No ifs or ands about butts on comfy car seats
Make sure the car you buy has seats that are supportive. Your body will pay if the seats feel like carpet on a plank after an hour.
Likewise, the design of auto seats has taken on a whole new meaning. Time was when I'd plunk down on the prairie-flat bench seat of my second-hand 1969 Chevelle and drive from Toronto to Buffalo for chicken wings – it cost $6 in gas for the round trip – without a thought for my spine. These days, when I get into a different test vehicle each week, my far creakier bones quickly tell me the shape and support of each car's chairs.
Seats vary considerably, with price, vehicle type and manufacturer all factors.
Naturally, you're not going to get sports car quality in an economy runabout, but it's essential that you consider the seats when shopping for a vehicle: it's the part you're going to use the most. If they're not comfortable for the amount of time you spend in the car, you're not going to be happy with your purchase.
Most car shoppers spend very little time in a car before they buy it; the average around-the-block test drive isn't enough to know if the seats are supportive, or if they're going to feel like carpet on a plank after an hour.
Don't underestimate how long you spend in your car: if you've got an hour's commute to work, that's 10 hours a week your butt is in that seat, even before you add on all the errands you run besides that.
I have an untested theory that many people who suffer from chronic back pain are really just feeling the effects of sitting for two or more hours each day on a poorly designed car seat. Even if they feel better by Sunday night, the cycle starts again on Monday morning.
First impressions are seldom accurate. A soft, cushy seat feels nice in the showroom, but many don't provide support on long drives. On the other hand, a seat that's too firm at first may be ergonomically correct for extended use.
This is very common with German automakers, as I discovered when I drove a Volkswagen Beetle to New Mexico last year, and 10-hour days felt like an hour behind the wheel.
The Designated Passenger and I now use it as a benchmark, as in, "They're nice, but they're not Beetle seats."
Think about how you use your car on a daily basis. Heavily bolstered seats have thicker cushion edges and seatback wings to help hold you in place during more aggressive driving, but they can make it harder to enter and exit the vehicle if you're running a lot of errands.
Flatter economy-car seats might not provide long-distance support, but could be acceptable in a vehicle that's only used for short trips.
You should be able to move the seat to a position where you can comfortably reach the wheel, see around you, and wear the seatbelt without it cutting into your neck.
Every buyer needs or wants something different from a vehicle, whether it's high-performance handling or enough room to carry the soccer team to practice, but all drivers have one thing in common: they all sit on the seat.
The time to discover that you've bought the wrong one isn't 30 minutes into your three-hour drive. There's only one correct seat, and it's the one that feels right.
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