BOLT SEAT ISSUE - no DATA thread

[flamaest]

As the "mystery" of the seats deepens, I was lucky enough that my dealer had two side by side I could sit in.

Both had heated seats.
One had the cloth.
One had the leather.

BIG difference. So big I photographed it for you all.

The cloth were MUCH firmer and had MUCH more padding. The thicker padding kept my butt and thighs off the plastic sides.

The leather was softer and thinner and compressed much more- kind of like letting the air out of an air mattress when I sat in them. Eventually, my thighs would hit the plastic sides.

I am 5-9 and 210 pounds, 36" waist.
I thought the difference was dramatic.

View attachment 1

Wow, these images explain a lot. Feel sorry for the people with leather. I have cloth seats and they still suck.

 

[jmatero]

Want to replace my i3 with a Bolt but the ONLY thing holding me back is the drivers seat. Every car (cloth and leather) on the lot felt the same EXCEPT the Premiere in the showroom. Could something "were in" over time? even the dealer said it's the biggest complaint during test drives. So disappointed.

 

[Anonymous]

Earlier in this thread I drove an LT and had problems with the driver seat. I just drove (and purchased) a premier and the seat width issue is only very slightly there. I was able to find acceptable positions where my read did not touch hard plastic in the driver seat on the left hand side.

 

[gpsman]

I was in the car for 200 continuous miles.
Surpisingly, I had no complaints.

Starting to think there is a "break-in" period for both the seats and driver's butt.

I'm changing my recommendation from buyer beware, to give it a few weeks. I know, hard to get a several week test drive.

But the more time I spend in the seat: the better itb feels to me.

 

[DaveInAvl]

Starting to think there is a "break-in" period for both the seats and driver's butt.

That was my experience with my '14 LEAF, which I'm now turning in at end-of-lease. NC is in the final group of states to get the Bolt, so we're back to one car for a while...

 

[boltage]

The owner's manual says that the front seat head restraints are not (supposed to be) removable.

Presumably, they are made that way so that the occupants' heads are close to the head restraint, which reduces the risk of injury if a rear end crash occurs. However, some whose heads are more back relative to their backs may find them uncomfortable.

 

[gpsman]

For me (5'9, 145lbs.) the seats are excellent and very sporty, aside from the horrid front headrests, which push my head forward and give me a serious stiff neck.
I can't figure out how to detach them from the seats to straighten them up a few degrees - there is no apparent way to slide them up and out like other cars.

THEY ARE REMOVABLE just not as apparent.
Got mine off in less than 5 minutes.
Investigate and look closely. No special tools required. Think of it like a child proof medicine cap where you have to squeeze and pull at the same time.

If you can't figure it out, post and I will go out and take photos. At first I too thought it would be difficult. It's not once you figure the trick. I had to take mine off to cover my LT seats with faux leather and it was easy.

 

[iletric]

Social media savvy people.

Mary Barra/GM will do nothing until we mount a media campaign so effective that GM will feel it. Let everyone know, NOT to buy Bolt because of its seats.

That is the only way to get the GM behemoth and Mary to take notice and actually look down from her ivory tower and order recall/replacement of these disaster seats. The last thing GM wants is BAD PUBLICITY about their Bolt baby.

We have heard enough. The seats are trash. They hurt people's backs and butts.

I challenge you to start your campaign. TODAY!

 

[iletric]

GM needs to do what United did:

1- Apologize
2- Fix the problem

 

[DoninLAlaland]

I agree that Chevy needs to apologize and fix the problem.

 

[ArthurL]

I was curious about this issue and the initial idea that it has to do with size and height. I asked Google Home what percentage of Americans were over 6 feet tall. It quoted a study in early 2000 that said 14.5% of men were over 6 foot.

I'm 5'8". I'm under 150lbs. Yes the seats are narrow and under certain circumstance the seats are very comfortable. But....you add my thin wallet and it's about unbearable. Right hip almost goes numb. I guess either my butt or the seat needs more padding.

 

[boltage]

I was curious about this issue and the initial idea that it has to do with size and height. I asked Google Home what percentage of Americans were over 6 feet tall. It quoted a study in early 2000 that said 14.5% of men were over 6 foot.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03_039.pdf

Table 12 says that 72" height for men age 20 and over is between the 75th and 85th percentile (which are 71.2" and 72.3" respectively). Median is 69.1".

Table 20 says that the median waist circumference for men age 20 and over is 100.3cm (= 39.5").

