New car! My back hurts more than ever before!

the pain likely won't go away. a small minority of people find all prius uncomfortable on long drives.
and it isn't always a height problem.
or it could be leg length or torso length.

you can find plenty of threads here on the machinations they have gone through to try to find comfort.
from pillows, to upholstery shops, to changing seats, to trading in the car.

all the best!

 

Sorry to hear you both had a problem with the seats in your new C. I'm 6' 2" (and 62, with a lifetime of occasional back trouble) and it took a while to find a comfortable position, but it has been working well for 5 years. I have my seat adjusted all the way back and down. That seems to provide the best support under my thighs. Back rest is tilted 2 notches (a bit more than I like, but at least my head isn't touching the stupid headrest).
But the thing that helped the most was a cheap mesh lumbar support. I added a small pillow behind the mesh to provide even more support. Hope you can find something that works for you. (FWIW, my steering wheel is all the way out and down.)

 

Weeeelp....you've already bought the car, and so there's not much you can do about that part unless your back problems illuminate the "change owner" light.

Some possible remediations:

1. Lumbar support qizmo from some place like Amazon.
I HAD to keep driving my Prius because it's a work car, and so this was my first step.
I used the mesh kind and it helped a little.

2. Replace the seat.
Cheaper than replacing the car.....but I'm really not sure that this can be done in 2018 with the aribags and sensors.
Still.....it's cheaper than replacing the car, so much research and some out-of-the-box measures might be called for.
See if the Priussy Fours have better seats than the Threes, and if you can swap them.
For $25,000 they OUGHT to!
Also....see if there are seats than will bolt into a "C" from an adult-sized Toyota-ish model such as one of the baby Lexus models or perhaps a Scion or even a Full-sized Prius.
You might be surprised.
Car builders are profit-oriented and it makes walking-around sense to use the same seats in multiple vehicles.
Also....aftermarket seats makers or a custom shop might be able to modify your existing seat for less than the price of chiropractic care or replacing the entire car.

3. Diet and exercise.
Not body shaming you here, but most of the people that I know with back trouble, including myself, just needed a little less food and a little more exercise, and I say this as a person who has maintained US Navy physical fitness norms all of my adult life.....albeit sometimes.....BARELY.
About a year ago I started to wage an unholy jihad against my cholesterol levels, which run crazy high in my tribe.
This involves nothing more than light but regular exercise and a mostly plant based diet (millennials call me a peskytarian, which is VERY ironic considering how most vegans act!)
Mysteriously.......when I started lugging around a smaller spare tire, my sciatic nerves wanted to be friends with me again and I no longer get "Prius Butt" when I have to drive more than 100 miles a day.
Again....
YMMV.

4. Sell the car, and get another one.
This time.....once you have selected a particular car, see if you can rent one for a weekend to see if there are going to be long duration ergonomic problems.
Usually, test drives with a dealership employee slobbering all over you in the co-pilot's seat are a very poor way of determining whether or not this is going to be your "forever car."


Good Luck!!

 

Could be due in part to it being a new car: any change in your environment can make for a period of adaption. Pain is often due to small tears, and when they heal they build scar tissue, muscle, that tends to reinforce the problem area.

Picture getting new shoes, then going for a long hike. Invariably you will get blisters.

 

I've sat in more comfortable seats, but my middle-aged 6'3"+ frame fits fine in our c.

When I go on long drives in any car (or long flights) I wear compression stockings. My backaches vanished when I picked up that habit.

Before we even test drove the car, I went to a dealer and asked if I could sit in it for an hour. They thought I was crazy but they didn't mind. I just sat there catching up on email until the hour was up. I felt fine when I got out, and knew it was worth scheduling a test drive.

Good luck!

 

To make it more realistic, and reinforce their suspicions: periodically turn the wheel a bit, pretend-beep the horn, gesture at "other drivers".

 

People can think that's funny, but I think it's great. It's exactly what people should really do, if they haven't had a lot of time in whatever vehicle.
I'd much rather sit in a vehicle for an hour at a dealership, and discover the seat bothered me BEFORE I purchased, than discover 30 minutes or more, hurt my back AFTER I bought it.

The usual 15 minute or less test drive, just won't reveal how a seat really affects you long term.

I think I stalled and sat in my Honda Fit for about 1/2 hour.

I'm lucky (knock on wood) my back is pretty durable. I don't usually have problems, even if the seat really isn't that comfortable.

 

Everyone and every seat is different. My back was fine a few years ago when I took my C from CA to WI.

I took my Odyssey a couple months ago from WI to CA and by the time I got close to UT, it felt like my back was going to break.

The odyssey has bigger driver seat that is very much more comfortable than the C when not in them too long but it seems for me. too much comfort is bad in the long run

 

congrats!

 

Toyota can make everything except seats; every single Toyota I've sat in has had terrible seats. I'm getting used to my new Prius seats, but the seats in my '05 vw passat were far, far better, even with 250K on it.
At some point I'll get custom foam done for it.

 

I drive a 2012 Prius C with 103,000 miles. I felt weird the first 1000 miles. Now when I drive any other vehicle, it feels weird. If you're not comfortable try to drive a military vehicle. I drive Humvee/ambulances in the ARNG. They suck for comfort. No offense but it is a car, not couch or recliner. Go sit on a church pew then tell me about your back.

 

I've had old, series Land Rovers; I think they're as bad as military seats(?)

 

Get a Snailax and put a pillow between it and the seat that you have.

Snailax is a $50 seat cover with heating and cooling (air-flow) controls. It comes with a 12V aux plug.

 

I'll check them out.

 

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