I am genuinely freaked out by people who are totally fine with buying a car online – sight unseen, no test drive – and just having it show up. You don’t want to at least sit in an example first? I don’t know about you, but when I sit in a new or unfamiliar car, I can instantly identify ergonomic hitches that are going to annoy me to varying degrees, or may even be deal-breakers for considering the car.
Chief amongst the deal-breakers is seat comfort, of course, or lack thereof. I doubt any manufacturer is shipping cars with objectively uncomfortable seats, but not all backsides are the same, and some seats just feel off depending on one’s unique butt curvature, density, and durometer (not to mention shoulder width, torso length, etc.). I for one cannot abide an overly enthusiastic lumbar support. If I plop into the driver’s seat and feel like I forgot to take off a fanny pack, that’s an instant nope.
One of the most apparently comfortable cars I’ve owned was a Ford Country Squire wagon as seen in the topshot. I acquired it from my Dad, and fully expected its lack of dynamic driving excitement to be made up for by sheer comfort. And the big wagon was indeed comfortable as a stationary chair, but awful to actually drive. The split front bench offered no support anywhere (on top of being covered in slippery vinyl), so I had to put a hand down on the bench or brace my shoulder against the door to corner at anything over 30mph. Sadly, highway cruising wasn’t much better. After about an hour or so, the soft seats had me squirming to reposition my butt-bones to alleviate the hot, sore spots that were steadily eroding my will to live.
How about you? What car were you most surprised to find was uncomfortable as hell, or vice-versa? The Autopian is asking!
Top graphic: Imperial Motorcars
My parents 1998 Subaru Legacy had terrible seats. Front or back, it didn’t matter. A horrid car to spend more than 30 minutes in.
Discovered huge variance in 92 as the legacy had perfect seats for me, but that’s a poor choice for the person buying it as my mom was shorter. A different car on the same lot was not good for either of us.
My dad had a 98 Legacy Outback, completely agree. We couldn’t do anything longer than an hour drive, the seats were so hard.
It’s funny you mention that car. After swearing off sedans for comfort reasons (I like an easier entry/exit), I am having to consider one again for reasons I won’t get into. I looked at every mainstream sedan I could find at the LA Auto Show in November, and by far the most comfortable one was the Legacy, front and back.
Of course, this is the final year of the Legacy (in the USA), and they are absurdly expensive for what you get, so it’s probably not going to happen for me. But that would be my pick for comfort in this rapidly-dwindling segment.
(On a side-note, one of the least comfortable cars I’ve been in was the late-90s Outback, which exactly mirrors the comment from Luxx.)
When shoulder belts came out I was surprised that nearly every American car’s shoulder belts were extremely uncomfortable, eating in at one’s shoulder or neck.
But the Japanese cars were all very comfortable. It is a red flag if a shoulder belt is not comfortable. Tells me that the car company really doesn’t car about the car owner.
I grew up in a tall family, all over 6′, and when I was in college my dad bought a third-gen Toyota Avalon, which had gobs of space and even had reclining rear seats.
It was horrible. The seats were flat, flat, flat, and you could tell that it was a widened Camry platform because the door armrests were oddly, uncomfortably far away from the center point of the seats. Might have worked if I was really wide (and I ain’t that narrow), but as it was, it just felt like we were supposed to be so impressed by the amount of space that we wouldn’t care how out of proportion it was to human bodies.
My son has a Prius C, and that thing is awful! The seats are terrible, and it seems like it was constructed of tissue paper. It just feels flimsy.
My oldest daughter had a Fiat 500, and it was great, so long as I was driving. It had a sunroof, and only the driver’s seat was height adjustable. I’m only 5’9″, but my head touched the headliner unless I lowered the seat all the way.
I could not believe how little leg room there was in the back of a lincoln town car (the 1998-2011 ones). I’m only rocking a 30″ inseam and it was cramped. Though I did not spend time in other panther platform vehicles, looking in various windows over the years would seem to indicate very similar 2nd row dimensions. I don’t understand how it’s possible to make sedans that big with that little 2nd row space.
You’re not wrong. The Panthers lost a lot of interior space to the driveshaft hump and the full perimeter frame. The packaging isn’t very good, even for 1979 when it was designed. Most of the car’s extreme length is the very long hood and trunk.
When the Taurus debuted in 1985, it had more interior space than the much larger Panther.
This isn’t “uncomfortable as hell,” but when I switched from my Civic Si to the Acura Integra, which is basically a fancy version of the same car, I was surprised that the seats in the Civic are more comfortable over a long drive. The Acura is better in almost every way, but the seats really surprised me.
