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The Front Seats - OUCH!

182K views 428 replies 141 participants last post by  Turbotalon1g 
#1 ·
The front seats are really awful.

My wife and I test drove the car last week for roughly 5 minutes and loved it. We came home in a leased LT.
The next day, 10 minutes into her first drive, my wife said "wow these seats are really uncomfortable" and 15 minutes in she was in pain. Both of us are not big ( 34 inch waists). There is a plastic railing underneath the seat just jams into your hip and makes driving anywhere more than 5 minutes, not a pleasurable experience. It doesn't hurt me so much , as long as i concentrate to sit in the middle of the seat, but comfortable it is certainly not. and why should have to concentrate to sit in the middle of the seat on a 40K car? Sucks because we love everything else about the car.

Now what do i do.... wonder if i can get out of the lease after 24 hours.
 
#176 ·
I don't think it fair to say the Bolt's seats suck. There are plenty of us who have no trouble sitting in the car for long periods of times, and get in/out of the car without brushing our legs or bottoms across the plastic supports.

However, there is a vocal number of people who are having real problems with the seats. Just because I don't have problem doesn't mean their problem with the seats are any less real. But it also doesn't mean that just because you find the seats to suck that it means all owners will find the seats to suck.

There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason as to why this is happening. It happens across both trim levels. Some owners reported going to a dealership and sitting in several different LT and Premiers and finding that some of the cars were fine, and some sucked. Quality control issues? Bad design? Unclear.

It does appear that there are some cheap fixes that can be employed, whereas other owners have had to employ more drastic (and expensive) attempts to fix things.

Clearly GM needs to reach out to owners who are having issues with the seats to get a better handle on things. When you get your new vehicle survey from GM, fill it out, point out the issues you are having, and include your name & number so they can contact you for further info. I bought my car on February 4th, received an e-mail with a link to the survey on April 11, filled it out the next day, and within 48 hours got a call from GM following up on the problems I had reported (seats were not one of the issues I reported).

If you want your complaints to be taken seriously, give specific examples while avoiding using inflammatory phrases like "the seats suck". "Side bolsters appear to not have enough padding, plastic/metal side supports end up cutting into my sides" or "bottom of seat bottoms out easily" or "plastic frame where seat adjustment controls are cut into left thigh" goes a long way towards explaining the issues without being confrontational. It's informative, but not aggressive.
 
#177 ·
I don't think it fair to say the Bolt's seats suck. There are plenty of us who have no trouble sitting in the car for long periods of times, and get in/out of the car without brushing our legs or bottoms across the plastic supports.
"The seats suck" is just another way to say "the seats are terrible". And given the number of complaints, I think it's a fair statement. I've never seen this level of dissatisfaction with the seats in any other car, so even if the seats are perfectly OK for you I don't think it's fair to say that they are OK. There's no doubt that there's a problem with them, the only possible point of contention is over the degree.
 
#183 ·
It fits me pretty good too, but I can totally understand why it's bothering others. Imagine being bigger than you are and where the outside dimensions of your body would be. Try scooting sideways about three inches in the seat and sit there awhile. It becomes not so great.

While I count myself lucky that I "fit the Bolt" I do think Chevrolet needs to know about this problem so they can fix it for the future. If people can't sit in it, they will buy another car and I want this car to succeed.
 
#181 ·
Don't be emotional, be rational. The seat are 18 inches wide, any padding shop will tell that the minimum for a seat is 20 inches.
This is a fact. I drove cars for almost 30 years, be test drivers for couples of car cie, used to be taxi driver, valet parking and more.. I don't remember lots of complaints about seats of any previous car, this is a fact.

I hope that car TV shows will say something about this, magazines and forums. Answering survey it's a good thing, but remember, help in the future not for actual owners. For GM survey, I fill it and no feedback from GM after that.
 
#185 ·
I'm convinced there must be at least two manufacturers of seats. I've posted a selfie of me (6'4" 215lbs) sitting in the seat and a picture of the empty seat. Are yours like mine?

