Bolt Front Seats Recall Media Campaign

[elpwr]

That's a nice response. And I wasn't trying to be argumentative.

I'm Just baffled why some actual purchasers didn't spot the issue when evaluating the car. If it was that uncomfortable it should have been a "deal breaker' and the unhappy folks should never have become unhappy owners. Just saying there is some purchaser responsibility here that some owners seem to want to ignore.

 

[elpwr]

Another observation: Early Tesla Model S had seats that were deemed uncomfortable by many. It took Tesla 2.5 years to offer a $2500 "upgrade" to slightly better seats. Tesla never came up with a "fix" for earlier cars and never offered any remedy. It's not reasonable to expect Chevy to do any differently.

I bought my early Model S fully aware of the seats but decided I wanted the car enough to live with the issue. I don't post in the long "uncomfortable seats" thread on Tesla forums. It's not going to do any good there. Just like it's not going to do any good here.

 

[SeanNelson]

I'm Just baffled why some actual purchasers didn't spot the issue when evaluating the car. If it was that uncomfortable it should have been a "deal breaker' and the unhappy folks should never have become unhappy owners. Just saying there is some purchaser responsibility here that some owners seem to want to ignore.

Some people have reported that the seats feel fine for the first few minutes but by the time a half hour or more has gone by they start to become painful. So you need to be able to take a reasonably long test drive to really evaluate how well they work for you.

The problem is that here in Canada, there are zero Bolts available for test drives. The only test drives I've been able to swing have been at auto shows or electric car events - and those are limited to about 5 minutes of seat time.

So if we Canadians want to buy a Bolt we need to put in an order, wait 6 months, and keep our fingers crossed that the seats will be acceptable.

 

[elpwr]

I don't understand why Chevy seems to be slighting Canadian buyers.

There were a few Bolts brought to Fl from CA before the order books opened here. I got a brief test drive but was allowed all the "seat time" I wanted in several in-stock cars. Sat probably a total of 30-40 minutes in a couple of different cars. The seats were a little firm and a little narrow - but I was pretty certain they would work for me.

I ordered in FL the first day dealers were allowed and my car was delivered 5 weeks later. I was ok with the seats but went ahead and installed a foam pad under the lower cushion upholstery anyway. For me, the seats went from acceptable to pretty darned good. I have no complaints with the seats and I like the handling of the slightly firm but absorbent ride.

The Bolt sits next to my Model S in the garage and I frequently choose the Bolt for my daily drives. I think it's a pretty good complement that I enjoy it about as much as my Tesla.

 

[iletric]

I'm Just baffled why some actual purchasers didn't spot the issue when evaluating the car. If it was that uncomfortable it should have been a "deal breaker' and the unhappy folks should never have become unhappy owners.

Don't be, because Bolt is for now the only game in town that is not badged Tesla.

I knew the seats were a disaster the moment I placed my rear end sideways on the driver's seat. And before I pivoted my body to face forward I asked the dealer: "What's wrong with this seat?"

I knew that I had no choice but to get this car "as is" and mull over the fix later, because -- once again -- Bolt still is, as of this writing, the only game in town that is not badged Tesla. Bolt to me is the proverbial lesser of the two evils: Bunny car with bad seats vs. my contribution to global warming by driving ICE. I chose the lesser evil, so to speak. And I'd appreciate, lpwr, if you DON'T take the word "evil" literally.

Look, I can adjust. I fixed the seats at a pretty unpleasant cost and I still don't like the drum-tight, two-hand-hold driving experience. No jerking on that steering wheel. Pleasing or relaxing drive Bolt is not, not on most Calif roads. But as I said in another post, the larger question looms: who is GM targeting with this car? Shouldn't it appeal to a larger driving populace than the "this is my poor man's Ferrari" types? Does GM really think great cornering is the thing?

No. Bolt buyers are in my humble opinion regular folks who are willing to put up with the costs and inconveniences of this emerging EV tech because they care deeply about global warming, and not necessarily the sporty-to-the-hilt aspects of their personal transportation.

PS: if you don't agree just take a look at Leaf 1 sales. Leaf 1 is what I might consider a normal car in terms of driving experience, and yet it is the EV that sold the most copies worldwide so far. Sales that went on until Nissan literally stopped making it this year. So maybe it's not the sporty thing that truly attracts EV buyers but the price and the range.

 

[Allelectric]

That's a nice response. And I wasn't trying to be argumentative.