Do you mean the current gen? If so, I agree. I have a ’23 Integra, and I am shocked how bad the seats are, compared to my old ’13 ILX. I have been looking for a company that can re-work them somehow. I otherwise love the car. (And can put up with the seats.)
Yes exactly, I went from a ’22 Civic Si to a ’23 Integra (when the Civic got totaled). The seats are not awful, but I’ve had it almost two years and I still find myself adjusting the lumbar and stuff. I never had that issue with the Si.
C5 Corvette. You’d think a vehicle so beloved by boomers would be easy to get in and comfortable, but you’d be wrong. The seats are terrible, getting in and out was terrible even when I was 25, and the ride quality was pretty rough even with a completely stock suspension. I decided I wasn’t really into sports cars after that, I’d rather just hoon around in a more comfortable family sedan.
Unexpected discomfort: GMT400 pickup truck with bench seats.
Obscenely uncomfortable for going farther than the nearest corner. Everything about the seating position forced me to sit leaning slightly forward, hunched over, shoulders slumped, and not at all relaxed.
Also, the distance to the pedals and position of the stick shift made for a frequent slight body twist to shift, and then a twist back to driving position, which made it so much worse.
I love a chunky manual transmission in a truck, but never another GMT400 with a bench seat.
Unexpected comfort: Modern Dodge Ram trucks with the air suspension. They ride more like a classic Buick than anything I can remember being in.
Depends on if you get a Silverado or work truck as to the seat comfort. The basic bench SUCKS, the Silverado is nicely contoured and covered in nice velour.
Also the clutch pedal placement in those trucks SUCKS. Im short/short legs and have to sit way too close to the wheel to push the clutch all the way in. Also the shifter is balky/vague, every 5 speed Toyota Ive owned was a joy to shift.
A well known seat failure, Focus RS. I’m not a large person, and the first time I sat in my buddies car realized the seat felt to narrow for me, I couldn’t imagine there are many people small enough to feel like the seat fits their back. It automatically hunches your shoulders inward.
Apply that to the ST line, too. Owned a Fiesta ST and dear god those Recaros were great…for about 2 hours and then the bolsters started feeling like they were trying to squeeze you out.
Fiesta st crushed my balls at a car show. Focus rs and normal focus were fine.
Gt350 had seats made of warm hugs. Kinda wish my explorer had those. Explorer has buckets made of a park bench it has so little lateral control.
Fy wife’s 2014 Ford Flex Limited might look like a rolling toaster but it’s comfortable as hell for road trips. She can keep that thing as long as she wants
Long live the Flex!
Hmm, a car with Volvo DNA. I’m sensing a theme here.
For the love of whatever deity of your choice or lack thereof, replace the engine water pump before 175,000 miles. Both Flexes owned by family members died to the Slurpee of Death.
But yes, you are right. We specifically bought our Flex because a family member at the time was obese and the front seats were very comfortable.
Oh boy, do I have thoughts about this. Keeping in mind that I am tall and a lot of it is in my torso, vertical space over the driver’s seat tends to drive a lot of my comfort. To that end, here are some surprising things I’ve learned over the years:
Uncomfortable:
My Ram 1500. I didn’t realize how poorly it fit me until I put in a lot of miles in a Chevy truck and then went back to the Ram. The seats in the Ram have limited vertical movement, which meant my arms were always too far above the arm rests and my head was always brushing the headliner. I had no idea how annoying this was until I drove something where I could properly position the seat. Now I don’t think I could go back.
A Dodge Stratus I drove back around ’05. Basically no head room whatsoever. It’s possible the seat was adjusted very poorly, but even so I was practically lying flat on my back to drive that thing. It was surprising because we had one of the cloud cars when I learned to drive and it was just fine.
Comfortable:
My 2007 Prius. That bubble shape makes for a ton of head room in the front.
My 2001 Corvette. Yeah, the seat structure is made out of papier mache, but they are damn comfortable. Headroom obviously isn’t ideal here, but thanks to the targa roof it’s actually a little better than you might think since there’s basically just a pane of glass. I’ve done some long days in that seat and never had to stop because of my comfort.
#1 for me is the 2004+ Tacoma. I grew up in Toyota pickups and first gen Tacomas and when I got a 2007 Tacoma for a company vehicle I had high hopes. The seat wasn’t bad, but the position of it was awful for anything more than ten minutes.
