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Is it the driver's seat or my butt?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by qdllc, Aug 31, 2013.

  1. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    Ah, but do those who LOVE the seats START the threads or is it those who are unhappy with them? :sneaky:
     
  2. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    I see two or three people with mild discomfort in this thread, the op stated they had just lost 30 pounds and were uncomfortable, another thought they were the worst on the planet, when asked about physical attributes, no answer, you on the other hand are trolling the thread, but as it's a public forum, you're entitled, as am I to point out the troll;)
     
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  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    $500 or $1000 retail is my guess taking scale into account.
     
  4. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Well the only quote of mine that you haven't stolen and twisted to fit your OPINION...is this one:

    " So complain away if you wish, but just realize your personal relationship with the seat ergonomics of The Prius is a PERSONAL relationship."

    And that's kind of my "Bottom" Line on the issue. I'm not saying a "unknown" percentage of people don't dislike the Prius seats to a varying degree. I'm just saying....realize that your PERSONAL relationship with the seat, is your own.

    And constant complaining about what IS...with the inflexible attitude that nothing but a redesign of the entire seat would solve the problem, doesn't help anyone. Toyota may pay attention to complaints and they may indeed improve or change the design in the future, but they aren't going to recall Prius to replace seats, that evidently ARE good enough to keep Prius one of Toyota's top sellers.

     
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  5. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    More like meaningless generality vs. the specific issue of threads like this where many owners complain about the poor seat design of the Prius. The complaints about the Prius seats pop up with regularity indicating Prius has a problem it should address. For those considering buying a Prius who happen to log on to Priuschat, they get a warning that they will probably need to spend $3-6K to upgrade to get the power seats, the only known solution to the problem. That may be a big enough price differential that the purchase another car.
     
  6. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Seats feel fine to me, maybe one just has to adjust them with the little knobs that were designed into each seat.
     
  7. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    Brilliant! Why didn't anyone think of that?
     
  8. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    Did you participate in the poll ? -- you are welcome, you know.

    If your vote is not counted yet, you can increase the severe complaints up to TWO.
     
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  9. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    Wow! Did Toyota hire Gallup to do a scientific poll....or do you mean one of those meaningless internet survey's you see in forums? You have to wonder why anyone puts them up but they are fun and profitable for the forums.

    And now back to the recurring problem with the Prius seats, a problem that puts the Prius at a $3-$6K disadvantage, the cost differential to go from a Prius II or Prius III to a Prius IV to get the power seats which help fix the problem.
     
  10. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    Call me crazy, but I am not surprised that you are oblivious to facts.

    Carry on. I'm done here.
     
  11. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    The only facts we have are that many complain about the poorly designed Prius seats, that messages with that topic are frequently posted.

    Why Online Polls Are Bunk - Slate Magazine
     
  12. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    So you understand that a poll on PC is not random, but you fail to grasp that threads on PC are not either ? How often do you think people are going to post a thread about a part of the car that they think is OK ? The underlying problem with a non-random sample in this context is selection bias, meaning one group is more motivated and likely to vote/participate than another. In the case of a seat comfort poll on PC, I suspect that if bias in participation exists it favors voting by the uncomfortable.

    No one disputes that threads have been posted by people looking for seat comfort. You cannot however from that fact conclude that anything but a small minority of owners are highly dissatisfied. Saying that 'many' complain without considering the population size does not have any useful meaning. 1% of 1,000,000 might look like 'many' to you, but it is a tiny fraction of Prius owners. PC is closer to 1% of 1% of total owners posting seat discomfort threads, yet I think has about 50k registered owners.

    Do the math
     
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  13. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    Wow. Such drama over car seats. :eek:
     
  14. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    Polls can be random or not. Many varieties. The polls posted on websites are, for factual purposes, "bunk" as the included reference explains. Many references provide similar explanation. Those who create them to bolster their opinions ignore the facts which is usually why they resort to the online polls in the first place.

    Why Online Polls Are Bunk - Slate Magazine

    Hopefully Prius will address the problem with poorly designed seats in the 2015 model. Going with Toyota's fix for the problem, power seats, does raise the price of the Prius by $3-$5K which is significant.
     
  15. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    After reading this thread I'd say as far as anyone experiencing discomfort in the Prius...it's probably the seats.

    However as far as the majority of debate in this thread....it's a lot of Butts.....
     
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  16. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    That's not to mean they don't have value.

    True objective poling is rare. Most polls done today are invalid because they take a week or more to conduct and analyze...by which point public opinion likely has changed.

    Example: As public exposure to a news event progresses, the opinion of people on Monday might be very different from the opinion people have on Friday. Polls that take a week or longer to perform are skewed accordingly and outdated by the time they are published.

    I know of only one company that does "robo-calling" to perform a survey in a matter of HOURS and has the analysis done overnight. That company's poll data is the most accurate of public opinion because of the quick turnaround time and minimal opportunity for opinions to be altered during the survey process.

    With the Internet, maybe a poll on this site is more of an "election" than a "poll" (although poll data doesn't tend to report people who decline to participate), but it is insightful of what the opinions are of people who care enough to actually voice an opinion. While we don't see it, anyone who doesn't vote could be put in a category of "I really don't care" and left off like most polling companies do anyway.
     
  17. iClaudius

    iClaudius Active Member

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    Depends on the value you put on bunk. They are fun and a good for increasing website traffic so the online polls have an entertainment and commercial value but no informational value. As the Slate analysis above notes, they are used often when promoting a political agenda since they invariably "support" the view of the "pollster" no matter the facts.

    I suspect the design problem of the Prius seats is due to the design constraints of the Prius regarding aerodynamics and driver viewing. Toyota probably pushes the envelope in driver positioning causing ergonomic problems for a number of drivers.

    How will Toyota address the problem in the 2015 model change. For the percentage of Prius drives who have problems with the manual seat, it will be impossible to trust the manual seat in the 2015 so they will only be looking at the models that include a power seat.
     
  18. energyandair

    energyandair Active Member

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    The 504's were pretty good too. Particularly the back seats
     
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  19. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    Er, uh, I also liked the back seat of my 1960 Chevy, but for all the wrong reasons!
    Bench front seat on that car was ""cinder block" as one gentleman put it, but rumor has it that the lack of individual seats allowed some nameless youths to switch drivers whilst the car was in motion. Rest stops to change drivers not as necessary for younger folk and for some reason we were always in a hurry.
     
  20. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    Well, here's my solution....

    I tried a few items, all from local stores since nothing online got a good and consistent rating. The key was to find something THIN because the thicker the item, the more it messed with other elements of comfort with the driver's seat.

    Wal-Mart has these. It won't work as pictured since it's not air-bag safe with my Prius (air bag in seat), but on a lark I decided to just fold it backwards and have the back portion facing up. In the end, it added just enough padding to solve my problem but not so much as to make the seat awkward in other places.

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