My wife has lower leg and foot issues and really needs a higher seat for comfort. We are ready to buy a new vehicle (maybe a small to midsided SUV) and need a higher than average seat. Also - prefer Toyota brand but am open. What vehicles do you recommend?
Does she need a high seat to make it easy to get in and out of the vehicle…or a high seat while sitting in the car???
To find what’s best…you should go around and try them…We can recommend all day long and not know your EXACT requirements…Forget brand name if comfort is paramount.
Mike has it right. This is one that is very personal. You might try two different cars that both have had many people recommending for that condition, but neither might be good for your wife.
You might want to consider that while a seat may seem comfortable when you first get in it, but after an hour or two of driving, it may be terrible. You might want to rent the identical car end up considering and take a nice long drive in it before you sign on the line.
I have a friend who is 90 years old and traded in his Buick LeSabre for a Honda CRV SUV. He wanted something that was easy to enter and exit and now does only around town driving. I am in the middle of a trip we made to visit our son and his family. We took our 2003 Toyota 4Runner as opposed to our 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan and found the trip just as comfortable if not more so. We like sitting up and the firmness of the seats. Also, we weren’t sure what kind of weather to expect, so we liked the security of being able to shift into all wheel drive. Finally, the 4Runner has fog lights and we were under a dense fog advisory. The fog lights must have worked very well, because we didn’t have any fog the entire trip.
We fit ourselves to a car just as we try on a pair of shoes for fit. One size doesn’t fit all. Narrow down your list and then rent the vehicles on your list and try them on for fit.
In addition to the small SUVs (Rav-4, Cr-v, Forester), the Ford Taurus sedan has seats that are somewhat higher than the norm for a sedan. Don’t overlook the Taurus, as it is a very good car.
Don’t overlook the Taurus, as it is a very good car.
My wife would agree. She had to be on the road quite a bit to recruit graduate students for the university where we are both employed. She preferred the Ford Taurus over the Honda Civic Hybrids or the Chevrolet Impalas in the motor pool’s fleet because of the higher seating.
My wife’s 98 Windstar and 06 Sienna minivans both have high seats. She’s been happy with the Sienna and no issues so far. My Dad’s 2007 Ford 500 (renamed back to Taurus) works well for him. He has problems with his knees and legs in general. He much prefers it to his previous Taurus (2003).
Ed B.
Mazda CX-7
Toyota Rav4
Honda CR-V
Kia Sorento
Hyundai Sante Fe
Mazda 5
Ford Escape
I agree…In a 2008 review of SUVs from CR, the compact SUVs in general were the most accommodating for both small and short drivers. Not that this is the issue, but I’d make sure they were all on my tryout list. Include the Nissan Rogue as well.