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Experience? - seat upholsterer in Minnesota (Twin Cities) for seat comfort?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by PaulRivers, Apr 16, 2010.

  1. PaulRivers

    PaulRivers Member

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    2009 Prius
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    I recently purchased a 2009 Prius, only to find that yes - I am one of those people who finds the front seat ungodly painful on my lower back / spine.

    I've done all the research on the forums here - I don't want to lose the side airbag with a seat replacement, and I don't have the tools and patience to attempt to replace the seat with a Corolla seat. I don't have a welding torch, no experience with welding and metal, the Prius is my only car, etc etc.

    My only thought other than taking a loss and selling my Prius to the dealership is to have a seat reupholster reshape/add/remove the foam in the seats to improve their shape to my body.

    Has anyone done this and had good results in the Minnesota / Twin Cities area? Heck, if you did it and had good result outside the twin cities I'd love to hear about it to.

    At the moment I'm stuck randomly calling reupholstery shops and praying that they know what they're doing...
     
    #1 PaulRivers, Apr 16, 2010
  2. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    My best advice is to call a few Toyota dealerships in your area ....

    get a referral to the upholstery shop that does the most seat repairs and warranty work for the dealer.

    I think stay away from any shop that does not do repairs for Toyota dealers.

    A good shop should be able to add some foam into the lumbar area to help your back. Just keep in mind it is trial and error - no formula on what will work or not.

    Also, keep in mind upholstery work is tedious. They have to work in difficult positions and will have to remove the seat bottom trim / fabric and seatback to work on the foam. They will want you there to approve the seat before they put it back together.

    I have some first hand experience with an upholstery shop in Fremont - King Kovers

    They offered to work on my 2006 Prius seat (my used seat I was willing to modify). I left it there on a Tuesday morning. I came Wednesday afternoon to find the seat sitting on their bare shop floor on its side....

    I came the next morning to retrieve the seat and bring it home. Screw them. That seat was very important to me and was insanely difficult to find ... any rate, enough of that. btw, they don't do any work for Toyota dealers. The shop in Hayward does.

    All that said, shame on Toyota for this dreadful seat / steering wheel design on a $24.5k to $29k car .... for 6 years straight!

    You don't hear many people complaining about a Civic seat and steering wheel, a car that starts well under $20k.

    I haven't found another car worth switching to yet though. Not many really good hatchbacks on the market.

    Good luck.
     
    #2 cycledrum, Apr 16, 2010
  3. socratesthecabdriver

    socratesthecabdriver Member

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    man tell me about it my lower back is also killing me i am in that seat 12 hours a day and i am reaching the same point of despair!!! i am also going to have to something about it! its a dam shame the seat is so inapropriate for a car that is ment to be driven for extended periods of time!
     
    #3 socratesthecabdriver, Jun 2, 2010
  4. PaulRivers

    PaulRivers Member

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    2009 Prius
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    Yeah, I agree.

    If you look around at my other threads, you can see the research I've done on replacing the drivers seat with a Recaro seat. Still on the fence about it...between unrelated other physical stuff I've been doing to strengthen up my "core" (muscles around the stomach), and a recent trip where I was able to sit in the passenger seat, I've been able to find a way to sit in the seat that doesn't absolutely kill my back any more. But...it's "acceptable"...still to tall sitting inside the car though.

    I'm keeping an eye on new models that come out, looking for a replacement. I recently rode in a Toyota Matrix, and that was a surprisingly nice vehicle. Ford is putting one of their new fuel-efficient v4 engines in their 2011 Ford Edge, I'll be keeping an eye on that.

    I do not know - it's sad, I rather like the car otherwise. The front seat is the one unacceptable thing...
     
    #4 PaulRivers, Jun 7, 2010
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