Thanks, folks. Still can't get any of that stuff adjusted right. I emailed my car salesman to ask if they have an ergonomic specialist they work with. I mean, this damn thing is sending me to medical treatment. That ain't right. People sue for much smaller issues, right? We'll see how well he sticks by his "let me know if I can help you with anything else."
I feel your pain, literally. I have a bad back, after surgery on L4 L5 S1 I pay attention to car seats, very carefully. After driving a civic 5 speed manual for many years I switched to a 2010 Prius 3. The seats were OK, but a bit short and too firm. My new 4 touring has the most comfortable drivers seat ever. 2 months and 4 road trips I have yet to feel nerve pain/pressure and I'm very happy. I think the big difference is 8 way adjustable power seat, the lumber support, and also the heated seat! ps: the car is in for the warranty service to fix the rattling issue. Oakland Toyo loaned me a Prius 3 (non touring) the heads up display is cool, but the manual seat was too low, uncomfortable, I couldn't adjust it to the same height and position as my vehicle. I get it, fix the seats.
I think the Two, Two Eco, & Three all have the same lousy seats. Toyota made a big deal about the comfortable seats when they announced the Gen 4 and then only put that design in the Four. Seems an awful lot like bait & switch to me...
I'm not sure about the seat specifics on various trim levels, but after 2 months in a 4 touring, I noticed a big difference in comfort driving just 8 miles in the Prius 3. I can imagine how my back would feel after 200 miles. The passenger seat in my 4 touring seems to be the same lower quality/comfort as the 3. Namely too low, short, no lumbar support. It just feels small and uncomfortable for a 200lb 60" guy. We know it's worth it to spend the extra $$ for a supportive mattress and a good bed; they say you spend 40% of your life in bed. The same goes for good shoes. When did we forget about car seats? How much time - active time- spent behind the wheel...
All trims have the same seat frame and cushions. It's just the the Fours have the power adjustment so you pick up the tilt and lumbar adjust. The seatbacks seem pretty substantial, but the bottom cushions seem a bit narrow and short. It's a Japanese car that's likely optimized to fit 5' 7 1/2" average height Japanese men or shorter,, not 6' plus American men or tall European men.
That is what I expected but the seats are equal or slightly worse comfort on long trips than my son's 2015 Prius v 5. The Gen 4 seats were promoted as much improved.
I should get my 4 touring back from the dealer tomorrow. I'm convinced that it's a different and better seat. More height adjustment, thicker seat cushion, and the lumbar support with power controls. The back and headrest feel the same. I'll let you all know about the strut nut rattling and HVAC buzzing fix.
I am a pretty large guy myself and my brother who is even larger than me (300+lbs) and he is 6' 2" took the prius on a 2000 mile road trip and we both thought the seats were gonna get the best of us and after the road trip, we were both impressed. Of course they could always be better but I thought I was gonna have to stop here and there to stretch but we both were fine.
Someone suggested I contact trucatz about a possible change to the driver's seat so it is deeper front to back. I am 6'4" and my legs extend past the bottom seat a lot. No support there so it gets a little uncomfortable after awhile. Here's part of a post of mine from today. "2. Don't make the extension as a sliding piece. Make it fixed. There's at least 3-4" of the seat that is above the black plastic piece. Remove the plastic piece to get to the fabric's connection. Unstitch and reshape the fabric. Add more fabric so it makes the seat depth 3-4" (guess on what I need for support). Under that fabric use new mesh seat base to connect/tie in to current seat base, add significant rounded cushion on top, add the new fabric to reshape correctly and stitch it. Reattach the fabric (now longer) to the bottom of the seat and put the plastic piece back in place. There should not be a reason to have to cut that or make an extender for it. The new "piece" would extend out beyond the black plastic but should be rather stiff and supportive since it has mesh as its base. 3-4" should still stand up and last a long time." My first thought was to make the extension similar to the 2011 Cadillac Srx that I traded in for the Prius. It has an adjustable piece to pull out. Didn't make sense to do that since my legs aren't going to get any shorter and it would probably be way more expensive to do this. I will have a pro do this. Someone who does upholstery, sunroofs and the like should be able to handle this project. Spence
I haven't done any lengthy runs yet, earliest planned will be circa 1k + over Easter but so far the short journeys with lumber (I also always have the heated seat on low as it helps reduce the issues with back problems) are comfortable even for 6' 3" and 280 lbs. I'll update after my road trip.
Hi Spencer, TuCatz here (two cats) - I don't know about modifying the drivers seat, but I have found an adjustment on my 4 touring that fits me perfectly: raise the seat to the highest position, tilt the bottom rear down slightly, adjust the seatbsck forward and sit down. Sit up very straight (mom always told me to watch my posture) Recline the seatback until arms are a comfortable height and grip on the steering wheel. Pull the steering wheel out, and down, and lock into place. Sit up straight (I am almost grazing the roof liner) put the car into drive happy sailing. Pump the lumbar support until lower back is lifted up slightly. Don't forget to turn on the heated seat! Make use of DRCC whenever possible and use the opportunity shake out tight legs and relax.
I've now had my Prius Four for six months now and have logged just over 5000 miles on both short and long trips (+8 hr drives). I wish I could say the seat has gotten better from my earlier post or I've found some magic solution or attachment or cushioning... but nope, the seats are still uncomfortable. I've tried every which way with the 8 way seats adjustments that I deliberately paid more to make sure I had, as well as the steering wheel but nothing is making it better. I fail to understand how Toyota could have such comfortable seats in my previous 2008 Prius, but these are such a literal pain in the butt, especially because these were supposed to be a "improvement". When I went online to take a look, I found plenty of complaints about seats in the Gen 5 cars, but not many about previous generations. They shouldn't have tried to fix something that wasn't broke. With all of this said, has anyone found a way to make the seats more comfortable at all?
...as I have mentioned in threads passim, beaded-seat covers (see amazon, ~$20/pair) I had a set on my 1993 Corolla DX Wagon (292,000 miles) and was one of my first purchases after I bought my Prius!
I'm not sure what exactly is uncomfortable for you. I've back pain for years and my best relief comes from a lumbar and neck support combo I found online. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links. But I didn't like that I lost some thigh support from it pushing me forward. For the past month and a half, I've removed it altogether and followed a tip from some lady on YouTube on ergonomic seating. She commented on how we are sitting incorrectly. She said we need our butt up against that rear seat so we don't naturally slouch. This is accomplished by bending forward against the steering wheel, then sliding my butt back until it firmly rests against the corner. Then I allow my body to sit upright. I'm religiously doing this now. The first week was a hard and difficult for muscle memory. My back is noticeably better now. Perhaps partially due to building muscle from sitting like that. The position isn't perfect, as I would still like the steering wheel closer, pedals further and head restraint tilted back, but I can't complain too much since it made my back pain say 60% better. Btw my two eco has leather so it's easy to slide around, and no lumbar support. On a separate note, I've changed my seating at the office as well during that time frame, so it could have been that.
I wonder with all this discrepancy about seats being comfortable for some, but uncomfortable for others; perhaps because we are all different sizes, lengths and weights there can't be a "one size fits all seat" that is comfortable for everybody!