I see no way I could even brush against the plastic trim piece getting in or out.

Note that my hamstrings actually rest on the seat. This is the first car I've had where this is the case. I set the seat all the way back and at its highest position.

Ed
 

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#187 ·
While I agree GM needs to know it's a problem, that won't help those of us that already own the cars. (picked up ours last Tuesday)

My question is: Has anyone come up with an aftermarket seat cushion, cover or other magical doo-dad to mitigate the issue?
My seat cuts me in the middle of my left hip, and up the buttock. It is not a pleasant thing to experience. I'm also tall in the torso, so one of those 2" or higher padded "orthopedic" seat cushions wouldn't be a great solution for me, at least.

What tickles me no end, though is that it's the only significant gripe I have with the car so far. The HVAC controls are mysterious, having to plug in a USB cable to use Android Auto is irritating, but the seat issue is the only one so far I can't tolerate - and I'm the fussiest guy I know. :)
 
#188 ·
Wow, so interesting that I found this thread! I actually visited a Chevy dealer three days ago to check out the Bolt. I was so impressed and was seriously thinking of buying one. HOWEVER, every time I got out of the Bolt front driver seat, I would brush my left leg against the plastic side of the seat. It was very uncomfortable and I thought maybe it was just me....lol. Now I realize this is a larger design issue and I'm now reconsidering purchasing this car, otherwise I'd be visiting the Chevy dealer this weekend and driving home with a Bolt. I can't justify buying an expensive car with seats that actually cause disconfort exiting the vehicle. :-/
 
#200 ·
I finally had the chance to sit in a Bolt yesterday. A forum member who lives in Phoenix let me sit in his. We took a short drive and I liked the vehicle, except for the seats. When I got back in my truck I found that the pressure from the right side of the Bolt seat had really aggravated my sciatica to the point of some numbness in my leg. So a Bolt is out for me. In an apple to oranges comparison I stopped at the BMW dealer and sat in an i3. Now those were some comfortable seats!
 
#204 ·
I understand, from my local Chevy dealer, that there haven't been enough concerns expressed to GM regarding the seats for them to take any action. I did submit a complaint to GM and received a generic response indicating that input is appreciated and that it is not currently known what changes if any are being considered for 2018.
I will also plan to purchase a different vehicle and let GM know that they lost another sale due to the poor seat comfort.
 
#206 ·
No. Not likely to help much. Here is what some are up against-



Those "wings" sticking up are made of steel. Some are addressing the issue by sticking more foam under the seat cover. This has the same effect as sitting on a pillow, but without having a lame pillow loose in the car. In this case, the person who posted this had his upholstery shop cut the wings down and welded caps over them to smooth the profile. Obviously more money than just adding foam.

I firmly believe that those wings are there to help keep you planted in your seat in the event of a side impact. I believe GM did this to get high crash ratings in the press. My hope is, that soon the rating will be released, the accolades will be sung far and wide that the Bolt is the safest car ever tested, GM will get to thumb their nose at Tesla and then... quietly go about the business of making these seats more comfortable.

I am certain that GM has gotten enough feedback on the seats that they have asked a designer/engineer/production manager as to what can be done and how much it would cost. I'm sure they have a plan for modification. It will all come down to the complaint vs. satisfied ratio.
 
#207 ·
I test drove a Premier a couple weeks ago and the seats didn't even cross my mind as a problem, then I saw this thread and started to worry. I went to a dealership over the weekend and wanted to re-test the seats. I noticed a distinct comfort difference between the seats in the LT vs. Premier. To me, a guy that wears 34" waist pants, the LT was pretty uncomfortable but for whatever reason the Premier felt much better. It was definitely a bit tight, I wish the seats were wider, but I was still comfortable. After that initial test, I sat in the car for roughly 15 minutes exploring the various interior features and the seats didn't cross my mind again, which I think is a good sign that it won't be a big issue. I don't recall any discomfort while climbing in or out, either, but I wasn't really paying attention to those details. Does anyone know if the volume of complaints is weighted more towards the LTs than the Premiers?
 
