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2016 Sport driver's seat comfort issues

10K views 49 replies 30 participants last post by  James Dickinson 
#1 ·
I've had my 2016 Sport now for a little over a month and have put 1,100 miles on it. Soon after purchasing the car I noticed I would experience lower back pain while driving and it would last a few hours after my commute to work and back home. This has now been a daily experience for an entire month. I have adjusted the seat multiple times and it has only gotten worse. One thing I noticed, and my wife noticed as well, is the cloth seats in the Sport really retain heat and you can feel it in your lower back. That heat combined with the pain has been really hard to deal with. Additionally the vibration at idle makes it even worse (I know this is normal with the 2.4 and CVT when the A/C kicks on). I'm 6'4", around 200 lbs, in pretty decent shape and the seats don't exactly feel uncomfortable but the back pain is making it hard to do just about anything. Has anybody else had issues with the driver's seat comfort?
 
#2 ·
I also have a 2016 Sport, but the seats have never bothered me. They're not the best, but I've never had any back problems from them.

Please check out my post "2016 Sport possible vibration solution" for the vibration issue, which I think is not normal no matter what Honda and their techs tell me.
 
#6 ·
I just saw your post about the vibration issue. Very interesting that the intake could make a difference. I noticed the vibration when test driving two other 2016 Sports and assumed it was just because the engine was cold. Now every time I come to a red light I cringe because the vibration can be felt and it makes the back pain worse than it already is. I'm sure the ride quality of the 19" wheels doesn't help but I knew that was to be expected. I actually drove my wife's car to work today (older Acura TL) and the seat was definitely more supportive and it was so nice to not have that vibration at every light. I've actually turned off the A/C a few times just to get the vibration to stop. I scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic doctor for next week because I don't know what else to do. Driving this car has not been an enjoyable experience so far. A co-worker of mine suggested that part of the problem is my height and trying to adjust to the seating position of a sedan when I've driven SUVs for the last 10 years. My wife asked me a few minutes ago "So what are you going to do? You can't sell a brand new car a month after buying it."
 
#3 ·
I had an older Nissan van that about made me cry the seat hurt so bad. There is local auto upholstery shop here that actually added and changed the padding in the seat. It looked great when they finshed and I never had any pain the remaining 6 years I had that van. They told me at the shop they do a ton of work on drivers seats from super expensive cars like Mercedes down to the cheap ones.

I would suggest you try this. It made all the difference in the world with my van.
 
#7 ·
I've had my car for 3 months now and never experienced back pain. As a matter of fact I think they are pretty comfortable. I'm 6'2 225 and workout daily.

In another thread some have complained about the back pain but after adjusting the seat and finding the right position it went away.

Also I don't have any vibrations at idle. My 2016 is actually very smooth and I've had 2 family members drive my car and they never noticed any vibrations
 
#8 ·
Oh man, I feel your pain.

There are only 3 options:

1. Sell your car.

2. Your body miraculously adapts to the seats (highly, highly doubtful)

3. "Recontour" the seat using either aftermarket (unlikely to work to satisfaction) or custom pad (either get it reupholstered professionally or by jury-rigging a custom pad that sits on top of the seat back and "corrects" the "wrong" contour).

Unless you can 1) correctly identify the "wrong" contour and 2) make or have a custom corrective pad made, I think you are looking at selling your car.
 
#13 ·
I never thought I would be complaining about a seat in a new car. It's not something I ever really considered when shopping around. I'm going to let my wife drive the Accord this week and I'll drive her TL just to see how much of a difference it makes. She may end up driving the Accord long-term if I can't adjust to the Accord seats although she isn't happy to give up the extra features in the TL such as XM, leather, sunroof, etc.
 
#14 ·
We took a trip to Reno this weekend and Bay Area traffic turned a 5hr drive into a 7 1/2hr drive. I found the seat to be comfortable the whole time. The only part that started to bother was me was my right leg being against the console, that didn't feel too good after about 5 hours.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
From one end of the spectrum to the other.
I've had back issues since my late 20's and I actually find relief sitting in my Accord,plenty of 3-4 hour straight through drives with no issues.

That said,I've owned 2 cars in the past(90's Chevrolets) that after 30 min. I would literally be in tears from back pain/stiffness.I had to make frequent stops in those cars during extended drives,ended up selling both for seat comfort reasons.

