Level of Dissatisfaction With the Prius Driver's Seat

A big sore spot for me.
Too Hard, no support, no up/down adjustment and no telescopic steering wheel.
Love the car, the engineering, the economy but Toyota could learn a thing or two from the German's on seat design.

 

If the poll worked I would need to pick more than one thing anyway. I think it's one of the worst seats I have ever seen in a modern automobile, and I am not of an unusual size or shape.

It won't go back far enough for adequate leg room and if it did it would need to accompanied by a telescoping steering wheel. The seat bottom isn't long enough to offer adequate thigh support. There is no lateral support. I don't really think the material it's made of is very comfortable, I got my car before leather was available.

The Prius seats are sort of OK for around town or even a couple of hours on the highway. But for longer trip taking say 4 or 5 hours they are not nearly good enough. I recently drove my Prius for 700 miles one day and even taking fairly frequent breaks it made for a rather difficult day.

I know Toyota can do better, one of my friends has a Camry Hybrid and the seats are just as good as the ones in my old Honda Accord were.

 

Actually, the seats are pretty good for me although if they went back just a bit further and had a bit more thigh support I would be happier. I think it is interesting that I find the driving position in the Prius more comfortable than in my wife's Highlander (just a bit more leg room and a bit lower seat). At 6' and 195 (most of my height in my legs), I am reasonably happy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Jun 16 2006, 02:25 PM) [snapback]272323[/snapback]</div>

I agree. Sheez! At 6'-5" 225lbs & back pain, the seats do as good as one can expect ... while trying to fit folks that vary in size by over 100lbs and 2 1/2 feet! If I had to whine, I suppose I'd whine about not being able to slide back a couple more inches.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ Jun 18 2006, 08:24 PM) [snapback]273285[/snapback]</div>

32", worn normally. Which makes sense given you are taller.

Just saw this in an article on 'extreme commuters'.....so there is hope, if you have the $$$.

"...The next battleground for carmakers: seats that can go the distance. "These longer commutes will change how we evaluate seats," says Toyota marketing VP Jim Farley. "We may see people willing to pay big money for really comfortable seats..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12438812/site/newsweek/page/3/

 

I start go get a backache after driving the damn thing for over an hour or so. Never happens with the Lexus. The Prius is quite an uncomfortable car, IMO....bumpy ride, noisy...

 

I must be the right size because I have gone on long drives up the coast and never feel tired or anything more than my regular stiff knees. My 6'4" son-in-law looked a little more cramped though.

 

Hello, is there any reason why people who own Prius models before the 10, and who have the horrible driver's seats, can't just order the seat from the 10 and have it installed??