#208 ·
Now that is interesting..Are the seats different in the LT vs Premier model? Like you, I have test driven a Bolt (three times) before placing my order (not yet arrived), but now realize all my test drives were in the Premier model. Could the "leather-ette" seats provide just enough extra padding/cushion to reduce the seat issue?

Could one of our Senior members start up a survey to see if there is a pattern on complaints? Or does anyone has access to the GM engineers to ask?
 
#213 ·
I really, really doubt there is any difference in the padding between the LT and the Premier. It is not like GM to stock two different sets of foam for a seat. Many of the people here that are having a tough time with their seats are in Premiers. I sat in both during the test drive phase and couldn't tell the difference. I also sampled several different LTs to make sure the one that was assigned to me wasn't going to drive me crazy. I could tell no difference and the sales guy rolled his eyes as he patiently followed me around sitting in car after car.

I believe that if there is any perceived difference between LT seats and Premier seats, it is all all in the tester's head. I'm willing to admit I'm wrong if somebody can show me some solid proof though.
 
#215 ·
I believe that if there is any perceived difference between LT seats and Premier seats, it is all all in the tester's head.
Yeah, this is likely the case. Reading this thread about the seat complaints has really made it hard to be objective. My initial test drive, where I didn't think anything bad about the seats, is the only "untainted" experience I had so I guess they will be just fine for me.
On another note: Does anyone have a woman's perspective on the seats? I think this forum is mostly men and we've got larger frames, generally speaking.
 
#214 ·
My 2 cents.

My wife and I have had our Premiere for about five days now. Everything is great but I am not a fan of the seats. They just aren't that comfy. Some of it is probably the fault of my extra large frame in that I don't think the seatback is all that wide and I have pretty wide shoulders. But this is also a problem for my lower back and if I don't get exactly in the right spot, I start noticing it immediately. To contrast, our outgoing Mini Countryman (also with manual seat controls) which never had the world's greatest seats are a lot softer, and surprisingly wider. I'll poll my wife on her opinion on it (it's her car after all). But it's not a seat I really enjoy. The one thing they did get right is the headrest. Big, tall and safe.

My Cadillac's seats are awesome in comparison. But I would expect that.
 
#216 ·
My wife is 5'4" and between 120-130lbs (yes, that's all I'm privy to at my pay grade) and she has not complained about the Bolt front seats.
I'm 100% certain that if they were uncomfortable... she would have said something!
 
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#217 ·
My wife is 4'11" and 105lbs, she loves the seats. They're just right for her (width and bottom seat length). I think that's saying something.... Usually seats are on the bigger side to accommodate as many body types as possible; it's much easier to fit a small person in a big seat than a big person in a small seat.

The seats in her '15 Jetta are a bit big for her (she has to use a pad behind her back to bring her more forward otherwise the seat bottom digs into the back of her upper calves), but they're PERFECT for me! I wish I could snap a finger and swap the seats from car to car... Maybe I should measure up the track width on those... Hmmm....
 
#218 ·
I've posted before in this thread that the seats are not an issue for me but am chiming in again as I am a woman- 5'7" 135 lbs and no issues. My husband also has no issues at 5'10" 160. A woman friend of mine just bought a Bolt today and loves it. I'm sorry that they are uncomfortable for some, but it is not everyone. Hopefully they will make the seats more universally appealing in the future.
 
#219 ·
After 3-4 weeks (I'm at 5 weeks and nearly 1500 miles) the driver seat in my Premier feels much better. I don't feel the sides on the bottom or the back (it used to pinch my shoulder blades), so it has either broken in or I have :) My wife and I both thought the passenger seat always felt different (better) than the driver seat though, yet they appear to be the same. I'm 5'10" (but all torso, shorter legs) 220lb and broad shouldered. For the first few weeks it definitely was a poor experience.
 
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