Does the Sport seat have the same adjustments as the upper trims?

Good luck
 
#17 ·
I had the same problem, Sport2016. I'm 6'3", 195 myself.

What has been working for me is raising the seat to a "middle" height, angling the seat downward so your femur is more parallel to the ground (rather than being in a tuck position with knees high), adjusting the lumbar support to a "middle" setting, then setting the vertical backing to a very slight lean back. This position is the result of days and days of adjustments during my hour-long morning and afternoon commutes.

I found that sitting at an acute angle (i.e., where my knees were higher than my hips) made the pain worse, as it crunched the cervical spine.

Also, truthfully, I think my body has just gotten used to the seat. Give yours some time.
 
#18 ·
If you think the sport seats are bad, better thank yourself you didn't have an LX. Recently trading up to a '16 sport is a world of difference in seat comfort from an LX.
 
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#19 ·
I'll just tell you what I encountered and how I solved it. Not sure it would help but it couldn't hurt.

I was finding the seat rather uncomfortable in that the seatbelt buckle was jabbing my butt/hip on the right side, and this despite my rocking a fairly svelte 34-inch waist. I eventually figured out that I was seated way too far back in the seat. I adjusted the lumbar support forward, pushing myself more into the middle of the cushion. Took a couple of days to get used to it but now the seat and I are getting along nicely. Alas thanks to some terrible Bay Area traffic I was just in it for 2 hours and it was comfy the whole time.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for all the suggested seating positions everyone. I went to see an orthopedic doctor last week just to make sure there wasn't something more serious going on and he confirmed that it was likely due to the seat in my Accord.

On Saturday I sat on a plane for nearly 5 hours and had no back pain. Then I rented a car (Infiniti Q50 sedan) and drove almost 4 hours from SFO airport to Lake Tahoe and again experienced no back pain. I don't know why the seat in the Accord is so bad on my back. It makes no sense.

I will say after driving this rental that the Accord does many things better than the Q50. The audio and hvac controls in the Q50 are some of the worst I have ever used. The turbo lag is pretty bad too when you are trying to pull out in traffic. Makes me appreciate all of the other things the Accord does well. I suppose I'll have to give it more time to see if I can get used to the seat or I guess I'll have to live with the pain until it makes sense to sell it. Very disappointing.
 
#21 ·
The whole reason why I didn't purchase the Sport was because of the seats, the "cloth" you mentioned in your car isn't even real cloth like in the LX or EX. The Sport fabric is pretty much a plastic material that retains heat and sweat which can get really uncomfortable.
 
#29 ·
I have had my EX coupe for close to 2 years now and I still can't get comfortable in it. The positioning (I've tried all sorts of settings) and the seat comfort make me get fatigued in it very quickly. I find myself shifting around constantly looking for a more comfortable position. Since I drive a great deal for work, it has become a real problem. It's one of the main reasons I am looking around for a potential replacement. I also think the quality of the seat material is nowhere near what it is in my wife's 2010 Odyssey.
 
#30 ·
I rarely post here but can't resist this seat topic. I owned a new 98 Accord for 15 years. Most comfortable seats ever (also on the 74, 78, 93, Civics I owned). Then I bought a new 2013 and 5 months ago bought a new 2016 Accord Ex-L. Because of the very uncomfortable seats in the 2013, and exactly the same now in the 2016. I wrote the following letter to Honda with no help except a form letter saying they appreciate the contact:

"All the previous Hondas I owned, whether new or used, were very comfortable to drive for extended periods of time. Several times I drove my ‘98 Accord across country sometimes doing 1000 miles in a day. The seats were extremely comfortable. The 2013 Accord seats are the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. They appear to be designed for someone whose back is curved like the letter “C” with their chin down on their chest. I am a normal 5’10”, 150 lb male who does a lot of driving for my work using my own car.

The seat has no support for the middle back. Only the hip area and the shoulder blades are supported with a gap existing at the middle back. The head rest is canted forward so far as to continuously push the head forward so the chin is down toward the chest. The only way to change this is to have pads put in to support the middle back at a cost of $300. The head rests can be fixed (bent back) for $275 each. This is a very disappointing and unpleasant discovery for me after paying out a lot of money for what I expected to be a car as fantastic as all the previous ones I have owned. I had to have the seats modified and the headrests removed as they are a liability due to the discomfort and subsequent distraction from driving with my head forced forward.

