Weird Ridge/Hump in Backseat Headrest?

@daisy555 rejected a car because of a headrest quality issue. i'm not sure if it was the same as yours:

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To answer your question, yes every 2023 Prius model has this.

 

My LE doesn't. Perhaps the issue only affects higher trim models? It may be because the LE center rear headrest is fixed, not adjustable, and there is no fold down arm rest / cup holder.

Since I never have anyone riding in the back seat I removed the headrests on either side which improves rear visibility considerably.

 

Hmm, okay, I thought every model had the rear center seat headrest. BTW, the center seat headrest is not adjustable, it's fixed.

 

Didn't have that ridge, but the center headrest of the 2016 Camry did look asymmetrical like that.

 

The LE has the center headrest too but mine has no bump in the middle and it's symmetrical.

For some reason I thought the one pictured by @ptweezy was adjustable but I think what I'm seeing is a pull strap to lower the armrest. In addition to the bump, it also seems to be higher on the right and lower on the left but maybe that's just the camera angle.

Perhaps the issue was fixed in later production cars. I just got mine and the manufacturing date was July.

 

All US(and Canadian?) market cars have the fixed center headrest. Other markets have three smaller adjustable headrests. It's a US regulation thing about headrest size to prevent whiplash injury. The smaller headrests look better(subjective) and give a better field of view out of the rearview mirror, but the larger headrests are safer.

 

Ahh, okay. I need to pay more attention to details From looking at the picture more closely, it looks like a crease, maybe in the foam underneath. I looked at mine yesterday and didn't notice. I'll look again.

 

Yes. They are all coming like this. Also, the fabric on the back of the backseats was puckered and loose on the one I rejected. I was concerned the weight of the rubber mats was going to make it worse. My cousin who used to work at Toyota for a while and buys them all the time said the quality of materials in her RAV4 is nothing like it used to be. Even the luxury models are supposedly not as nice as they used to be.

It’s validating to see that you noticed this as well. : }

 

It’s possible they’ve improved this issue. They shouldn’t be coming out of the factory looking like this. Mine had the same raised crease and the left side was lower than the right side. This really had nothing to do with the asymmetrical design of the lower section.

 

Do you have a picture of yours?

 

Sorry, no pics, but mine has no bump or indentation in the middle. Looking at it closely, the peak on one side might be a bit higher than the one on the other side but center portion looks level, not slanted to one side. It's not something that I find bothersome.

Again, mine was manufactured in July so maybe earlier builds are affected more. There are typically more issues during the first year of a new generation and I normally would wait until the second or third year but I had put off buying a new car for a few years and I liked the car so much that I decided to chance it.

Time will tell but so far I'm happy. It's less than 2 weeks old, though so . . .

I tend to keep cars for a while. Prior to this car I've owned 3 cars over the past 39 years. This is my first Toyota. I've bought nothing but new Hondas since 1975.

My previous car was a 2008 Civic Coupe, which I loved. The Prius shares some of the same characteristics as the Civic including the same smooth and sleek exterior styling as well as the dash layout with the speedometer viewed over the steering wheel. The increased power was also appealing. I looked back at a road test of the 1998 Accord V-6 that I had prior to the Civic and the Prius has the same 0-60 time. Frankly, for me, the fuel economy is just a bonus and was not a huge factor in my decision.

Some materials could be better, for sure. The back of my backseats is fine but I've noticed that the armrest on the door and the center console has almost no padding at all. The padding on the center console is less of an issue for me, although the space inside is small and the lid feels a bit flimsy. The Civic's console lid was much more substantial and there was a lot more room inside. I dont' go in and out of there much, though.

I'm going to try adding some foam to the arm rest on the door since I use that regularly.

 

I took it one further and folded the seats too!

 

Finally remembered to check today and while it's barely noticeable, when I ran my hand over it, there was a slight hump in the foam underneath. Car was manufactured in June 2023.

I'm not going to worry about it.

 

Checked mine out of curiosity, and sure enough, it has the funny asymmetrical look. Not really bothered by it though, especially since the rear seat design is already asymmetrical anyway (it's wabisabi!). I'm way more bothered by the rear window being so tiny, so I got a digital rearview for it and now I never even see that headrest.

 

Lucky you. I don’t think the XLE has the digital mirror option. When I was test driving my eyes really noticed the slant of the headrest more so because it has the straight window frame behind it. Does that make sense? It wouldn’t be as noticeable if the view behind the headrest was the middle of the window. Probably because I’m so short.