2019 Chevrolet Malibu- uncomfortable seat

uncomfortable front driver seat can not find a position to fit me . lower back and neck pain . there is no support in the lower back. I am very unsatisfied being a chevy fan…

Unless you plan to trade-in or sell this car, I think that you should be looking at various types of pillows–both lumbar support and seat cushion–that could help you.

If you do plan to get rid of the car, make sure that you take an extended test drive in the next car prior to purchase. Many years ago, I failed to do that, and wound up with a Honda Accord that aggravated my sciatica because the seat was set so low to the floor of the car, thus making it necessary to extend my legs straight forward.

After a couple of years I got rid of the Accord, and have been very careful ever since to do an extended test drive before buying another car.

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There have been seat comfort complaints on this board on many makes and models of cars and I would likely agree with them all. Not long ago I drove a 2020 Dodge Charger on an interstate trip. The car was a pleasure to drive but the seats…ugh. Felt like they were cast of concrete which is a common complaint with other makes. I’ve been through 16 surgeries so I get it.
The only car I’ve ever sat in that was pure comfort no matter what is my current and somewhat antiquated Lincoln Mark VIII. Can drive that car for over 400 miles without a stop and no pain issues.

A Subaru I owned had uncomfortable seats and after the driver’s seat back broke (at 70 MPH on the turn pike…) it gave me an excuse to swap them. A neighbor had an old Chevy Citation sitting on this property for about 25 years or so with a bad transmission. He gave me the great condition and near same shade of blue seats out of it. A few mods to the seat tracks and they were wonderful as to fit, color, and most importantly of all total comfort. One would never think of a Citation as being much good for anything…

If you read these discussion boards, you will see that complaints about uncomfortable seats are a very common theme in modern cars. Interestingly, back in the 1980s and 1990s, car seats were extremely comfortable. I don’t know if it is due to cost-cutting, or some type of government mandate (for example, seats today are required to contain airbags) but seats today are often hard and uncomfortable.

If you happen to go to a “you pull it” junkyard, sit down in a mid-1990s Dodge Caravan, Dodge Spirit, or Dodge Shadow, and you will see that the seats back then were super-comfortable, compared to anything you can buy today.

I suspect it’s a combination of both cost cutting and weight reduction for fuel economy reasons.

Personally I miss bench seats in cars.

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could also be that I was a lot younger and whole lot less achey in the 80’s and 90’s. :rofl: :rofl:

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I had a 1993 Oldsmobile 88. The seat felt comfortable at first, but after 75 miles I had leg cramps. We had a 1990 Ford Aerostar van at the time and the seat and driving position were much more comfortable for me. I found the seats in our 2003 Toyota 4Runner comfortable. I like sitting up. At the present time we have the 4Runner and a Sienna minivan.
My wife did a lot of traveling in her job at the university. She found the Ford Taurus had the most comfortable seats for her. Neither she nor I cared for the Honda Civic Hybrids in the fleet because of the seats. My last trip before I retired I was assigned a Ford Fusion. I thought it had comfortable seats and a good driving position.

I have a hard time with threads like this. If you have a physical problem (aka PAIN)…then that seems to me would be t he #1 priority in purchasing a vehicle. If it were me I’d either test drive one for a few days and take a couple long trips or rent if that’s not an option then rent one. No way would I buy a vehicle without a long term test to see if it doesn’t aggravate my condition.

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I was getting neck pain on really long drives, the headrest was too far forward, turns out it was adjustable, moved it back and life was good.

I think back to 1959 when my Dad was thinking about a new car. We had a 1954 Buick with 100,000 miles on the odometer and he thought he wanted another Buick. We road tested a Buick Invicta 4 door hard top. I remember driving the car. None of us in the family were comfortable. The seats were too low and the center seat was hard because of the driveshaft tunnel. My Dad said he wouldn’t pay $3300, the price of the new Buick in 1959, for a four passenger car. Our 1954 Buick was much more comfortable. In1961, the GM cars were redesigned and had higher, more comfortable seats. The Chrysler products back in the late 1950s weren’t very comfortable for me. I guess style was more important than comfort.

Maybe we’ll snag an interior engineer that can explain a little the decisions going into seat design. I know they used to use the dimensions for an “average” person which of course doesn’t exist. Remember the joke about the guy with his feet in the oven and head in the refrigerator but on the average was quite comfortable?

As I remember back though the boss had a 65 Ford wagon with bench seats and I always liked the way that seat fit me. I also think out 61 Merc had pretty comfortable bench seats. I never had any trouble with my Olds or Buicks and could drive them all day long with not problem, but my 86 Buick Park Ave. Broham was not comfortable at all on a long drive. It was a split bench power seat and although very soft, my posterior would get very sore after a couple hours. So I dunno, guess you just have to try them out. Having encountered same though, before bringing any junk yard seats home, check for snakes and rodents hiding in them.

Of course, we were all a lot younger 25-35 years ago. Those were my early childhood to teenage years. However, I am not comparing some nostalgic recollection of how I think seats felt years ago to how new car seats feel today. I am comparing how those models feel if I sit in them today in the year 2020.

I owned a 1995 Dodge Caravan until earlier this year when I gave it away. I have a 1993 Plymouth Sundance in my garage, which I am planning to restore. I have sat in many of these cars in a junkyard, some with over 250,000 miles on them, and the seats are still excellent.

To be sure, I have had some vehicles with terrible, uncomfortable seats. I worked for one company, which assigned me a Ford Econoline van from the early 2000’s. It had less than 150,000 miles on it, but my back never hurt so much as after I drove it. After two weeks of working for that company, I told my boss that the seat in my work truck was too uncomfortable, my back was really bothering me, and I’d need something else to drive. He got me a used 1998 Chevrolet Express cargo van, with over 200,000 miles on it, but it ran well, and the seat was comfortable for the two and a half years I worked there.