Seat Height -- Obvious flaw in otherwise great car

I don't recall anyone, including me the person who started this post, saying the Prius should come with Recaro quality seats. The only complaint I have is that the US Prius doesn't come with driver's seat height adjustment, as it does in Japan, Europe and I think Australia.

I'm sure Recaro seats are much more comfortable. But I would be happy with my existing seats if they were one inch lower. Spending several thousand dollars to just lower the driver's seat one inch seems excessive. Also, even though the Recaro seats are more comfortable, they wouldn't match the interior of the car as well as the OEM seats.

Since you say you're happy with your standard height adjustable seat, I assume you're not in the US. I would be happy with a standard height adjustable seat too. Toyota should have installed them in the US, the way they did everywhere else in the world. The base model Yaris and the Prius, even the high end Prius, are the only US Toyota cars without seat height adjustment. Clearly this was a mistake.

 

If I was 5'6", I'd be happy with the Prius seat height too. Everywhere else in the world, Toyota tried to accommodate drivers of varying height. For example, if you're over 6' tall and own a Prius anywhere other than the US and Canada, you simply lower the driver's seat and you're good to go.

I don't think you mean this, but it sounds like you're saying tall Americans should not buy a Prius. They should instead buy different cars. As an alternative, perhaps the US Prius could be made to accommodate tall (and short) people by adding height adjustment.

Seats are modified frequently for handicapped people. If it's done well, the seat structure remains as strong or stronger. My seats were moved back three inches by professional retrofitters. The structure is easily as strong as before.

The likelihood of a well done seat modification being relevant in an accident is extremely small. However, the likelihood that a poorly designed seat will be uncomfortable all the time is one hundred percent. I would gladly trade a microscopic accident risk for vastly improved comfort all the time.

Also, failure to provide seat height adjustment increases accident risk. My vision is obstructed out of the front and rear windshields due to the sloping down front and rear roof and me being too high in the car. Adding height adjustment would lower accident risk for tall and short people.

 

Thanks Dogfriend! One thing becomes immediately clear from your post -- you are WAY better with tools and fixing things than I am!

If I can't find anyone to lower the seat, I may get the courage to try the work you did. Your instructions in the other post will be very helpful.

BTW, Solar_Powered added height adjustment to his Prius via the means you discussed. But this is too complicated for me to do.
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...i-ve-got-height-adjustable-driver-s-seat.html

I would definitely want to lower the front by an equal amount. My preference would be to have the seat lean more forward than its current max forward position. Therefore any increased backward angle wouldn't work for me.

As someone else on this post suggested, it would be great if someone made a mod that enabled height adjustment. I would gladly pay several hundred dollars for the mod, or even for someone to do the work to lower my seat.

 

x

 

Your analysis is irrelevant, unless you're making the case that the base model Prius is roughly $9,000 more in Australia because it has seat height adjustment, which obviously is not the case. Prius's are priced differently around the world for many reasons, not the least of which is import duties.

The issue to focus on is the incremental cost of manual driver's seat height adjustment. Given Toyota's economies of scale and the fact that the equipment is already made, the incremental cost of adding manual height adjustment to the Prius is probably less than $100, and maybe less than $50 (Toyota's cost). So the key question is would US Prius owners pay $200 more for height adjustment. I would. I bet many others would too. Regardless, it should at least have been made an option.

In the US, the base model Corolla cost $15,000 and comes with seat height adjustment. The base model Prius costs $21,000 and does not come with height adjustment. That's a mistake. Plain and simple.

 

x

 

You're making this more complicated than it needs to be. Keep it simple. Should the US Prius have manual seat height adjustment, yes or no? If you read the other posts on this thread, nearly everyone says yes. There's also another active threat titled: "If I could change one thing about the Prius it would be...". There are 80 posts on it. Nearly half of them relate to seats. Most of these want height adjustment.

You said you thought Toyota left height adjustment off to keep cost and weight down. Why wasn't weight a factor in other countries. Plus the additional weight is probably less than ten pounds (ie: irrelevant). Re cost, the Prius is a mid range car. All Toyotas in this range have height adjustment. Possibly you work for Toyota and don't want to acknowledge a mistake made by US Toyota, though I'm not sure why you'd care since you're from Australia.

 

The price Americans pay for the Prius makes sense given other car prices here. The price paid for Prius's in other countries is irrelevant. Apparently you're annoyed that you pay more in Australia. But it's a non-issue here. So I'm not sure why you keep bringing it up.

The issue is whether or not the US Prius should have seat height adjustment. If I pay nearly $30,000 for a car I use nearly every day, I think it should be comfortable and safe to drive. Your position is that I should be quiet and not say anything about the fact that the Prius has seat adjustment everywhere but in the US and Canada, or as you say I should just stop whining. That's your opinion.

But it all goes back to the original question, should the US Prius have seat height adjustment. And you've added another dimension, are Americans whiners for asking for it. Since every US Toyota car has seat height adjustment except the cheapest (base model Yaris), it seems clear that it should have it. I'll be surprised if Toyota makes this mistake again.

Regarding whether or not it's appropriate for us to complain (I think complain is a more accurate word than whine), the answer is, of course. Toyota wants to make its customers happy. Usually they do a great job at it. I spoke with Toyota customer service. They told me customer feedback plays a large role in determining what features will be on new cars. They also told me they read PC and other forums. This thread and others like it may have some influence on getting height adjustment next year.