower back. It's irritating the sciatic nerve. It may also be causing your piriformis to spasm.

Why is this my best guess? Same thing happened to me, only it was my old car. The Prius is actually better for my back. Turns out I had two herniated discs in my lower back and the very low, sports car, bucket seats I had in my old car were aggravating my back, not to mention it was also a stick.

You might try various lumbar supports for your back. Also check to see how you're sitting. And remove that big honkin' wallet if you're lucky enough to have one.

 

I drove my boyfriend's new Matrix yesterday for the first time. I couldn't seem to get comfortable at all. I found the seat to be too high, even though the seat cushion is suppposed to be adjustable up and down, which meant I had to have the seat further forward than I really like in order for my short legs to reach the pedals. Also the seat back felt too soft, with no support. I just drove it to do some shopping errands, so it wasn't a long drive, but felt uncomfortable the whole time. I don't know how it would feel over a longer drive. It might be just a case of getting used to it. The other thing that was driving me crazy was the key dangling in the ignition! It kept tickling my kneee! I had this problem with my last car (Infiniti I30) but it wasn't quite as bad because I was able to sit lower and further back, so unless I had a lot of extraneous dangling keys on my keychain, it didn't reach my leg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Nov 16 2006, 05:19 PM) [snapback]350285[/snapback]</div>

I read an article in the New York Times about back pain from wallets so thick that the pelvis is level when you are sitting down (on the wallet). They recommend, and I bought, "the world's thinnest wallet" from http://www.all-ett.com/. Noticeable effect.

 

I would second the suggestion to anyone with chronic back pain to read all of John Sarno's books.

For more minor, Prius-specific issues I would also recommend lumbar support (specifically for driving) products from stores like Relax the Back.

Finally, you could try any number of books or websites (Google, say, "ergonomic driving") that will give specifics for efficient comfortable alignments of seat, etc., for various body types while driving.

Hope any or all of those help!

doug

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Nov 16 2006, 01:19 PM) [snapback]350285[/snapback]</div>

I learned that lesson a long time ago. Never have anything in your back pockets, never.

I had an older VW, a Scirocco, and had to fold up a t-shirt and place it where the flat part meets the vertical part of the seat. Without that I could not drive for more than 10 minutes or so without pain. With it I drove from San Diego to Houston in two days, no pain.

 

I'm 6'6", 280lb and always have problems sitting in theaters and flying in commercial airplanes. It always seems the size & curve locations of the seats are in the wrong place or the pivot springs are too light to accomidate my back being so tall and pushing higher with more weight on the seatback. With that said, I love my 2005 Prius and don't have any serious complaints about the seating. Sure I'd like it if the seat went back a bit more, but I've adjusted to the stock limits and wouldn't hesitate to replace our 2nd car with another Prius (just can't afford it). I've put 13k miles on on the Prius, mostly 30min commutes, but at least 6 trips that were 6-7 hours one-way and maybe 10 that were 3 hours one-way. I also enjoy flying small arplanes (Cessna 172 & Piper Warrior) which have an even more tighter fit and somehow I get by just fine in those too... but for some reason I can't stand the pain and cramps of sitting for more than an hour or so in a theater or commercial airplane.... go figure. Sorry, my only suggestion is that maybe part of it is mental?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jdl1787 @ Nov 20 2006, 03:24 AM) [snapback]351999[/snapback]</div>

Your 'mental' theory is born out (over 95% of the time) by Dr. John Sarno, mentioned in my prior post (which was coroborated by jdouge just a couple posts later)

I'm about the same height as jdl1787 and maybe only 35lbs lighter (swimmin' a mile a couple times a week keeps it slim) but my LONGEST drive was So Cal to the Flathead Valley, MT and back, in less than a week (2,700+ miles). NO PROBLEM. But a couple years ago? even a couple hours would have killed me ... even in the coziest of car seats.

 

Here is what I've noticed on the 2011 Prius. When I raise the seat pan it tilts forward dumping me onto the floor. Rather than having an adj to tilt the pan level or back it just has that one stupid forward tilt! I'm 5'9 and there is NO support under my legs. Next time you sit down reach your hands under your legs just behind the knees ... big gap! The seat back has no lumbar support. The seat bottom is too short as well. My solution. I bought a wedge pillow thing to support under my legs and a lumbar pillow for the back. Now the seat bottom is even smaller with the lumbar pillow behind my back! They seriously screwed up on these seats! I wonder if they can be replaced with a seat from another model. I'm thinking about taking it somewhere and having a better seat installed. By the way the Honda Accord Hybrid gets 50/45 so I wish I knew before buying this POS! I need to go sit in a few different cars and see if that gap is there under my legs. I'm pretty sure it's not.

 

I hope you're able to resolve your seat issues and get comfortable with the car. At 6'1" I'm not thrilled with the Prius seats either but I find they are bearable. On long drives I get out of the car every hour or two, walk around a little and stretch. Not a bad idea to do anyway to avoid deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and the severe consequences that go with DVT.

I don't know about the newest generation of Prius seats but before you tout the mileage of the Honda Accord you might want to look at real-world figures instead of Honda and EPA hype. Both fueleconomy.gov and fuelly.com are showing Honda Accord hybrids delivering an average of 43 mpg in real life. That pales in comparison to the 55 mpg people are actually getting out of the newest generation of Prius and the Accord is even 10% less than what people are averaging in the 2011 Prius that you have.

 

Yoy know the OP is almost a decade old, right?

.

 

I responded to DeliveringSmiles, who just posted on Friday. The date of the OP is totally irrelevant.

 

Yes i know - Dsmiles was who my post was directed to - thus removing the irrelevance front the irrelevant.

But now that we're well on the way to resurrecting this zombie thread .... @ 6'-5" & 220lbs - & one of the 1st two beta testers of the "extend my seat" brackets for the GenII (in the PC store) - they do help w/ the uncomfortable seating - as do some of the wedge shaped lumbar pillows.
Good luck !
.

 

I see your point but personally I prefer it when people resurrect old threads if it is the same issue that is being discussed. It shows the person resurrecting it has done a search of the forums and seriously looked for a solution. People don't have to come in and repeat possible solutions that were dealt with a long time ago. I just see it as someone looking for new solutions to an old problem.

I do find it interesting that DSmiles referred to his 2011 Prius as a POS. There must be other issues with the car; it wouldn't be referred to as a POS based on the seats alone. Considering the mpg comparison, Honda's hybrid battery issues and the Prius dependability the Toyota is in no way a POS. DSmiles struck me as either a troll or someone who is very misinformed and trying to justify changing cars.