Query ........... Living with Bolt seats?
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I did an extended test drive of a Bolt recently with a local EV club member. The seats and lack of adaptive cruise control are the achilles heel of the Bolt in my opinion. The seats are too narrow and lack any manual lumbar support. No power seat adjustments or lumbar support in a $43k vehicle is baffling.
Your experience may vary however because some find the seats adequate while others do not. You'll just have to try them out for yourself.
Your experience may vary however because some find the seats adequate while others do not. You'll just have to try them out for yourself.
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I sat in the Bolt Premier leather seats for a few hours (various, multiple test drives and in the showroom reading a book) before buying. I was concerned based on some of the sets suck posts here. Had I not read those posts I doubt I would have noticed anything, instead I was so hyper-focused that I think I started imagining things.
Now that I've had the car for 5 month's I can honestly say there are no seat issues. There IS a hard, exit side support edge in the bottom cushion which I felt on the bottom of my legs as I got out of the car. That edge has softened over time with use. Like breaking in a new pair of stiff leather shoes. The CUV-type seats are more upright than the Volt's and an inch narrower. But long drives and short drives have been fine for both my wife and I. Neither of us are overweight, both on the tall side for our sex, both relatively fit, no chronic joint or back pain issues.
Really, really happy with the car. We pick it over the Volt to drive. Still love the Volt, but the Bolt is more fun to drive. The tech is way above my 2011 Volt. Our two car family is now gas-free for all intents.
Now that I've had the car for 5 month's I can honestly say there are no seat issues. There IS a hard, exit side support edge in the bottom cushion which I felt on the bottom of my legs as I got out of the car. That edge has softened over time with use. Like breaking in a new pair of stiff leather shoes. The CUV-type seats are more upright than the Volt's and an inch narrower. But long drives and short drives have been fine for both my wife and I. Neither of us are overweight, both on the tall side for our sex, both relatively fit, no chronic joint or back pain issues.
Really, really happy with the car. We pick it over the Volt to drive. Still love the Volt, but the Bolt is more fun to drive. The tech is way above my 2011 Volt. Our two car family is now gas-free for all intents.
I, for contrast, have never owned a car with a lumbar adjustment thingy or power seats and therefore would never miss either.
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I think if you ever drove a vehicle with it, you may never want to go without :-D
Lumbar adjustment is one of those features where you press the button and go “oh yeah...”. If you really want to see adjustability, check out a mid-90s Bonneville with the upgraded seats. They call them “12-ways”. But the control panel has 9 two-way rocker switches.
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i sat in the Premier seat for a good hour while driving or parked and playing with the displays. OK, it's not the 10 way power seat in my Silverado, but I had no issues with it. I'm 5-8, 160 lbs, physically fit with no chronic joint or back issues at 60+ years old.
I would say the leather seats in GM vehicles have better padding than the cloth equivalents. My backside feels that is so for the trucks and the same for the LT vs. Premier Bolt.
I would say the leather seats in GM vehicles have better padding than the cloth equivalents. My backside feels that is so for the trucks and the same for the LT vs. Premier Bolt.
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255 Posts
I have just over 12k miles on mine. The seats are ok. Yes, adjustable lumbar would be nice, but power seats are not necessary. I have had a lot of manual seats with good adjustments work well. I have also used 80's and 90's gm power seats which have lots of adjustments, all wrong.
My brother who has cloth seats hated them and added an extra sheet of foam to the bottom. Much happier now.
My brother who has cloth seats hated them and added an extra sheet of foam to the bottom. Much happier now.
My wife insisted on that as well, due to the painful side bolster.
I also added a set of cheap Chinese padded seat covers to keep the seat bottoms fresh for the turn in day inspection.
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13 Posts
We also got some foam that we purchased at Michaels and it fits into the seat nicely.
The fact that it lifts the seat and flattens it is a good thing .
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This is something that seems to be highly personal, so I'm not sure that the answers you're going to get here are going to be very definitive for you. Nonetheless, I'll pass on my experience...
After reading about the seat issue I did my best to check out the seats before I bought, but here in Canada the opportunities are very limited and my longest drive was only about half an hour. But I had no problems during that drive and based on that I went ahead and ordered. Knowing that it was easy to add padding below the bottom seat cushion gave me a lot of confidence that even if I did have issues I would probably be able to solve them.
After picking up the car and driving it for an extended period of time (I spent over two hours driving it home the long way around because it was so much fun) I noticed that my right leg was feeling like it might be getting a little numb. That happened again on the next long drive, and I was starting to think about looking for some foam for the cushion, but now that symptom has disappeared and the seats are completely comfortable for me. I don't even notice the hard edge when getting into or out of the Bolt, although it's something I can feel if I pause to pay attention to it.
I believe my right leg issue was related to the one pedal driving mode. I took to one pedal driving like a fish to water - I really love it. But it does mean that your right foot doesn't get a chance to move around as much. My foot stays on that pedal all the time except when I'm actually stopped, at which time I move it to the brake pedal.
I had a similar issue with my Prius C, whose feather-light accelerator pedal caused me some right foot pain until I got used to it. The Bolt's pedal isn't so light, but I think it did take a little while for my leg to acclimatize to pressing on it pretty much all the time.
I've had several different people as passengers in the right seat and none of them has mentioned anything about seat comfort. The only comment I've gotten, from just one of my friends, is that she noticed as she got into the car that the seating position was higher than in my Prius C - which is certainly very true.
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We have no problem with the Bolt seat comfort.
But having power seats with memory positions would really be nice, since my wife and I are really different in how we want the seat positioned for driving.
And we both really like driving this car!
Jim - 2012 Volt & 2017 Bolt
But having power seats with memory positions would really be nice, since my wife and I are really different in how we want the seat positioned for driving.
And we both really like driving this car!
Jim - 2012 Volt & 2017 Bolt
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Personally I find my 1 hr drives to be ok, but at about the 2hr mark I need a leg/back stretch. Will try padding bum area as posted elsewhere.
I've had it in many cars and never used it. It all depends on your physical geometry. I have a flat spine, and so any significant lumbar is a negative for me.
Unless you have some unusual habits, it's unlikely that any amount of seat wear you experience during a lease term will not be considered "normal wear and tear" at turn in time. You paid for 3 years of seat wear and tear. Enjoy it.
Timely topic. My wife really loves the Bolt EV and wants to get one, but is hesitating because she worries about my not finding them comfortable.
The seats are just a personal thing. I find them not terribly comfortable. My wife finds them very comfortable. It's not just the size of your butt either. The salesperson we talked to is quite thin and he finds them slightly uncomfortable as well. It's not a big deal for me since I wouldn't take this car on long rides, and for around town it's not the end of the world.
The seats are just a personal thing. I find them not terribly comfortable. My wife finds them very comfortable. It's not just the size of your butt either. The salesperson we talked to is quite thin and he finds them slightly uncomfortable as well. It's not a big deal for me since I wouldn't take this car on long rides, and for around town it's not the end of the world.
From the Youtibe videos, it appears relatively easy to add foam to the lower seat cushion, if you find them uncomfortable. I agree that it should have been fixed by GM for the 2018, but at least it's an easy DIT fix.
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