2013 Outback head restraints

Not a problem for me.
You gotta go sit in one and find out for yourself.
Comfort is personal.

My wife's friend bought a car without ever test driving or even sitting in it.
The seat was not tall enough for her and she has been complaining about it for seven years now.

I brought up the head rests in the review I did after test driving a 2013. In summary, the head rests are very uncomfortable due to the angle but fortunately, my head stayed off of them by a hair while driving in my natural driving position. Unfortunately, it will be very uncomfortable for when my wife or I want to take a nap while riding in the passenger seat.

I highly suggest taking one for a test drive because I could definitely see the head rests being an issue for some people.

Thanks you. A test drive is on the docket for next month. If I find them annoying, I'll try swapping a set from a 2012 or 2010 and see if the posts fit the 2013 holes. If so, I'll just order a set of the older version.

I don't care for them but I usually don't rest my head while driving. My wife hates them when she is riding passenger. If there is an aftermarket alternative then I would buy them.

I like the head restraints in my '12 just fine, I can actually rest my head against it and it keeps my head up and looking straight ahead.

FWIW I'm 5'6" and I have the restraint raised up to the first notch. What do you people find so uncomfortable about them?

It's a far cry from the ones in my old Saturn which would have me looking at the ceiling if I laid my head back against them.

JoeMontana said:

Thanks you. A test drive is on the docket for next month. If I find them annoying, I'll try swapping a set from a 2012 or 2010 and see if the posts fit the 2013 holes. If so, I'll just order a set of the older version.

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Good idea. Such a simple solution that I wish I would've though of. I just hope the holes in the seat are the same between the years.

The cost of 2012 cloth head rests through subaruonlineparts.com is only $62 each. It might be worth it to me in the future if the 2013 headrest become unbearable.

iainb said:

I like the head restraints in my '12 just fine, I can actually rest my head against it and it keeps my head up and looking straight ahead.

FWIW I'm 5'6" and I have the restraint raised up to the first notch. What do you people find so uncomfortable about them?

It's a far cry from the ones in my old Saturn which would have me looking at the ceiling if I laid my head back against them.

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The 2013's have changed in the name of safety. There is a very steep angle that goes towards the seat's occupant.

My wife could not stand the headrest angle on her 2012 OB, so I turned them 180 degrees and stuck'em back in. I'm sure the safety factor is not the same, but she is happy (happy wife = happy life). I must also add that in my natural driving position, my head never touched the headrest.

Mine are fine for me. But I hear that women tend to not like headrests that angle forward because they either have "big hair" or wear their hair in a bun on the back of their head.

Like Harvey said...go drive one. Everyone has a different opinion about what's comfortable.

Ironic that the NHTSA mandated solution for a nearly non-existent problem now has people turning or removing their head restraints, thus increasing the possibility of whiplash by about 100 percent. Why can't they just leave well enough alone.

JoeMontana said:

Ironic that the NHTSA mandated solution for a nearly non-existent problem now has people turning or removing their head restraints, thus increasing the possibility of whiplash by about 100 percent. Why can't they just leave well enough alone.

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It's nice to have big brother keeping an eye out for our best interests.

I have only had my Outback for 1200 miles but never noticed the headrest. My wife has said nothing either. I also have a 2003 Element with 135k on it and headrests of about the same angle. We have adjusted our up or it may also be the angel of our seatback but when I drove last night I purposely checked it because of this note and just don't notice anything different from my other cars.

BossMaverick said:

The 2013's have changed in the name of safety. There is a very steep angle that goes towards the seat's occupant.

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The 2012's are also at a steep angle towards the occupant.

I'd have to see them side-by-side to see if there is really a significant change.

I test drove a '13 outback and I thought the headrest was comfortable. No complaints here.
I did hear that a friends friend had a problem with Bluetooth. Has anyone had aproblem that the dealer could not fix?

halp

I shave my head, so I never notice the head rests in any car and I rent a lot of cars for work.

jrabdawg said:

I shave my head, so I never notice the head rests in any car

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What does one have to do with the other?

jrabdawg said:

I shave my head, so I never notice the head rests in any car and I rent a lot of cars for work.

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Seems like that would make it more apparent that something was pushing into your scalp lol

Been driving for over 20yrs, I've never been able to get my head to rest against a headrest unless I am looking at the sun visor, so I've never noticed differences between headrest styles. Maybe because I don't have an inch or two of hair to touch it?