What Affordable Car has an Ergonomic Driver's Seat?

July 3, 2016 8:03 AM

I've got to get a new or "new used" car. I've got all sorts of joint issues and have found Volvo's to have the best seats for me. Alas, they're outside my budget (and I've heard they cost a lot to repair). Would appreciate suggestions for an affordable alternative....
posted by Jon44 to Shopping (12 answers total)

At the risk of this not answering the question, you can actually buy aftermarket seats and have them installed in any car you buy. Including installation and depending on the seat you buy, this might cost in the range of $1000, give or take, but that might open up options for a cheaper to buy & maintain car with bad seats where replacing the driver's seat still stays in your budget.
posted by brainmouse at 8:25 AM on July 3, 2016 [4 favorites]

What particular areas tend to cause problems for you? Do you need a highly-adjustable seat, or a very cushy one, or a very firm one? Personally Toyota seats tend to work well for me, but this will vary a lot depending on your body size and shape. For seats that don’t have built-in adjustments, you can also adjust things like height and lumbar support by adding covers and cushions.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:29 AM on July 3, 2016

Metal spine here. For me, vw product seats are the best.
posted by Dashy at 8:33 AM on July 3, 2016

For me, vw product seats are the best.

I have a GTI, and the seat is by far the most comfortable I've sat in. To the point that my GF's Camry seat is almost unbearable now, it feels like someone put a pillow on the seat and I'm always rolling around on top of it. The GTI feels molded to my body.

If it were me, I'd narrow myself down to the style of car I want and then just go sit in them all.
posted by Huck500 at 10:18 AM on July 3, 2016

How do other seats fall short? Just looking around a bit on the googles it appears that for Hondas and Toyotas the solution tends to be to get aftermarket lumbar pads and the like (sometimes electronic). HOWEVER, both Kia and Hyundai appear to have been paying attention here and can have n-way adjustable seats. You should put them on your list of cars to check out.

Also, could it be that you're misadjusting the seat in general?
posted by rhizome at 10:38 AM on July 3, 2016

Depends on what the joint issue is. With my hip, it's best if the knee is at or below the hip. This rules out entire classes of vehicles; sub-compacts or compacts with bucket seats are a no.

I like riding in my husband's f-150. These are not cheap new, and I wouldn't buy used. This isn't an endorsement to buy Ford. It's just that this particular geometry works for my particular issue.

Not knowing which joint is impacted, it's hard to make a good suggestion.
posted by crazycanuck at 12:53 PM on July 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

Thirding VW seats. I've had three VWs and all of them were super comfortable, especially for tall folks. Subaru seats are terrible. Don't bother with any of their cars.
posted by scantee at 2:00 PM on July 3, 2016

Oddly, I was just going to suggest Subaru. Our 2016 Outback has some of the most comfortable seats we've ever sat in. They did redesign the car in 2015 so maybe they made a significant improvement.
posted by kindall at 6:15 PM on July 3, 2016

You probably don't want to hear this, but I have wretched joints and a Volvo makes a difference in how much I can get done in a day. I test-drove it and was all, "Crap, I wish I had chairs like this in my house..." It's not particularly new (2008, and I plan on driving it into the ground), running fine, and with some digging I found a reasonably priced, younger mechanic, and eBay's a good source for parts.
posted by kmennie at 7:35 PM on July 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have musculoskeletal issues and need to be able to sit pretty much upright but with good lumbar support. I find the seats in my Hyundai i30 pretty good for this, and if I feel the need for extra support I can add a flat cushion in the curve of my back.
posted by imaginary_mary at 1:43 AM on July 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

The type of joint issues you have, and some basic info about you (are you tall? heavy?) are going to heavily influence the answers you get here. I'm a very tall guy with L4-L5 disc issues, and I had to get rid of my beloved VW because the seats (which everyone else raves about) were putting an intense amount of pressure on my lower back. I'm now in a Subaru that gives me zero problems, but which my (5'1") wife can't drive for more than half an hour without experiencing pain in her L1.
posted by Mayor West at 6:34 AM on July 5, 2016

Try a Mazda.
posted by fieldtrip at 9:19 AM on July 7, 2016