I'm 5'8". I'm under 150lbs. Yes the seats are narrow and under certain circumstance the seats are very comfortable. But....you add my thin wallet and it's about unbearable. Right hip almost goes numb. I guess either my butt or the seat needs more padding.

Put the wallet in the front pocket?

I have heard of wallets in back pockets causing other discomfort issues as well (sciatica, "credit card itis").

If you want more padding on the bottom cushion (making it less confining but also less sporty), there is another thread about that at http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6157 .

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Local dealer in Auburn MA told me Chevy is making mid stream adjustments and new seats should be showing up soon. No way of knowing how accurate that is, but passing it on in case someone can confirm it. They kind of have to if sales are suffering. Sooner or later some reporter will get it into the general press.

 

[scbolt]

Local dealer in Auburn MA told me Chevy is making mid stream adjustments and new seats should be showing up soon. No way of knowing how accurate that is, but passing it on in case someone can confirm it. They kind of have to if sales are suffering. Sooner or later some reporter will get it into the general press.

It would be great if that is true. Anyone else heard anything like this from their dealers or, better yet, from Chevy customer service?

If they truly are doing this, then the next question will be -- what are they going to do for the existing Bolt users? Hope they don't leave these brave group of early adopters in the dark!

 

[SeanNelson]

Local dealer in Auburn MA told me Chevy is making mid stream adjustments and new seats should be showing up soon. No way of knowing how accurate that is, but passing it on in case someone can confirm it. They kind of have to if sales are suffering. Sooner or later some reporter will get it into the general press.

It would be great is that is true. Anyone else heard anything like this from their dealers or, better yet, from Chevy customer service?

It would be terrific news for those of us still on the sidelines. And I'm kind of wondering if GM had a planned production shutdown in April to accommodate these kinds of potential issues, based on the rollout schedule which doesn't expand the ordering process to any additional states that month.

 

[SparkE]

{{Split off posts from the data collection thread}}

 

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking of leasing the Bolt, and this, above all, is why I might pass. Leased the Volt for 3 years and was stoked to get the Mercedes B class that had all the seat adjustments you would expect in a 45k car! To sell a car in 2017 that doesn't remember the driver's preferences, and that you gave to crank by hand is a slap in the face! Really, how much more weight can real seats have?

 

[ScooterCT]

If GM is introducing an upgraded seat, it might possibly have a part number change, like xxxxa. We saw this in the 2016 Miata, which had a transmission defect. Mazda quietly fixed it during production, and changed the part number. The Miata forum is pretty well connected, and Mazda is really great about sharing technical information. Ergo, Miata owners all know about the part change.

So if you have access to a friendly GM service manager, you might nicely ask if they'd search Bolt seat part numbers to see if there has been a seat revision part number change. I don't know if GM will change the part number, but it's pretty standard practice in manufacturing engineering.

 

[HotPotato]

I'm thinking of leasing the Bolt, and this, above all, is why I might pass. Leased the Volt for 3 years and was stoked to get the Mercedes B class that had all the seat adjustments you would expect in a 45k car! To sell a car in 2017 that doesn't remember the driver's preferences, and that you gave to crank by hand is a slap in the face! Really, how much more weight can real seats have?

Quite a bit more. That's why they do it. The B class is a nice car, but its efficiency and range are far below the Bolt's, even though the size and price are comparable, and that's because it's heavy. (I can't even imagine how heavy it would be with a comparable size battery.) Driving electric is like having only a couple gallons in your gas tank, and no gas stations between here and your distant destination. You start looking nervously around your car at that bag of books you were going to take to the school sale and that huge bag of dry cleaning you haven't dropped off yet and that box you've been meaning to take to the storage unit and think "damn it, I really should have taken all the crap out of my car before I left."

 

[DoninLAlaland]

STILL no word from Jeremy or his supervisor David at GM and I've left 8 voicemail messages. Allen Gwynn Chevrolet, my dealer in Glendale, told me today that he is going to start charging me for the courtesy rental and a fee for storing my Bolt. He also told me that there is nothing more that he can do until there's an authorized repair from Chevy/GM.

This is my very first experience with GM and Chevy and I have to say, it will likely be my last. The customer service stinks. GM does not seem to care about its customers who purchased or leased a $40,000+ car.

On the positive side, I was able to do my typical 3 mile run on Saturday morning pain-free after not driving the Bolt for almost two weeks.