Worst Seats Ever

Your Prius 4 doesn't have all the adjustments of a Recaro seat, but it is a power seat. Have a look at this seat adjustment tutorial, see if it might help your setup...

btw, how tall are you? Are you adjusting lumbar support? Try to say where it hurts and what's not right.

http://www.recaro-automotive.com/fileadmin/CONTENT_NEW_WEBSITE/animationen/technik_allgemein/sitzschule_100630_en.swf

One sidenote - the door armrest is very low and hard in Prius. It helps to have a pad there. Here's mine. Won't fix seat prob, but easy start for more comfort.

one more ting .... 3rd gen not worst seats ever. 2nd gen was so much closer to that rating, there is an eHow page warning buyers of 2nd gen driver's seat problem. Very best driver's seat noted by enthusiasts are late model Volvos and Saab (Scandinavian cars).

*If* you do need to change cars, perhaps rent for a week, then buy or lease.

 

I'm very happy with the comfort, look, and electric adjustments on my 2012 Prius PIA.

 

Totally. Drive 50 one way and when I got out, I'm stiff with back cramps. Have to do stretches to uncramp the back muscles.

 

I have 103,000 miles on my 2010 Prius Gen III and have zero issue with the seats.

 

My wife and I have 3+ hour drives every week. Both of us like the Vagon's seats, albeit at very different settings.

 

You can try out the seats in the Lexus CT200h as they will fit in the Prius with some modifications but look OE. Sean just put some in his car and he really likes them.

You'll lose quite a bit of money if you trade the car in so soon. You may want to consider changing the seat(s) first. If you are in a state that requires you to eat the sales tax twice then changing seats is even more attractive than getting a new car.

 

I'm wanting to get the CT200h seats myself. I went to the lexus dealer today and test drove the F Sport (CT200h). The seats are very snug. I'm 5'10" 155 lbs. and don't mind. I had an Lancer Evo before and that's what they feel like. I assume the non F Sport is not as aggressive feeling. It appears the seats Sean used are from a F Sport. I'm buying a 2010 II prius (1st one ever) next week. Replacing the seats is one of the first upgrades I'd like to do. Will see if Sean can get the seat warmers worked out.

Anyone know of any other seats people have put in the prius 2010-2012?

 

Don't think anyone was looking for testimonials on not having problems with the seats but for ideas from the many people who do have problems with the seats and what they have been able to do to fix the problem.

 

My '06 has no lumbar support, I use a small memory foam pad, works great.
My '11 has air powered lumbar and it's not bad, no complaints.
What model, do you have the lumbar control? If so max it out, if not try a small pad
If you sit properly (lower back against the seat) you should find the seats are alright, if you slouch, well...

 

i remember when i first sat in them, i was like really? worst is the short steering wheel.

it's my sales company car, over 1k miles a week and i've had many and this one is full of weird ergonomic missteps.

 

Then OP should change the title.

 

This link may be worth looking into. It's a seat accessory for back support.

 

Duly (sp?) noted by edmunds.com in all Prius liftback reviews: awkward driving position, even more so for taller drivers due to steering wheel that doesn't telescope or tilt nearly enough.

 

Maybe Toyota is just using more narrow parameters on the Prius seats. If your body shape falls outside of those parameters, the seats are not as comfortable. Within them, you are fine.

We don't have an issue with the seats, but we are slightly smaller than average in both weight and height. We have driven 6+ hours will very little stiffness/soreness. I will say that our former vehicle (Mazda5) did have more comfortable seating, though. We drove 9+ hours several days in a row with not a whiff of stiffness. That made for a much better road trip.

 

Toyota / Lexus has a 'corner on the market' with hybrids over 65% market share and Prius liftback over 28% share.

They seem to think people won't notice stunts like telescopic steering wheel that barely pulls closer to driver than the last model that doesn't even have the feature....

Almost no lumbar support in base seat.

and put in hard door armrests that are a good inch lower than center armrest.

and give the lowest HP to weight of any car near its price.

I actually don't mind if liftback sales drop. IMO, liftback Prius is not the 'best' hybrid, Camry Hybrid is. And it costs only 8% more with 50% more power, quicker, more passenger room and slams Prius on the open highway.

 

OP may just not fit the seat. This happens in some cars with some people, no matter what plethora of available adjustments there might be. The 2011 Four has seat cushion height adjustment and lumbar among the other normal seat adjustments. Not sure what changes have been made on the 2013.

Second Gen seats and ergonomics were way worse for me than our current 2011. Our Four has a seat that once adjusted, I find extremely comfortable for long trips. The drivers area is very well arranged, and really like the console. The arm rest on the door needs to be higher.

I'm guilty of having done the trip from Maine to Tampa Bay (and other locations) in one shot more than once and found the seat perfect for this type of long range driving. It's all about how you set up the seat in relation to steering wheel. Prius interior adjustability has limits, but so do a lot of other cars.

OP should go try out a Camry or the new Ford Fusion. I think the Fusion Hybrid interior is brilliant and was very comfortable when I sat in it. I'm only 5'9" and average about 180 lbs, so maybe that has something to do with it.

I do have a bad lower back, result of a parachute jump landing in high winds while I was in the USAF a long time ago, so I can "feel OP's pain", so to speak, when my back decides to "go out". The Doctor that treated me in the Air Force was a Sports Specialist. He recommended that I never get overweight (not a problem when young) and to always do sit ups to keep the "core" strong enough to help support the back. That really does work, and my back usually only suffers when I slack off the sit ups or I do something really dumb, like shovel wet snow!

Hope that Jeff can resolve his seat fitment without resorting to selling or trading his Prius in. Might want to try an aftermarket seat... a Recaro seat installation would probably be less expensive than the loss incurred by changing cars at this point.

 

You're 5'6" and the seat bottom is too short?? Recaro states one should be able to put 2 or 3 fingers between seat bottom and back of your knee at good adjustment.


I'm 6'2" with very long legs, and this Prius (mechanical adjust) seat gives plenty of leg support; there's a lot of tilt in the seat bottom.

btw, I'll bet 99.9% no Lexus seats will drop into or connect into a Prius. They are all different as mfrs, don't want customers swapping seat for liability reasons.