My Prius v seats are uncomfortable.

lisalys, which cushion did you get? I wonder if it's similar to the one I purchased that really fixed things for me.

 

Don't you guys drive the darn things before you buy? 3 weeks ago I (69.9 years old, 6', 215) drove 8 hours of combined 3 hour 12 mile crawl and 5 hour high speed (65-75) on a day following a 6 hour drive of 305 miles. A week ago I did the 300 miles, 100 miles around the city for 4 days and back again and choose the v over the Avalon. I never asked my passenger to drive. Never adjusted the seat once. Stopped twice for 5 minutes each on each trip (ex-prostate cancer).

Not saying you'll be equally comfortable. Just that it isn't that uncomfortable for everyone and it is up to the buyer to figure out if it will fit his needs.

 

I don't know why this would be a reason, but is it possible the seats on the 5 are more comfortable than those in the other models? I seem to remember most, if not all of the complaints about comfort came from those with models other than the 5 (w/cloth). Those who posted positive comments, seemed to have the 5 (w/fake leather).

That being the case, chalk one more positive comfort review from me. I think the seats are terrific with the most comfortable headrest I've ever encountered on a car, anywhere.

 

This makes sense. Ours is a 2. Another possible explanation is body shape. My wife has curves. And she adjusts the lumbar support to the max, in order to fill the void in her lower back. But this support is hard. Then when I use the car again and don't adjust the lumbar support immediately it hurts. Obviously, I don't have the same curves.

However, this had not been a problem in any of our previous cars.

And yes, I test drove my Prius v for about 15-20 minutes before purchasing. I purchased the week when it was released to the market here, because I needed a car immediately. It was not like I was able to rent one model to use on a long trip before purchasing.

 

Get the power seats is only real solution. The greater range of adjustment.

 

I do have the fake leather installed as an add on using a kit from Toyota and orchestrated by my local dealer as part of the purchase of a three. But I don't know why that would have anything to do with comfort. I agree that body shape makes a difference. I'm long torso'ed, short legged. Yet I drive with the seat all the way back. Arms straight (racing training).

 

Nor do I. But, I was thinking, maybe, there was more to the seats than just different covering material. More padding, perhaps?

 

Interesting thread - for me, the back shape, lumbar support, and head rest in the v are fine. But the thigh support is seriously lacking! I have a little chunk of cushioning material that I keep stuffed under the seat. For longer trips, I take it out, and fold it so it adds cushioning to the front of the seat, just under my thighs. This helps, but it's still not as good as most other car seats I've tried. I really don't think a back rest would help me at all - if anything, it might make it worse. Seems like any significant back support or cushion would push me farther forward in the seat, leaving me even LESS thigh support.
I wish the seat were about 2" longer (when measured from steering wheel toward the back seat), and that it tilted back about 10 degrees. I think a properly-shaped seat cushion for me to sit on would help a lot, especially if it were stiff enough in front to effectively lengthen the seat.

I've never had a problem with any car seat in the past, so I'd like to blame the problem on the v.

HOWEVER - my wife has no gripes at all with the seat in the v. I'm about 6'1" with relatively long legs, she's about 5'7" with a relatively long torso, neither of us is obese or super-skinny. In most cars, a couple inches of forward-back seat adjustment is all we need in order to switch drivers, but the seats in the v just hit each of us differently. Such is life.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE - seat shape is a personal preference. If you're thinking about buying a v, DO NOT disregard it as a potential purchase just because you read online that some people find the seat uncomfortable. Sit in it yourself, and pay close attention to seat comfort during your test drive. I know that when I was test-driving the v, I was so interested in the hybrid system, the unique throttle response, etc., that I wasn't paying much attention to the seat. It wasn't blatantly painful, so I ignored it.

Here's hoping the seats in the RAV4 hybrid, whenever that comes out, are more comfortable!
Andy

 

Very interesting, From a 15 minute test drive of the prius v and the ct200h I preferred the seats of the ct200h. ct200h tested was with the base model pleather seats and prius v with softex seats.
In the end practicality won out and I bought the v.

