Car seat technology has come a long way in recent decades. Power seats now dominate the market, and you can get all kinds of heating, ventilation, and massage if you’ve got the money. Headrests, though? They’re lagging behind, according to a new study from J.D. Power.
When it comes to car seats, most of us like to set them and forget them. It can be frustrating to find your perfect spot time and again, particularly if you’ve got an older vehicle with manual adjustments. Especially so if you find that someone’s moved the headrest. It’s not uncommon to have to fight with some weird, arcane locking mechanism to get the thing where you want it. That is if the headrest even has the adjustments you’re after.
Indeed, that’s what JD Power found in its 2024 U.S. Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study. Like me, you’ve probably been waiting for the results with bated breath. Let’s see what the survey has to say!
Where’s Your Head At?
The scale of the 2024 study is quite something. J.D. Power surveyed 99,144 purchasers and lessees of new model vehicles. The survey was done after 90 days of ownership in order to get a good idea of how drivers were finding the seats in their new vehicles. Remember that old Top Gear joke about a German panel of seat experts? It seems America has its very own.
The headline outcome of the study? It’s headrests that are annoying people the most. In fact, it’s the fifth consecutive year that J.D. Power has found this outcome. The study aims to quantify seat quality by measuring how many problems owners had with their seats. Lower scores are better. Owners who are happy with their headrests only report one seat problem per 100 vehicles, suggesting other seat problems are rare. Among owners who do have a problem with their headrests, they report 6.7 problems per 100 vehicles.
The press release from J.D. Power isn’t particularly specific as to what about headrests is annoying people, but it seems positioning and adjustability are at the heart of the matter. “Headrest adjustability needs to be prioritized by seat manufacturers as it does have an effect on overall seat experience,” said Ashley Edgar, senior director of automotive benchmarking at J.D. Power. “As much as manufacturers can address many of the other aspects of seat quality, overall comfort is lost without a proper headrest.”
Winners And Losers
Beyond headrests, J.D. Power also provided rankings on the most satisfactory seats out there. Kia did particularly well, with the Kia Forte and Kia K5 taking the honors in the Mass Market Small/Compact and Mass Market Midsize/Large Car categories. They scored well with 6.5 and 5.5 problems per 100 vehicles, respectively.
As for SUVs, the Subaru Forester took victory in the small/compact segment, while the Chevrolet Traverse had the least frustrating seats in the midsize/large category. The Ram 1500 handily beat out the Chevrolet Silverado in the truck/van group, with an impressively low score of just 4.1 problems per 100 vehicles.
As you might expect, premium brands did well on seat comfort. The Audi A5 took out the premium car gong, with just 3.8 problems per 100 vehicles. Meanwhile, the Porsche Cayenne scored 4.0 to win the Premium SUV category.
Notably, J.D. Power also calls out the seat suppliers directly by name, not just the major OEMs. Lear Corporation, Forvia, and Adient all did particularly well in the rankings. If you’re working in an automaker’s interior design department, and you have no idea what you’re going to do for your next set of seats? Maybe use these insights to make the right phone calls. One of these companies will surely be happy to whip up some chairs for you.
What’s To Be Done?
Without deeper insight into the study’s raw data, it’s difficult to know exactly what is annoying the average consumer when it comes to automotive headrests. Certainly, it can be difficult to adjust them up and down in many models, particularly if they have a poorly-located locking tab. Tilt adjustment can also be frustratingly absent in some cases. Beyond that, though, it’s hard to know what’s really bothering people out there.
I’ve had my own problems in this regard. My Audi TT lacks adjustable headrests in stock form unless you get out a set of pliers to make things happen. I’d certainly have reported that on a survey, but I bought my car when it was almost 25 years old.
In any case, perhaps you’ve got opinions on the matter, too. Tell us what’s bothering you about your headrests, and maybe we can all understand what needs to be done to solve this scurrilous problem.
Image credits: J.D. Power, GM, Ford, Lewin Day
I love the Autopian for covering occasionally boring topics, but I can’t be bothered to care about this. This does not mean don’t keep them coming, please do!
