I'm 39 years old and my back is OK. Could be better. I did a 24-hour trip with a friend and my back was fine.

 

I have no problems with my back. Unless I'm in my Prius for more than 45 minutes. Seats are sub-Toyota quality.

 

you want bad seats for a bad back? buy a chevy cavalier. we rented one last week while on vacation and my back is still aching.

i was so happy to get back to my prius!

 

I find that the seats are good for my back, but the backs of my legs get numb after many hours behind the wheel. I rate them above average.

 

I find the seats too hard and unsupportive. I do not have a back back, but my back starts to hurt about 30 minutes into driving it. I've had the same problem with newer Echos & Corollas. I have never had any problems with my ES300, though.

 

For most of the short distance driving I do the Prius II seats are ok for me.
For long distance driving I have to say I find the seats extremely uncomfortable, for my shape and way of sitting. I find the seats too 'dished out' for lack of a better way of describing that, with too little lumbar support. That combines with the shoulder support being too close to the spine, and standing out too far, which for me results in the shoulders being pushed forward. In conjunction with the dished out shape, by back is just totally curved, and after long driving my back really hurts.
The other day I had a long trip with two 4.5 hr trip sections, and at the end of the day my back was killing me!
I have decided I need to do something about that, and will first try a variety of external add-ons, and if those work I may have a custom seat upholstery place add inserts beneath the leather.
However, for fairness I should add that my wife loves the Prius II seats. My previous car was a 2003 MINI Cooper S (it had height adjustable seats and adjustable lumbar support), and I loved the seats and ergonomics of the car, the best I ever had in that respect, but my wife hated the seats in the MINI.

I wish Toyota would offer more options for the Prius. I would gladly pay extra for seats that have: adjustable height, adjustable lumbar support, heated seats.

M

 

I just recently sold my 2005 TDI and bought a new 2008 Prius. I remember noticing when I first got my TDI how comfortable the seats were. I could do 5-9 hour road trips without a single complaint. I could even hold my Mini Shnauzer in my lap for extended periods of time with no pain. I really enjoyed the adjustability of the seats. Bottom cushion tilt, slide front and back, and raise up and down. It also had lumbar adjustments, which I left on full.

I get the Prius and have noticed that it's almost as if I was sitting on a level board with a small cushion on it. I need the bottom to tilt back so that my rear has some sort of...cradeling effect...hahaha. I feel that the Prius seat puts a ton of pressure on my tailbone. I had my dog in my lap for about 5 minutes before we had to litterally pull off the highway and see if I just had my seat was adjusted poorly.

Now. I know I shouldn't have him in my lap in the first place but....ya know.

I'm getting ready to go on my first roadtrip from NC to DC (5 hours) and I'm not happy about what Im expecting.

If it's too bad, I wonder if you can entirely switch out the seats to something else...All those back supports you can get to strap on are a risk, you never know if they will help. But I guess they are cheaper than new seats entirely.

Such a delima! The ONLY reason I regret my VW so far. Otherwise, VW is crap.

Was that too much info?

 

I've been looking for a recommended seat for sometime. I had checked the local salvage yard looking for a fully electric seat and found some that might have worked. But this is the first seat recommendation that has credibility.

I'll go see if they have any look for a pair. The seat mounting is fairly straight forward but I needed a seat that made sense.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

So you're putting new seats in your Prius? My jetta seats were manual. the only electric feature was the heated seats, if that matters.

And you say that its easy to change seats in cars?

Also, my man thinks that the prius seats are comfortable and that the VW's were too 'buckety', but I'm small and liked the curving of the seat. I'm sure the Pruis seat would be fine if it only had the -much missed- bottom cushion tilt, in my opinion. Maybe you can figure a way to install that feature instead of entirely new seats. I don't know how easy that would be.

But fill me in on what you think is able to be done to fix this seat problem. It's my only -but big- complaint so far.

Thanks,
Ashton Ross Taylor

 

Excuse me everybody, but the jetta only had raise up and down, not tilt. But when you raised the seat, it tilted a bit.

You know what else? I think the way toyota (and most other makes) seats lean back is difficult and dangerous (I guess when driving) compared to VW. The Jetta had a twist feature on the side to move the seat back. It took a while to do so, but with the toyota I find that with the lever I almost lay the seat all the way back when trying to adjust, and it's more difficult to find that perfect spot.

Anyone else agree?