My 2010 V Model Prius has the most uncomfortable front seats of any car I have ever owned. Now, at 65K miles, the rarely used front passenger seat is falling apart. Out of warranty, not covered by extended warranty, it will cost me $252 and much inconvenience to fix this unworthy seat.
My kids don't like sitting in my Prius. I told them I would be happy to put them in the van if they would pay for the gas. They shut up immediately.
What a crock Toyota not offering the power seat in 2010/11 Prius IV or V . Only reason I can think of is they had not developed the Softex material yet, which weighs much less than leather. They might want to take a look at their heavy use of tilt in both manual and power seats.
Wa wa WAAAA My seats are great, and I have no issue what so ever. You cannot make everyone happy, no matter how well the product is. If you sat in the seat before you bought it, you have no reason to complain later.
That is true, but you can probably make a lot more people happy in a 10-way adjustable power seat (2012+ Four and Five) over a 6-way manual. And you can probably piss off a lot of customers who adopted a top of the line Prius early (2010 Prius V (five) with advanced tech $$ cha-ching) and then introduce the power seat 2 years later. Pop quiz - what can the power seat do that the manual seat can never do? (not talking about power lumbar).
Pop quiz #2: What adjustment can the power seat do that the manual seat cannot, besides lumbar adjust?
It offers finer adjustments to the seatback tilt angle over the coarse ratchet stops on the manual seatback. I had the power Softex seat (driver side only) in my 2012 Five- it was very nice and I was able to adjust it to where I was pretty comfy. When I traded it in for the 2012 PIP- I was sad to find that the Base PIP came with the manual seats. Driving both 2012 Prius's for over six months- one with power Softex seats and the other with manual cloth seats- it's easy to make the statement that the power Softex seat is quite a bit more comfortable than the manual cloth seat. Yes, the lack of lumbar adjustment on the manual seat is a big oversight, but the coarse ratchet adjustment of the seatback angle is another contributing factor too.
For those of you driving long commutes, you might try the Costco gel seat cushion. It is extremely comfortable. It raises your sitting height, so I lower the seat back down, but for those that are vertically challenged, it can help visibility. Many of the motorcycle riders use it for long cruises also.