Reading through the comments and complaints, it occurs to me that there must be some standards and tests that these are being designed to pass. Probably being comfortable is not one of them. As in all engineering exercises, there are compromises being made. A deep dive into what are those standards and how do various automakers meet them would be an interesting read and definitely grist for tha Autopian editorial mill.
FMVSS 202/202a is the standard here in the USA. It’s currently under revision with an open comment period.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-takes-step-toward-improving-occupant-protection
You know your head isn’t supposed to touch the headrest unless you are having an accident right?
They aren’t supposed to be comfortable., they are supposed to keep your head from flying backwards.
That said, back in 1988 I was driving my 1962 Ford Galaxy in New York City and I stopped for a light but the truck behind me, due to an apparent brake failure, did not. The truck hits me. I scooted about 15 feet down the street and come to a stop because my foot is on the brake pedal. The truck catches up with me and hits me again. Pretty much the same thing happens and repeats until I’ve been hit four times. Turns out that the 1962 Ford Galaxy is a remarkably sturdy automobile, completely devoid of crumple zones, and the only results of the accident or a couple dimples in the bumper, the driver seat is bent way back until it touches the passenger seat, and my neck is really really and totally fucked up. Oh, did I mention I was getting married the next day? None of that wedding party dancing around with me in a chair, nope, not for me.
My planned honeymoon of driving from California to New York in a truly decrepit 1957 TR3 never happened. What did happened? Well that’s a pretty long story..
So anyway, I very much appreciate headrests and I am a little apprehensive when I get into a pre-1968 car. Oh, I have stories about single circuit brake failures too but thats also out of scope. I like headrests, but they are not for resting your head against.
Actually, the most comfortable seats in any car that I’ve ever had are the seats in my Porsche 914 which are simple fiberglass shells but when you lean them back, the front part of the seat goes up. Super comfortable. Why don’t other seats do that?
Someone should tell that to Chevrolet then. The Bolt headrests tilt so far forward (I’m assuming so your head does not go back as much if you are rear ended) that you can’t help but touch them, and it feels like you have to lean your head forward.
That’s the issue I have with many cars. Headrest tilts too far forward and ain’t adjustable.
The headrests in my Model S (2016) suck. The raise and lower, but little to no forward/back movement. A head snapping electric vehicle should have the ability to adjust the head rest right behind the driver’s head. In contrast, a Kia Seltos I rented a couple of weeks ago had perfect placement of the headrest (IMHO), about a 1/2″ behind my head. In the Model S, it’s a good 2″ or more – plenty of distance for whiplash.
Y’all think you have headrest problems?
I live in the inter-mountain west. Out here we wear Manly Headwear (TM). Gals wear it too. I mean the Cowboy Hat. Show up at a local dance or rodeo wearing no hat–or worse, a trucker cap–and not only won’t you get your man ticket punched, you’ll likely get your face punched. Might as well show up naked at Sunday morning services.
This is a hat with a brim not less than six inches wide, all the way around.
Try wearing that with any headrest. This explains the poor posture seen in Western Men, where the neck projects straight forward from the shoulders.
Is there a rule against taking said hat off while driving?
Yep. Anytime one is outside of a building–and there is not general agreement on whether one should remove a hat inside (but one should).
Some do switch over to something like a ball cap when driving, changing to the proper headwear before leaving the vehicle.
I have a large head so most headrests push my head uncomfortably far forward. I literally turned the ones in our enclave around, (the rare occasion it ran.)
Having owned over 150 cars in my lifetime, and probably driven over 250, the best seats I’ve ever sat are the Recaros in my Super Sport Camaro. They have no headrest, per se, they’re just very tall buckets. These seats are so comfortable that you don’t want to get out of them…or at least I don’t. The only real downside is lack of visibility when trying to back up.
Worst seats ever? I think I’d award that to a 2004 F150 that I once owned. They were the factory buckets and if you didn’t have sciatica when you bought them, you’d have it after spending an hour in those seats. Those buckets were a terrible excuse for a seat.
I don’t find the headrests in our Opel Adam to be particularly annoying. They’re just there. Meh. Headrests.
