Headrest solutions?

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by SMS, Jun 26, 2011.

  1. SMS

    SMS Guest

    My sister-in-law bought a 2011 Honda Accord a few months ago and has
    been struggling to find a solution to those absurd headrests. Right now
    she has them all reversed, and I helped her notch the opposite post so
    they latch in. This helped, except for the center rear headrest which is
    very small and has short posts because of the fold down console, and
    when reversed is totally non-functional. This is the seat she would like
    her 7 y.o. to sit in, but the child's head is now reaching the headrest,
    and it's so uncomfortable that the child was squawking about how it hurt.

    I see a large number of complaints about the Honda headrests, but no
    good solutions. Some people say reclining the seat further helps. Some
    say using a cushion behind you to push the rest of your body forward
    helps. Some say to take them to an auto upholstery shop and have them
    modified. Some suggest after-market LCD headrests that don't jut
    forward. I've seen the Pyle LCD headrests which aren't all that
    expensive (about $63 each) even if you don't use the 7" LCD. They come
    with 1/2" post sleeves which are needed for the Honda (some LCD screen
    headrests don't have large enough diameter posts, and there have been
    complaints by Honda owners that bought them that they don't latch in).
    However from the specifications on this headrest, it may not allow the
    posts to be close enough together to replace the middle headrest in the
    back.

    What are others doing? I tried sitting in her Accord with the headrest
    facing forward and it's incredibly uncomfortable. She also has a Honda
    Pilot, and that vehicle does not have this issue, but the headrests are
    not interchangeable (besides being the wrong color and material).

    I know the reason Honda did the headrests like this, but personally this
    is more than enough to prevent me from buying an Accord. She would not
    have bought the Accord if she had realized how bad the head rests were.
     
    SMS, Jun 26, 2011
    #1
  2. SMS

    jim beam Guest

    did she not test drive it??? instead of wasting electrons here, why
    don't you write to honda corporate and say she wants to return the car
    and get her money back? if nobody says anything, nothing will happen.
    if everybody does something, that thing will get fixed quicker than
    you'd believe. y'all only have all y'all to blame if y'don't do nuthin'.
     
    jim beam, Jun 26, 2011
    #2
  3. SMS

    tww1491 Guest

    "SMS" wrote in message
    My sister-in-law bought a 2011 Honda Accord a few months ago and has
    been struggling to find a solution to those absurd headrests. Right now
    she has them all reversed, and I helped her notch the opposite post so
    they latch in. This helped, except for the center rear headrest which is
    very small and has short posts because of the fold down console, and
    when reversed is totally non-functional. This is the seat she would like
    her 7 y.o. to sit in, but the child's head is now reaching the headrest,
    and it's so uncomfortable that the child was squawking about how it hurt.

    I see a large number of complaints about the Honda headrests, but no
    good solutions. Some people say reclining the seat further helps. Some
    say using a cushion behind you to push the rest of your body forward
    helps. Some say to take them to an auto upholstery shop and have them
    modified. Some suggest after-market LCD headrests that don't jut
    forward. I've seen the Pyle LCD headrests which aren't all that
    expensive (about $63 each) even if you don't use the 7" LCD. They come
    with 1/2" post sleeves which are needed for the Honda (some LCD screen
    headrests don't have large enough diameter posts, and there have been
    complaints by Honda owners that bought them that they don't latch in).
    However from the specifications on this headrest, it may not allow the
    posts to be close enough together to replace the middle headrest in the
    back.

    The complaints I have seen talk to the seats being uncomfortable on long
    drives. By comparison, the seats in my 06 coupe are very comfortable. I
    suppose there must have been a major redesign for the supposed better.

    What are others doing? I tried sitting in her Accord with the headrest
    facing forward and it's incredibly uncomfortable. She also has a Honda
    Pilot, and that vehicle does not have this issue, but the headrests are
    not interchangeable (besides being the wrong color and material).