Ohter standout was the GX 470 I just sold. Yeah it’s a big lexus, so you’d expect it to be nice, but this thing was an ’03 and still had working electronic shocks. You hear all the criticism of body on frame secondary motions, and solid axle instability, but the 470 has Independent front suspension, a coil sprung rear axle, the aforementioned shocks that are surprisingly adjustable, and seats that could rival the best leather sofas out there. My bone stock one was quieter than my CX-30 that’s slathered in Kilmat, I maybe noticed 5 total shifts of the transmission then entire time I owned it it was so smooth, and the V8 isn’t powerful, but it’s as smooth as silk. They’re killer trucks for the 10k range, and can hang with some top level off roaders without much effort or mods.
I’ll second this. My GX470 was awesome (until it was totaled last month). Made in September 2003 and still had functioning adjustable shocks, comfy seats, and the smoothest power train. The fact that it could also crawl trails with all that comfort was just icing on the cake. I wish I could say any of that about my Jeep TJ…
I don’t really think about comfort all that much. But 2 things I remember surprising me were the early 80s Corvettes, getting in/out was such a pain. How are these only driven by the 50+ crowd?
The other was how friggin narrow jeep wranglers are. I could not get my left shoulder off the driver door.
Maybe like my svx. Stupid low then i learned to turn 90 degrees while seated, then stand up. Sitting down was mostly a windshield grab to help.
NA Miata seats, especially with a bit of age and wear, are surprisingly nice seats to spend time in. depending on condition of the OEM suspension, it can actually be a shockingly nice ride that doesn’t beat you up anywhere near as bad as you’d suspect based on it’s reputation as a great entry level sports car. It’s form the era where body roll was prevalent, and suspension had decent travel. Couple that with a super light clutch and perfect shifter, and you’ve got a car that’s actually awfully nice to spend time in when not thrashing it on backroads.
The body roll on mine was mildly alarming until I realized that’s how it’s supposed to be and that it will take basically any corner you throw it into with great vintage-style aplomb.
The neighborhood I lived in at the time had a decent right hand sweeper that could be taken at about 20-30 no problem, but the car had so much body roll due to very worn original suspension that the back right rear would hop so hard you thought the car was a jackhammer, and with an open diff in mine, would bleed speed something fierce. Lowering it and a stiffer front sway bar left a decent amount of body roll in it, but was flat enough to keep the wheels in contact, which felt like the perfect middle ground.
Obviously comfort is very subjective. My biggest comfort surprise was my NA Miata… the first time I’d ever driven one was the test drive of my car and the thing that stuck out immediately was how well I fit into it. It’s very cocoon-like, and the seats (low-back buckets with headrests in the ’95M) are perfect.
My biggest comfort disappointment was the ’09 Maxima my mom had for a couple of years. Rock-hard seats, rock-hard suspension, noisy and numb. For an allegedly high-end car it felt like a bucket of bolts.
Beat me to this by a solid 15 seconds. My A-package ’90 was awfully comfy for what it was, even with Koni Yellows, H&R Race springs, and a thicker front sway bar. It was more comfy stock, but all in all, a shockingly nice car to put miles on despite its size. Cabin was far roomier than you’d think based on it’s exterior dimensions, especially when compared to the ND. It definitely only had the space due to a lack of safety equipment, but hey, it was spacious!
2005 I was shopping for a new ride. Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3-series had the hardest seats I had ever experienced in a car.
But…but…but…EURO!
Volvo had firm seats too.
But after driving one of these for several hours – you may find that your body feels just fine because you were well supported all the way.
Drove coast to coast in a Volvo 240 and a 2009 Mercedes-Benz.
Also drove coast to coast in a Dodge Omni GLH and a Mercury Tracer.
The GLH had the worst seats, steering wheel and seating position ever – the Mazda seats in the Mercury were not perfect, but much better, probably due to the firmer seats and seat height adjustment.
The GLH seats I like, but it’s not my favorite car to be stuck in traffic in due to the steering wheel and position. I have to move my left leg out towards the door when coming off the clutch to clear the steering wheel. The first time I drove mine in Chicago traffic I was sore. Seat tracks from a 2 door L-body drop the seat down about an inch and help some.
I found the Chrysler PT cruiser that I rented, to be hideously uncomfortable. The seats were terrible. I’d rather sit on an unpadded milk crate than ride in a PT cruiser again.
I also find that my Jeep Wrangler JKU is more comfortable than everyone on the Internet seems to think Jeeps are. Maybe it’s because it’s my fifth Jeep and my first one was a 1970 but it fits me well. I find the seats incredibly comfortable. I have no problem doing 10-hour days, day after day, driving it and I do regularly.
What’s funny is that the “regular” PT and the PT GT had completely different seats. My ’05 GT had fantastic seats with excellent cushioning, bolstering, and adjustable lumbar.
I did not know that, thank you.