Just got back from a long road trip, 2500km+ of driving, edmonton to vancouver and back.
It took some fiddling around to find a good seat/steering wheel setup but overall seat comfort and ride quality was much better than my previous car(2008 honda fit).
I am 5'10 with short legs(30" inseam), 170 pounds.. My lower back got sore for some of the long hauls but I found steering wheel position affected that more so than seat position.
I think by the end of the trip I finally found a near optimal setup for the seat that allowed me to drive 3-4 hours at a time without much trouble, by that time i needed to get out and walk around anyway to get the blood flowing, just a 10 minute brake every few hours makes a huge difference.

Now that i'm home again, 20 minute drives around town in the v are pure pleasure.

 

Fixed the sentence for you.

Thanks for the reminder to go to the gym. Although I cannot expect my body to be as limber and thin as it was 25 years ago, I make the effort to slow down the aging .

 

Well why don't you try some after market stuff if you can afford it. because there are a lot of seats available in market for sale which are more comfortable then the original one. So I think should check out them by searching online on google. If you can afford the cost of replacement of seats.

 

Good point.
Come to think of it, I cannot even recall seat comfort or lack therof being a problem in any car i drove until the past 4 years or so. I've only been driving for 12 years but have owned some very "cheap" cars, 1990 ford tempo, 1988 nissan sentra, 1994 geo metro, and I never recall any discomfort in the seats of those cars. Even did some long haul road trips with them as I do now. Only my most recent "newer" cars have I noticed being unfcomfortable on long drives, the 2008 honda fit and my prius v. So either new cars have terrible seats compared to the 20+ year old econoboxes of my past or i'm just getting old and fat.

 

Exactly

 

The Fits have notably bad seats, especially if you are tall (a common complain on Fit Freak is that the lower part of the seat is not "long" enough and doesn't support the whole upper leg). Some over there have theorized that the cars are designed with a Japanese build/body type in mind (average male height in Japan is 5'7" while average male height in US is 5'9"-10") and thus are less comfortable for taller people. I have nothing to back that up, it's just people musing about why they dislike the seats in their Japanese economy cars.

 

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In my first Prius a black 2007, I hated the mud color seats, so I had a Katzkin leather interior installed in 'Bone', an 'off-white' color. They can add lower back support, seat heaters, and other options to improve the seats, but you'd have pay for them.

 

That looks nice. But I'm not paying @ $30K for a car and then paying out ?$$? to have aftermarket seats put in. Yeah, I've ridden in Recaro seats, and they are wonderful. But even if Recaro made seats for the Prius (which I suspect they don't), I'm hardly spending $4-5K to retrofit them. It's just not in the cards. I think the relevant post covered it- living with the car, and not just for a few miles on a test drive, is what is needed. We've therefore decided that we'll spend the money and rent the car for a week (an have a medium-distance trip scheduled) before we even think about buying it.

 

That is about the best thing you can do - rent for a few days to really find out 'it' fits you.

Changing seats is a new model car is really not much of an option. It is very rarely done. They are all designed specially for each car and the mfrs really don't want owners changing seats. I know and went through the ringer on a 2009 Prius (google 'building a height adjustable seat for Prius).

I would say a truly excellent driver's seat has a great basic design and fantastic adjustability.

I would say that BMW seats rank very high 'up there'. Some of there seats have electrically adjustable seat bottom extension for long thighs.

Also, fully power adjustable seats are the best way to go. Mechanical adjust seats can be kind of a crap shoot because the seat bottom tilt is almost always not adjustable.

Seat designers have to make a seat bottom that's not too long or short, a one-size-fits-all which kinda sucks for the shortest and tallest people.

See how BMW puts a great deal into their seating design. Well, their whole car actually.

Engineering the BMW Driver's Seat - YouTube

 

i've owned more than 50 cars in my life, and the one with the best seats was in the 1955 oldsmobile 98. i hope toyota revamps the V soon with DRL'S, elec seats, better seats, signals on the side view mirrors, compass in the rear view mirror, and other things normally found in a plus $30 K car!!