I just bought a used 2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T. I like the car, however, the front seats are SOOO uncomfortable. It feels like I’m sitting on plywood on top of cement. I have read other people’s complaints online and now I don’t know what the heck to do. I can’t see myself driving this car for the next 5 years. I have talked to the dealership and they will trade it in for something else, but I’m going to take a loss (depreciation)…just not sure how much yet. Other options are swapping out for another seat possibly cloth/leather? My seats are heated and cooled, and I have read it’s the cooling option which makes them very firm, something about the material that has to go into the seat to install the cooling feature. So I’m thinking that if I got seats without cooling feature, maybe they would be more comfortable? Help! Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do?
Amazing number of posts over the last year of folks just like you.
The only real solution is simple; Sell or trade the car at a loss.
The way to prevent it in the future; Take a test drive long enough to confirm your NEXT car has seats comfortable to YOU. Rent one for a weekend if you need to. Far cheaper than the depreciation.
And if you do, make sure you rent one that is of the same Trim Level that you are looking to purchase. I seem to recall we’ve had a few posters say they did this, but rented the highest trim level while purchasing the lowest
If you had bought the car new, the moment you drove it home it would have lost many thousands of dollars becoming a used car. In that case, it might make sense to spend thousands changing the front seats.
However, you bought this car used, so it really should not have depreciated much in the time it took for you to discover that the seats are uncomfortable. Unless you overpaid, you should be able to trade this in without taking too much of a loss.
Time to cut your losses, get rid of the car, and be more careful next time.
BTW, it amazes me how comfortable the seats were in older cars, even the cheapest models available at the time, compared to seats in cars today. Maybe you would be happier driving a car from the 1990s to 2000s?
I remember a 1992 publication of Consumer Reports where CR tested a new Oldsmobile 88, a Mercury Grand Marquis, a Buick Roadmaster and I think another make and, for comparison, borrowed a 1952 Buick Roadmaster from a car enthusiast. CR’s analysis was that the 1952 Buick, which was 40 years old at the time, had seats more comfortable than the current makes it tested.
My dad had a 1954 Buick. He thought about trading for a new Buick in 1959. After the whole family took a test drive in the new 1959 Buick, we were glad to get back in our 1954 Buick as it had much more comfortable seats.
I made two trips in the last two weeks of 375 miles each way (1500 miles total). I wish years ago that I had purchased a Divco delivery truck from a local dairy that went out of business. When I would get tired of sitting behind the wheel and needed to stretch, I could stand up and drive. (Does anyone else besides me remember these Divco delivery vans which had two sets of controls where the driver could drive either in a seated position or standing).
Yep, back in 1958 or so my neighbor drove a milk delivery truck. Don’t know if it was Divco or not but would drive it standing up. Thing is he would go a few houses and hop out and back in for a few more blocks, etc. Getting in and out and sitting down would have been pretty hard, not to mention today having to put the seat belt on 100 times a day.
And yeah, my 1960 Morris Minor had very comfortable seats and handled railroad tracks well. Maybe the interior designers all died out and were replaced by some other specialty, but I’ve yet to find a car with a bucket seat as comfortable as a Morris. As I remember it anyway which may be an issue.
I have a 2017 Sonata, and the seats are quite comfortable. Not up to the level of my 62 Caddy, but very good for a modern car.
Seems like hard bucket seats followed the trend of low profile tires, both making for an uncomfortable stiff ride.
I have one similar of these, it has been so helpful, lass than $20. https://www.painawaydevices.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Aylio-Comfort-Foam-Wedge-Coccyx-Cushion-For-Trucks-And-Cars.jpg
@bing. The Morris Minors of the 1960 era had comfortable seats and had a torsion bar front suspension that made them handle and ride well. I thought the Morris Minor rode better and handled better than the VW Beetle of that time period. The Morris Minor appealed to the car guy more than the VW Beetle.
I was a young driver back then and liked driving some of the small cars. The Morris Minor and VW Beetle had 4 speed transmissions. I didn’t like the Renault Dauphine or the Ford Prefect that I drove. These were 3 speed and in my opinion needed a 4th speed. I also didn’t care for the Opel or Vauxhall from that time period. They seemed like scaled down American cars with their three speed column shifts.
Hi Barky,
Thanks I will check it out!!
I am considering trading it in and have talked to the dealership. Problem is they don’t have that many cars in the price range I bought, but I can wait and see what else they get.