Being 205 cm tall, two things I detest the most:
those tiny headrests that barely extended upward to reduce the whiplashes, especially in the American vehicles from 1968 onward. Why they were even legal in the first place is beyond me.those fixed headrests or seatbacks that extend higher as to have integrated headrests. Many of them tilt forward permanently, which annoyed the shit out of me as they tend to press onto the area below my neck. Tilting the seat back a bit would not help at all.I had a test drive with Mercedes-Benz EQS Limousine a couple of years ago. The drive was cut short due to the lower part of fixed headrest pressing discomfortingly against my neck. We spent a several minutes trying to reconfigure the seat and gave up. I drove a S 580 (W223), and the seats, including the headrests were perfect.
Oh, my mum’s 2009 Volkswagen Polo (9N3) had three headrests in the rear passenger seats. I must release the seatbacks first in order to remove the headrests from them. Otherwise, there’s no room for the headrests to be removed or for the seatback to fold down fully.
The biggest problem I have is folding the rear seat. Our Mazda CX-5’s left rear headrest has been under the driver’s seat for 3 iears now because we fold that seat when we ski. The center sear headrest site lower but the outer ones have to be removed. It’s not a,huge deal since that seat is normally empty or used by a small dog.
I took all 3 of them off the back seat. I like to see out the back window.
Most headrests are positioned too far forwards. For me, anyway, because I tend to sit upright and hold my head tall on my shoulders. In many cars, that puts my head up against the headrest’s surface. But wait, isn’t that the goal? I’m sure it gives better scores in whiplash crash tests, but it’s uncomfortable. I like my head an inch ahead of the headrest, so my neck can absorbs small road shocks. This also keeps me more alert, I believe.
Problem is, when some lanky slacker comes along and drops the seatback to a 50 degree angle, curling his neck into the customary laptop/fetal position, the headrest would be too far back to be of use as a head restraint (which is the proper term for it)
The solution would be to coordinate seatback and headrest angles so that they change together, maintaining a suitable distance between various physiques and their noggins.
Sorry I’m late, I’ve been heads down all day.
I guess I’ve been lucky! Many of my vehicles have not have had separate headrests/restraints, and the only issues I have noticed with any have been the ones in the back of my van that block my view out the back window. At least I can fold them down, if I feel like getting out and walking half a block back there.
I’ll note this for those looking for the best head “rest” design around – look at the current crop of Audi A4, A5, and Q5. They have forward/back and up/down adjustability for the front passengers and the adjustments allow for a significant range of motion. Not sure about the other Audi models, but those above are from personal experience.
We should all get used to calling these “head restraints” though, because they are there for crash safety first and foremost, and not comfort. The problem is that some manufacturers don’t bother with the comfort part of the equation when designing for safety.
Also, the rear head restraints in a lot of cars block driver vision and I’m pretty sure it’s due to some US crash regulations. The Audi nerds will know you can buy euro rear head restraints which are much lower profile than the NA spec to alleviate this issue, but it costs a LOT of money.
Volvo just makes them so they can be folded down, a lot simpler, haha.
And at the press of a button from the driver seat! I love that feature.
Headrests can completely ruin a car. My wife had a 2014 or so Traverse. It was a great family SUV with HORRIFIC seats. The problem? The stupid headrests that would push your head uncomfortably forward unless you gangster leaned the seats back. They fixed a few years later with adjustable headrests, but did not go back to Chevy for the next car.
My friend had this same issue with a 2016 BMW 435i Convertible M Sport. Unfortunately, the convertible seats were shaped such that they pushed your head uncomfortably forward, just as you said. And you couldn’t avoid those seats on any version of the 4 Series Convertible (F33), not even the M4.
At that time a lot of automakers had those active headrests that were like that. I bought a used car back then because I hated the headrests in every new car I test drove. I don’t know if the regulations changed, or they figured out how to make super safe headrests that don’t push your head forward because I don’t notice the issue on new new cars.
My Mercedes GLK, ten years old now, has a mechanical system that reacts to sudden rear torso movement in a crash and levers the headrest forward to catch your brainy bits. Smart idea, but the head rests are still too far forward.
My parent’s Rogue is the exact same. Gives me a headache anytime I ride w/ them. Absolutely idiotic.
All vehicles should come with rear headrests that fold. They get in the way when looking through the rear view mirror. Visibility is already limited with the trend of even smaller rear windows, especially on anything with a hatchback.
My 2011 Mustang’s rear seat head rests do this! They fold forward so they’re not in your way.
Other vehicles? I end up yanking the rear head rests completely off and throwing them in the trunk or on a shelf.
Nice! I think some Benzes do that, you push a button and they drop into the rear parcel shelf.
Removing and stowing is what I usually do, but it would be nice if they could fold away like in your Mustang.
Well my ’77 Jeep doesn’t even have em, so I’m set!
Tall guy here. Hate headrests. But I get why they have to be awkward and firm – at the end of the day, they are still first and foremost a safety device.
As long as they’re over-complicating shit, they should just have these pop up out of the seats when needed (rear-end collision). I mean, air bags mostly work pretty okay, right?
My 2016 Audi A3 has head rests, that don’t hurt the head, but make HUGE blind spots when trying to look left and right. I had to add Convex mirrors to the side mirrors so I wouldn’t get hit trying to merge right. backing out of a driveway sucks in both directions.
I took the passenger side one out. The one right behind me doesn’t get in the way as much and if somebody hops in the back, they can move it to their side.
I’ve definitely noticed some of them are canted forwards, which is super uncomfortable. Older cars don’t seem to have this issue.
My father’s 2012 Focus had these obnoxiously forward canted ones. I’m guessing it’s because nobody drives with their head actually touching the headrest, so they can still get whiplash, or at least pick up a lot of speed before impacting it? Seems like the whole seatback should be a little concave to conform to the natural curvature of a human back. Nobody actually sits perfectly upright.
True, and that could be mitigated with active headrests, which shunt forward in a frontal collision to prevent whiplash. My 2014 Lincoln MKS had them, and after rear-ending a Buick Enclave, I definitely noticed that they had deployed. I wonder if Ford inherited the tech from its purchase of Volvo, especially since the MKS was on a heavily modified Volvo platform.
Shooting Brake is right, my understanding is that they’re only there for crash protection.
However, some headrests are intrusive to the point of being uncomfortable no matter what you do with them….R56 MINIs came in for a lot of complaints as people found they were always against the back of their head, and it was annoying. Probably great for crash protection, but people really didn’t like that constant contact.
I don’t even notice the ones in my 2018 Audi Allroad…….
I’m 6’4”, I have never sat in a vehicle where I could actually rest my head, they are just there for crash protection was always my understanding…
100% this. I see some people commuting with their heads resting against them, I don’t know how that is comfortable or possible. I prefer is they have up/down and fore/aft positioning. Car seats are rarely ever designed for our outlier height of 6’4″+, my shoulders are typically well above any seat and I am jealous of average height folks and the amount of cars and seats they can enjoy that will never work for the small and the tall.
+1 for the tall guys. 6′-3″ here and all height is in my torso, so there are NO cars that are designed for my outlier body type. Virtually 50% of car seats don’t even adjust enough for me to fit without hitting the roof even after adjusting the seat to the floor.
That being said, the current car I have (a 958 cayenne) is the best seat I’ve had for a long time, and I had an A4/A5 before that (both on the lists of best seats above). I specifically sought out a used Cayenne because the seats were the most comfortable I had sat in compared to any modern car. Macan is good too.
And yeah, calling the things at the tops of the seats “head rests” is why people are so wrong about them. They are head restraints for crash protection. But agree they should be designed so they are adjustable and should adjust properly for some level of comfort, even though they barely hit the middle of my head when I’m driving.
The seatbacks in my Merc are 4-6″ inches taller than in my Ford C-Max. It’s nice to feel the seat heat all the way up to my shoulder blades…
The seats in our Range Rover are made by Lear and they are absolutely the best ever. I like them better than the seats in the Benz