I'm Just baffled why some actual purchasers didn't spot the issue when evaluating the car. If it was that uncomfortable it should have been a "deal breaker' and the unhappy folks should never have become unhappy owners. Just saying there is some purchaser responsibility here that some owners seem to want to ignore.

Hands up, not only did I spot the issue, I went in knowing about it as I had read this forum. Myself and my wife talked about it long and hard after the short test drive. It was our only negative. The test drive was short because the car was not a demonstrator, it was the only (and we were told the first) Bolt available in the whole Province. It was ours to have but mileage was very limited for the drive in case we declined. We decided (wrongly) that we could put up with it. As said it was the only other game in town. We had a Kia Soul EV but needed more range if we were to go all electric. Our drives to work are 35 mins and to our trailer it's 1.5 hours. Those journeys are what are driving us crazy.
However had I already done seat self upgrades I'm betting I would be in trouble this week with warranty.
I don't think that Chevy are fully responsible for my seat quandary, I bare and admit my part. I do however think that it would nice (and damn good business) if they could offer a seat pad kit that could be fitted to existing seats by dealer service departments (thus preserving warranty) to those of us that have invested in their venture early. They really are losing buyers. One of the guys that drove my car at work recently ordered an Ioniq today.

 

[k0an]

I've started a Change.org petition so we can all consolidate our feedback into one place to maximize our visibility. Please sign and spread the word!
http://chn.ge/2xwEBVx

 

[Anonymous]

Feel free to contact me regarding {...} .

{mod edit: no advertising on the forum. }

 

[LyftyMcNyfty]

So, if I may...

I drive for Lyft, and as a result spend around 50 hours a week in this seat.

To those who say they find it comfortable, I submit that you might not be feeling the effects of the seat because you're not spending significant time in it.

If you drive 20 to 30 minutes each way to work, you're not going to notice anything.

It may be cumulative.

I have incurred significant back pain as a result of this seat. I know that it's the seat, because I previously drove a VW Passat with nice leather seats, doing the same job, 50 hrs a week, and never had any back pain.

But now, my shoulder blades, my lower and mid back, and my arms, are all in serious pain. I have done damage to my muscles and ligaments as a result of having my arms raised too high for extended periods because of the seat position relative to the center console and driver door arm rest, and now cannot sleep through the night. No position relieves the pain.

It seems some on this message board don't appreciate the severity of the problem with these seats. I'm only 30 years old, and I can't bend over or pick up anything heavy, because of Chevy's terribly designed interior. I cannot wait to get rid of this car, which is unfortunate, because it drives great.

 

[NHTortoise]

New Bolt owner here... has anyone tried adding any padding to see if that fixes the seats? is there a way for anyone to swap out the seats? i agree, shorter drives are ok but longer drives i definitely feel it. Lyfty - have you tried stretching? Doing lots and lots of stretching (yoga-like) for half-hour periods every day improved my lower back pain which I had prior to Bolt. Just something to consider.

 

[marspilgrim]

There are links to a few people that have inserted some extra foam into the seats. I found it easiest to get some nice seat pads from Amazon but I'm not using them now to get the benefit of the seat heaters. I'm fortunate that my commute is short enough that I get by with the seats okay. They obviously never did testing with enough body types in pre-production, or maximum weight reduction was more important to have longest range possible.

 

[desiv]

New Bolt owner here... has anyone tried adding any padding to see if that fixes the seats?

Yeah, it was so simple, even I could do it. ;-)
To be fair, the seats didn't bother me (and I have a 120 mile round trip to work daily), but my wife said she noticed it, although it didn't bother her.. But I decided to try to add some padding.

I just picked up one of the gardening kneeling mats at at Ace hardware. I was "smart" and decided to get one larger mat rather than the 2 smaller ones. Then, when installing, I found out that the heated seats have a wire right in the center, so I had to cut my mat in half anyway. ;-)

Getting the seat cover clips off took a bit of doing, but wasn't too bad. The pads slid in fairly easily, just catching a few times (I should have worn gloves tho, as I did get a few scratches getting them in there).
All in all, I think it took me 20 minutes per seat.

My wife says she notices the difference, and since these pads go UNDER the heated seating, there is no worry there.
There is actually room I think to add another layer of pads for some more cushion, which I thought I might do if I needed, but I haven't felt the need and my wife hasn't mentioned it.

I think someone mentioned warranty earlier in this thread? Removing the pads would be super easy. FYI...

desiv