When the back seats are put into "hatch" mode, there is a metal bar that the back rest rests on. As you can see in the first picture, it causes indentations just above the child car seat notch. *note: this is not from the car seat, i do not have a baby!*
When you lift the bottom part of the seat up, take off the head rest, you can see in the second picture the black metal bar. When the seat is folded all the way down it perfectly lines up with the damage on the back rest of the seat. You can see it is on both sides of the seat in the third picture, as the blue metal bar is causing the same problem.
I brought it into the dealer during my oil change and all they said was it was a "design flaw" and that they wouldn't do anything to fix it. They then accused me of putting too much weight on top of the seat when in hatch mode. I have used the hatch all of 3 times to carry snowboards, a xmas tree, and random junk.
I would like to get this fixed so it does not continue to get worse, but the dealership just blew me off. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Throw a towel underthere when you lay the seat flat..
???
I have fabric and no dents.
Must be a leather issue. Probably the seat cushion is a little thicker in the leather version?
That really sucks. The dealer almost deffinately won't do anything about it. Would cardboard, maybe a couple layers spread out the forces enough. Does the leather go back smooth? If not you could try to steam the wrinkle out.
I could probably put some sort of cardboard taped around the metal to reduce the pressure points out more evenly. The damage is done now though, they won't smooth out. At least I could prevent it from eventually puncturing the leather though.
frinesi2, i didn't buy a brand new car with all the options to carry around a towel. That may have worked in my high school $500 car, but I like things to be a bit nicer now.
You could always fabricate a plate to go under the existing seat brackets, thus raising the seats higher. You'll probably need longer bolts as well, and they will no longer fold flat as well.
Is yours a 2013 or 2012? HB or sedan? My 2012 HB with leather and it doesn't get indents like that and I have my back seats down a LOT since I transport my dogs back there quite frequently. Even with the weight of my dogs pressing on the seat backs, my leather still looks like new. Maybe your seat brackets are indeed flawed.
Heh, I think my wife might take that as a sign and divorce me. Maybe I could use a 3D printer to print out a piece that snaps onto the bar and has a flat plate that presses up against the leather. That way it rotates with the leather when the seat is flattened.
Get two of these flexible cutting boards. Cut each in half, lift up the carpet and use gaffers tape (strong duct tape) to hold each over the bracket permanently. Should spread the load enough to reduce the dents. Those creases will smooth out over time.
Hey 2012sel, it isn't the blue bracket that the seat latches onto that is causing the indents, it is the black metal bar in picture 2 and the blue metal bar in picture 3. Thanks for the suggestion though!
I know. The black metal bar in picture 2 and the blue metal bar in picture 3 are what I'm referring to. There are four of these child seat brackets. As you pointed out, you are not using them and therefore can permanently cover them with a flexible smooth material to mitigate the problem.
I think you confused me when you said pull up the carpet, but i think i see what you mean now. Just to place the excess under the carpet and push the other end up on top of the metal bracket. This would probably work, i'll give it a try. I'm sure my wife will want those brackets some day, or at least want to want those brackets.
I just went out to my car to test this out and the LATCH mounts do the same thing to my seats, but I've never had them down for a long enough time to for them make much of a mark in my seats.
You could remove them since every baby seat I've ever seen has multiple mounting options, like using the seat belt if LATCH is not available. But then the LATCH system is much more convenient and easy to use.
I just went out to my car to test this out and the LATCH mounts do the same thing to my seats, but I've never had them down for a long enough time to for them make much of a mark in my seats.
You could remove them since every baby seat I've ever seen has multiple mounting options, like using the seat belt if LATCH is not available. But then the LATCH system is much more convenient and easy to use.
To be honest, I had used my seats folded flat for 2 full days of moving in October and no indentations.... I will try to double check why not and get back to you, possibly with pictures if different from yours. I have leather as well. Very strange.
2012 (2011 build) SEL hb with leather. Ive only had my seats down a couple times, and once when I bought a tv. Also took a nap in my car with the seats down flat once. I haven't noticed any indents in my leather seats.
nseah, thanks for the feedback! I just remembered that I did leave the seats down (nothing in the back of the car, no weight on the seat) for a week. Too lazy to put them back up i guess. Maybe leaving them down for a week caused the indents.
Regardless of whether this caused it or not, it is still a design flaw. I'm going to try the pipe insulation suggestion. I think i have some leftover from when I wrapped my house's pipes.
I tried swim noodles and pipe insulation but there was too much friction for them to stay in place permanently. Taping them or zipties didn't seem to help.
So I bought the vinyl cutting board at the Dollar Tree, cut it into pieces big enough, put a strip of Velcro on the ends to hold them over the brackets. I may have made the pieces a little too narrow (3.75" x 7.5") but we'll see. It seems to stay out of the way and serves it's purpose as far as I can see.
They don't stick out. I would make the material at least 1" wider then I made it.
This doesn't completely solve the issue. After posting the pics, I left the seats down until now. The dents were still there, just less defined. Which I kind of expected. They did smooth out almost immediately but I only had them down for 2 1/2 hours.
I've got the same issue on my 2012 titanium. I've only had the seats folded down a couple of times, but it was obviously long enough to make the marks permanent.
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