is anyone experiencing horrible low back pain from driving their 2012 outback? my husband and i both after a week of driving the new car have been in constant pain. we've tried adjusting the seat every which way. i'm even sitting on a wedge pillow while i drive. help!!
Maybe just getting used to the new seats or ergonomics? It took me a while to figure out a comfortable seating position. I have a blown lower disc in my back and getting comfortable takes a while.
Do you both have back problems in general? Are you seeing an orthpedist, chiropractor or therapist? If you don't have one or all of these, that may be a good place to start. Lots of folks with back problems do the wrong things to help, because what works to get better is not always intuitive.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the seats in the Outback. Almost any seat can be made to work with something as simple as a rolled up towel with a rubber band around it. Good luck.
These are very good seats (2011) so I think you might need to visit a chiropractor, I did and thanks to him spending 3+ hrs. at a time in these seats is no problem.
Just drove from SF Bay Area to LA and back in a weekend. Perfectly comfortable. Previous car was a Prius which was one of the most uncomfortable cars I had ever owned...
Do you have a base model with no lumbar support? I have a Premium and I adjust mine depending on how my back is feeling that day.
You missed the point of owning a Prius. Saving gas and the planet is supposed to make you feel good. Toyota made the Prius uncomfortable because the owners always feel good and smug.
I've had a double discectome and a double hemi-laminectomy 3 years ago and have no issues with back pain in my '12 OB. Never had a problem in my '06 Forester, either. I'm 6'2, 185-190lbs.
have not experienced any back pain yet in my 2012. Seats are pretty comfortable and for me have been fairly easy to adjust into a comfortable driving position.
Comfortable seating is mostly personal preference. My whole family finds the front and back seats in our '11 Outback very comfortable for long and short trips. In fact, it's one reason we bought the car. A quick search shows there are only a few posts on this forum about front seat comfort, position, and headrests, so it certainly isn't a general problem with the Gen 4 Outback. This thread is the only one (in thousands and thousands of posts) that started with back pain problems. If anyone is in pain from sitting in a car, see a doctor and then do a search of posts in the problems forum and this forum.
Everyone's body is a different shape so it's all personal opinion, but the OB seats are terrible for me. I came from a '99 BMW 540 wagon and they were the best seats i've ever sat in (at least in a car). I then bought a 2011 WRX and those seats were really great as well. Traded the WRX for the OB and don't like the seats at all but i can live with them. On the plus side they are better than what was in my '03 Audi A4. Those seats were like sitting on a park bench with a tennis racket strapped to the back!
Took me a few week to find the right position, God help the person who thinks they can adjust them because I might get violent. Play with the 10 way and find something you can live with. My final position was strange to get used to at first, but I don't have pain any more. Don't be afr4aid to raise and low and go in and out more than your used too. That's how I found the "sweet spot."
I miss the seats in my Jeep. Those seats were the best I ever had and I've been in many cars.
Play with the lumbar support. The seats were bad in mine until I started fiddling with the lumbar. While not as comfortable as the seats in my Fusion, properly adjusted, my OB is fine for long trips.
Try to angle the front of the seat edge down. You may be getting tension on your hamstrings having the front edge too high, which is affecting your low back.
I have a compressed disc, straightened spine and scoliosis. I went from a 2009 Frontier to a 2011 Outback mostly because of the seat differences. Sure, I was heavily upside down in the trade, but my back has been thanking me since (owned since Nov 2010 and have 28,000 miles... driving is what I do)
As others have been saying, play with the lumbar support. Me personally, I have it maxed out, front tip of the seat raised nearly to its max, and my seat is close to the steering wheel (mostly to compensate for the raised seat). Also, for those really painful days, I'll throw on the heated seats, even in 100+ degree weather. Keep playing with those settings until you find something that works for you.
On my non-stop L.A. to Denver/Boulder trips I used a small pillow (memory foam) and I placed it to lower lumbar area... I never had a back pain and could sit with that support for hours. Rule of thumb is also to stop every 2 hours and stretch your body (as they indicate on bill boards along Autobahns in Germany).
I'll join the chorus. I switched to an Outback because of back/hip pain. The Outback seats were the most comfortable of the cars I considered. Six months and 10,000 miles later the seat is still comfortable.
I think my outback cured my lower back pain, most comfortable car I have owned.
As to the original post, I feel your pain. If we take the wifes RAV4 on a long drive I have the same problem, I just can't get comfortable in that car.
I'm surprised to read about your back pain issues in your OB. Interesting how we are all a bit different.
I have my share of damage from my younger days of use and abuse and the new (2009) mandated headrest angle pushing my head forward causes me much discomfort, especially so in my 2011 Tacoma.
The seats in my old '98 Tacoma were very comfortable until the lady ran the light and t-boned the truck, killing it and giving me an ambulance ride and some new damage.
I bought a new Tacoma to replace the old one and haven't been comfortable since...until I bought this 2013 OB. For me, the Limited's power seats make these long trips possible again. And no day or so to recover afterward.
Back pain is misery squared. Good luck finding the solution(s) that work for you!
Had my '13 Outback since September. 7k miles. The seats I initially noticed thigh pressure from the sides of the front seat bottoms. I thought that might go away. But since then I find the back ergonomics to be a bit odd. I'm 6' 0" tall. Like it pushes my neck forward. The seats are not perfect. For the bottom they need to flare the end of the side thigh bolsters and not have them straight so they smash into your leg. Otherwise the car is great (except too much defrost in my face)...
I did put a cheap Cabela's nylon seat cover on and it makes for less clothes friction on thighs & makes getting into & out easier.
It took me a lot of tinkering with the seat controls to get things right, but once adjusted, I like the seats a lot. I am glad I have a SAP and could set the seat position in the memory.
I have had my outback for over a month now,
and I still struggle time to time to change up on the seating position.
At the lowest position I am kinda comfortable but I have a hard time
seeing out, and while at other positions I feel uncomfortable pain at my lower thigh.
I felt comfortable at the test drive of the BRZ and WRX but the seating position
in the outback still puzzles me.
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