On the flipside, I’ve been looking for a nice set of regular cloth seats for my 05 PT GT because I am not a fan of the leather GT seats, hot in summer, cold in winter and the seat heaters quit working.
My biggest comfort gripe with the PT is that even with the seat at it’s lowest setting I have to duck my head down to see stoplights at most intersections if I’m the first car and stopped at the line.
IIRC, the ’03 GT could be had with cloth upholstery on the GT seats. Those seats also made their way into base ’05 convertibles… something to do with rear seat access I think.
The Honda Element. I know tons of people who loved them but we test drove a pretty nicely optioned one years ago and it was surprisingly truckish for its size, noisy, underpowered, dull steering, and just completely cheap feeling for its price range and hype. I suppose if you wanted that particular shape of vehicle it was for you but otherwise, yuck.
I agree. Was looking at one to be my roadtrip/camping vehicle, but after driving one, I went for a Sienna.
I’ll take the hate
I drove a C4 corvette, and thought it was the most uncomfortable seat ever, and the ride was to harsh too. My 2nd place would be the Porsche 928.
Second on the 928. I was shocked how uncomfortable the seats are, considering how comfy they look like they should be.
Anyone who disagrees with you is objectively wrong. My dad had several C4s over my lifetime. They were awful after any real distance even when I was little and my bones were made of rubberbands.
The seats in my C4 Corvette were okay, but the driving position was uncomfortable. The transmission was between the seats, so the drivers legs had to be positioned at an angle because of the bellhousing. I always felt I was in the seat crookedly, facing toward the left front corner and always twisting myself to my right to drive.
Another uncomfortable car was a late 1070’s Chevy Nova coupe with the split tilt back bench seat. The non-adjustable seat back had an odd angle.
No test drive 2022 Defender 90 with the special-order center jump seat allows me to manspread to my heart’s content without the center console forcing my right leg in a position that makes my hip hurt after a short drive.
2023 CX-5 rental.
Top trim, leather, heat, full deal.
By the time I reached my destination 6 hours down the road, I literally couldn’t feel my ass. I’ve done 37 hour marathon road trips, and this stupid car had me in tears in less than 5.
This is just the surprising thing about how subjective seats are. I have a 2020 CX-5 Touring, and I was researching it before I bought it. A number of people mentioned that the lower seat cushion was too short and uncomfortable. For me, it’s quite comfortable! I was pleasantly surprised.
I was never really a truck guy, and from 2013-2022 my daily was an Xterra. Around 2018 or so I was starting the search for a replacement vehicle and with the Colorado ZR2 being out there I started looking at the midsize truck segment. Around the same time a buddy picked up a 2016 Tacoma.
I had read a little bit about the odd seating position, but didn’t really believe it until riding passenger in that truck. Oof, just not great at all. On top of that the engine was just wheezy and the transmission shifted worse than the well used example in my X. Their great trucks, his still has it and it’s running great, but I could never live with that cab.
Most surprisingly comfortable was the 2004 Suburban that served family car duty during my teenage years and was eventually mine in my mid to late 20s. It was an LT trim with autoride so despite all the early 2000s GM plastic the seats in every row were incredible and it was not super truck like when it came to how it rode. My dad described it as “riding around in your living room” and I can’t think of a better description. I remember doing 8-10 hour drives in it and barely feeling fatigued at all.
Most surprisingly uncomfortable is hands down the Elantra N. Those seats are fucking awful. They’re stiff, restrictive, and don’t offer very much adjustment. I test drove an EN before I got my car and after a half hour I was in physical pain. I literally had to walk around for a minute when I got back to the dealership.
I’m also not that oddly shaped? I’m about 5’10 and 200 pounds rounding down generously. I work out a lot but I’ll always have a bit of a dad bod…so I’d say I’m sturdy and stocky. If the seats were that much of a disaster for me I can’t imagine they’re very good for the average buyer, unless the primary demographics ENs are selling to are twinks and lithe women.
Zero surprise on the Suburban. Mine’s the next gen 2007 but it’s simply awesome for road trips, even shod with KO2s for backcountry work. Hour after hour in comfort for six people (seven or eight doable but less awesome) and still able to get the adventuring job done on the other end.
They’re considered the gold standard for a reason
Used to drive my Nana’s ’81 LTD wagon, had the same requisite vinyl interior. Never had much of an issue with comfort/handling, but I always had the center arm rest down.
Everyone is gonna hate me for saying this, but I was never comfortable inside any of the original Cherokees. I found the seating position too low to the floor for me, and it just seemed like it should have felt more comfortable than it did. Never had an issue in any model of the Grand Cherokees – owned all of them apart from the first gen.