Wife just vetoed the Bolt due to seats...any new approach

[michaelbolt]

I know the seats have been an issue for some since the beginning. Our Volts are due for lease return shortly and the Bolt was right at the top of our hot list til my wife drove it. Halfway around the block she vetoed it due to seat shape.

I know people have been suggesting various fixes, and others have been saying "oh they are fine" but truthfully this is the ONLY car she's ever complained about. The ONLY one.

Any suggestions? Or am I stuck with a Kona or something else that I don't really want?

The fix needs to be bulletproof and good looking. Some add-on pad won't cut it on a 44K car. I'm reasoning some modification that fits under the seat cover might be do-able.

 

[BoltEV]

The fix needs to be bulletproof and good looking.

A new wife?

 

[PackardV8]

Ask her nicely to go back for another test and spend enough time adjusting the seats and steering column to fit her. The manual adjustment of the Bolt seats is cumbersome and certainly not intuitive. However, getting the optimum position fore/aft/up/down/tilt makes more difference in the feel than most any car in recent memory.

FWIW, I have to drive in a lowered position I don't really prefer as a taller driver with the seat all the way back and up high experiences a dangerous blind spot to the right front.

jack vines

 

[BoltEV]

...as a taller driver with the seat all the way back and up high experiences a dangerous blind spot to the right front.

jack vines

I have never noticed this right front blind spot on either my 2017 or 2019 Bolt EVs

 

[marspilgrim]

I could suggest a longer test drive to see if she can live with it but ultimately Chevy did a really poor job on these seats and the padding and frame suck for some body types. I'm not a big guy so I can live with it for the up to 20 minutes I'm in the car at one sitting but it's the worst car seat I remember spending time in over the decades. If I drove long trips I'd welcome the charging stops just to stand up a while.

Some people are adding some padding here and there (search this forum) which seems to help a lot. Basically the car was built by the engineers and they ran it past the accountants to hit the price point. I don't think anyone at Chevrolet actually drove it before producing it. I almost went Leaf but I couldn't get past their no battery management and needed max range for winter months. I would have gone with the Kona or e-Niro but you can't get those here.

 

[michaelbolt]

Yes, thank you for a responsive reply.

"Make her drive it more" is not a helpful answer. Replace her? Well...... that's a thought. But in fact, three years ago I rented a Bolt for a day and we fully evaluated it. The seats were a problem then, and apparently still are. If my wife had the hips of a 25 year old fashion model, the seats would be fine but that's not the case.

She's willing to consider the Bolt if we can find a suitable modification to the seats, but as-is it's a no-go; and anything tacky that sits on top of the seat is equally out of the question.

Chevy obviously CAN make perfectly good ones, like in the Volt. They messed up this one I'm truly sorry to say.

Last night we borrowed a friend's Tesla 3. If not for the price, it would be a good alternative, but for now the Bolt is the only reasonably priced 200+ mile car, and the seats are the single worst characteristic. So sad.

 

[BoltEV]

I wish I could say that I feel her pain, but the reality is that I don’t!

I read thin people say the seats are uncomfortable and I read your post about if only she had “the hips of a 25 year old.”

I am slightly over 6 foot tall and “clinically obese” and I drive up to 10 hours a day for Uber.

Not only are the seats comfortable for me, i find them to give me tremendous lumbar support!

That advise and $1.89 will buy your wife a cup of coffee at Starbucks!

I am still pissed that GM CEO Mary Barra did not live up to her promise in her CES Keynote speech in January, 2016 to include a Navigation option (like the Volt), but I am now on my second Bolt EV (2017 now 2019) and I make it work.

I read the threads of those finding the seats uncomfortable and I acknowledge the subjective problem.

There must be a way to make your wife comfortable. Have you posted on the “other” Bolt EV forums?

 

[michaelbolt]

I went to a local seat shop. I'm hoping to find someone who has specifically worked on Bolt seats but so far no luck.

The guy I talked to waved his hands, said he works on Porsche and on Gulfstream jets, can fix anything, yadda-yadda

I'm almost ready to rent one for a day, take it over there and have him find a way to handle my wife's bottom.

Incidentally, I too am a full size male, and I'mOK with the seats (maybe not perfect but OK). Maybe it's something to do with muscle density, bone position, I don't know what.

 

[BoltEV]

Post another message in this forum and search there to see if there is already some helpful information:

https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/getting-serious-about-these-seats.11425/#post-133473

 

[marspilgrim]

Sorry, this is "after purchase" advise but if you search here and elsewhere you'll find a few people that where able to unclip the material and add padding in places that took care of it for them. So I have no doubt that any shop that can do car upholstery would be able to fix it.

But really, check into reviews of the Kona and e-Niro. They were my top choice after months of research but I just couldn't get one in Chicago. they may still be wait listed for all I know. Cars are much to expensive and long lasting to hate being inside it.

 

[cwerdna]

She's willing to consider the Bolt if we can find a suitable modification to the seats, but as-is it's a no-go; and anything tacky that sits on top of the seat is equally out of the question.

Chevy obviously CAN make perfectly good ones, like in the Volt. They messed up this one I'm truly sorry to say..

As others have mentioned, some have removed the seat covers and added padding underneath.

Something "tacky" that sits on top of the cushion is "out of the question"? So, this car is a no go over something you don't want or something much more expensive over this? I got a cover that I mentioned at https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=564799#p564799 but it has downsides like making my body pivot too much. I haven't time to try to find better alternatives but it at least solved my comfort issues.

The adjustments that PackardV8 is alluding to (with all due respect) won't help. The padding of the seats is insufficient and it seems like they're shaped wrong or something. Of all the cars I've owned/leased or were in the family (we've had 3 much older GM vehicles before + 1 Dodge + rest were Toyotas and Nissans), the Bolt's seats are by far the most uncomfortable. Heck, I can't think of any rentals that had front seats as poor and plenty of those are GM. Probably the most comfortable front seats of cars that I've driven recently for an extended period of time was a '19 Nissan Altima. I had it as a rental for a few days and likely put over 300 miles on it, probably closer to 450.

BTW, the car isn't $44K. Nobody pays that. Even https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/bolt-ev/build-and-price/trim subtracts $8500 discount from the get go. As I posted at https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=578805#p578805, Quirk Chevrolet in MA has them starting at just under $24K ($22,245 + $1500 if you don't have a qualifying car to trade in).

It is a real shame that the seats are so poor. Not sure if it was intentional. (Yes, I've seen the video with the chief engineer bragging about the thin seat technology.) Maybe they went overboard or included them as an experiment? GM would probably sell a lot more of them if the front seats weren't so bad.

 

[marspilgrim]

I've also heard that Chevy is eager to get more on the road and will have a great lease deal. So as a BEV you can return in 2-3 years it could be a viable short-term option and by then there will be a lot more choices available, including more used EV's.

 

[psyflyjohn]

What worked for me is mentioning beforehand that "people with wide rear ends" may find the seat uncomfortable. This puts her in the position of having to admit that hers meets that criteria - which most women are loathe to do. BTW, I'm adjusting to the single life well... :mrgreen: