I remember test driving a 2010 and I didn’t buy it for a number of reasons. The most critical was that I couldn’t sit in the seat without the head rest forcing me to hunch over no matter what adjustments were made and taking safety into consideration. I see that the 2023 headrests have a pretty severe angle. How are they working out for you? Here’s a photo of the severity up close. I don’t understand how these work unless there’s a way to push the headrest back. I’m including a photo of a petite woman. Obviously it’s personal preference but this looks uncomfortable to me and too far from headrest. In this photo it does look like the headrest can be pushed back to be more inline with seat. What I learned from a female race car driver is you are supposed to be about 12 inches away from steering wheel with a soft bend in the elbows, back supported by the seat and your head lined up with the head rest. My 2009 has a very smooth transition from seat to headrest similar to the Corolla Cross Hybrid in this photo. I just joined a Cross forum and unfortunately there are a few funky issues occurring. Stalling in the rain, roof bars detaching and misaligned doors! Too bad it’s not being made in Japan. I’m asking all of these detailed questions now because once this Prius arrives I won’t have much time to stall the decision.
For what it’s worth, I find the seats to be very comfortable in my XLE. I didn’t really have to fiddle much with it when I got, either. It just felt good to sit in. The seats sit much more comfortably than my Buick Encore did, which I always found myself leaning forward in and it never really felt quite “right”. The Prius has been much comfortable on longer drives, too. I guess I never really thought about the headrests much, to be honest. When I lean my head back, everything feels comfortably aligned. I will say, though, that the picture of the seats you posted looks like the seats are leaning way forward in that shot. Here is how mine sits (I don’t think it looks quite so dramatic ):
Thank you for the photo. Happy to see headrests can be straightened out and seat doesn’t have such a severe angle to it. I was hoping I could adjust the seat so it doesn’t slope as much. Looks good! Now I’m researching best strategies for removing new car smell. : } Back when I had a chance to sit in them the Softex cabin was more tolerable than the cloth. I couldn’t sit in the cloth seat version because the chemicals were too strong.
Ah ha, I haven’t figured that one out myself. I will say the smell was pretty strong for the first couple of weeks, it has dissipated quite a bit on its own after almost a month. It’s definitely still there, but not nearly as strong as the first few weeks. Or maybe I’m just used to it. I don’t know. Haha.
A big reason I should be buying used but not easy to do these days. If I could get ahold of some rain guards, I could at least air it out more often. Everyone says let the car heat up in the sun and keep airing it out especially at night because the vapors will get reabsorbed when air cools down. : / The all weather mats add to the smell too. I bought some for my 2009 and had to return them. I’ll have to find a place to air them out before using them in this new car.