I might add that adjusting the seats is not a solution as nothing changes the curvature of the seat back and nothing changes the angle at which the headrest is canted forward relative to the seat back. The driver’s side adjustable lumbar support is at the level of the hips, too low to do any good and not where it should be as it was on the 98 Accord."

I still love the cars but the comfort level is the same as an 1890's stagecoach seat with worn padding.

I did re-upholster the seat and turned the headrests backwards. Voila, comfortable finally. Shame on Honda for this.
 
#31 ·
Let me try and wrap my head around this.....You found the seats in the '13 Accord so uncomfortable you decided to sell and purchase another vehicle,so you decided on a '16 Accord with the SAME seats and then shame Honda.LOL


I've had back issues for 30 years and actually find relief sitting in my Accord,props to Honda for designing excellent seats!
 
#33 ·
Well I guess I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one having issues with these seats. In fact doing a search on Google for uncomfortable Accord seats pulls up more complaints than I expected.

Last week during my 8-day vacation I put over 800 miles on a rental Infiniti Q50. During those 800+ miles I experienced ZERO back pain the entire time. I wasn't a big fan of the car overall but the seats for me were amazing. As soon as I got home yesterday and got back into my car I could feel a significant difference in support and comfort. I just drove into the office this morning and 20 minutes into my commute my back started to hurt again. These seats are by far the worst I have ever experienced in any vehicle. The lumbar support is worthless since it supports the wrong part of the back. There is very little cushioning in the seat bottom. I don't know that I will 'adjust' to them as some are saying now that this has been ongoing for over a month. We will be driving 5+ hours this Friday down to the beach and we can't even take my brand new car because of the seats. At this point I would sell the car today if I got an offer high enough. This will be the last Honda I ever purchase.
 
#34 ·
Well I guess I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one having issues with these seats. In fact doing a search on Google for uncomfortable Accord seats pulls up more complaints than I expected.


Have you googled that for any other models of cars? I'd guess you'll find plenty of people making that complaint about just about every other model of car too.
 
#38 ·
I'm not sure if the driver's seat on the Sport has power adjustment, but it may be a problem in lower trim models. I found the seat a bit uncomfortable at first on my EX. It really does take fine tuning the adjustments to get it where it's comfortable. It could also be that some of these folks complaining of back pain already had pre-existing back problems. Being in a sitting position aggravates back problems, so the seat may not be fully to blame.
 
#39 ·
I'm not sure if the driver's seat on the Sport has power adjustment, but it may be a problem in lower trim models. I found the seat a bit uncomfortable at first on my EX. It really does take fine tuning the adjustments to get it where it's comfortable. It could also be that some of these folks complaining of back pain already had pre-existing back problems. Being in a sitting position aggravates back problems, so the seat may not be fully to blame.
^Agreed, very well said.
 
#40 ·
I have owned a dozen cars in the last 3 years and found my 2016 sport seats more comfortable than most. Head room is always the biggest problem for me so since there is plenty that really helps. I have a lot of sympathy for the OP and others as its hard to know how comfortable you are in a vehicle until you drive it for 30mins plus. We all have unique bodies and just like shoes what comfortably fits one person could be terrible for another. It isn't a question of health or fitness either. I was lucky in that I only drove my Accord for maybe 5 minutes on test drives. Next vehicle purchase I might see about renting the same model first.

If I had this problem I'd probably look at some upholstery shops and see about getting custom cushioning, new seat foam or some type of major seat modification. If I wasn't able to find a good option for a seat I'd sell the car. Yeah it sucks losing so much but you can't put money or some material possesion above your long term health and happiness.
 
#44 ·
What car will you get as a replacement? Or do you have another car?
 
#47 ·
I simply don't get this whole seat back problem issue.

I've owned a bunch of Accords (6'3". 240lbs), and I find them extremely comfortable. Between the various seat adjustments, coupled with the tilt/tele steering options, you can find an extremely comfortable driving position.

I feel sorry for the folks, who are having so much trouble. Hopefully, you can find some comfort.
 
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