    I know the reason Honda did the headrests like this, but personally this
    is more than enough to prevent me from buying an Accord. She would not
    have bought the Accord if she had realized how bad the head rests were.
     
    tww1491, Jun 26, 2011
    #3
  4. SMS

    W.T. O'Niel Guest


    Not sure what her problem is but mine are fine. In fact, one of the
    reasons I bought my Accord is that the seats are so damned comfortable.

    Surprised she didn't notice the incompatibility between her ass and the
    Accord seat right off when she sat in the car in the showroom, much less
    on the test drive...
     
    W.T. O'Niel, Jun 26, 2011
    #4
  5. Why the **** did she buy the car knowing that was a problem?

    I refuse to buy any more Hondas, for a number of reasons, and that's one
    of the top ones.

    I know--just like a typical woman, she figured she'd marry the car now
    and change it later, no problem.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, Jun 26, 2011
    #5
  6. It does. It's not perfect, but you get used to it.

    No need to go all gangsta lean; just put it back a bit.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, Jun 26, 2011
    #6
  7. Worse: in American Honda's minds, she justified their decision by
    buying the car in the first place.

    American Honda needs to be put in its place, but stupid people keep
    doing stupid things that move money from their pockets to American
    Honda's pockets.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, Jun 26, 2011
    #7
  8. SMS

    SMS Guest

    This is true.

    I had the first year CR-V (I know, big mistake buying the first year of
    anything). The cruise control had a design flaw that every owner
    experienced if they ever drove on a highway that wasn't flat. Honda
    acknowledged the problem, explained what caused it, and said that they
    would not fix it. In subsequent years of the same generation they did
    correct the problem. But that was my last Honda, I just didn't like the
    company's whole attitude.

    In any case, I wasn't looking for a lecture on the subject of how dumb
    someone was for not realizing the problem (she already admits how dumb
    it was), I was hoping that given how big a seller the Accord is, and
    given that all recent Accord buyers have the same problem (unless they
    are vertically challenged), that someone would have some ideas for a
    solution.

    Apparently it's not limited to the Accord, as Civic owners have also
    complained. The foam solution worked for one,
    <http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/headrest-solutions-t1274.html>, and on
    the CR-V <http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/headrest-solutions-t1274.html>.

    As to why it wasn't noticed on the test drive, I think that last URL
    represents the experience of many of the owners that are complaining,
    they just didn't realize the problem until it was too late.

    Apparently some other vehicles have the same issue because the jutting
    forward headrests are part of the restraint system. So the best solution
    that doesn't mess with the headrests is probably to add foam padding to
    the seat back. Some people put on seat covers over the foam but that's a
    bad idea on the Accord because there are airbags in the seats.
     
    SMS, Jun 26, 2011
    #8
  9. I noticed it right away when I got into the Insight when it was
    (re)introduced. My long-time salesman warned me, this is the direction
    Honda is going.

    Really. Well.
     
    Elmo P. Shagnasty, Jun 27, 2011
    #9
  10. SMS

    SMS Guest

    Some people (many people) buy cars (and other products) on emotion
    without doing sufficient research.

    What's ironic about this case is that my sister-in-law complained about
    the head rests in our 2007 Camry which are not nearly as horrible as
    what Honda has done in the Accord.

    Personally, if it were my vehicle, I would buy the after-market
    headrests with the LCD screens for at least the front seats (whether I
    wanted the LCDs or not). I would not reverse the headrests as many
    people have done to "fix" the problem. I would take the risk that the
    after-market headrests were less protective in a crash. The seats are so
    incredibly uncomfortable when the headrest pushes your head so far
    forward that I would not tolerate it. On a $19,000 vehicle, another $140
    is lost in the noise.

    <http://www.edmunds.com/honda/accord/2008/consumer-reviews/seats-headrests-are-uncomfortable.html?style=100939053&sub=&reviewId=96061777>
     
    SMS, Jun 27, 2011
    #10
  11. SMS

    Seth Guest

    I'm 5'11" and have zero discomfort on my 2011 EX-L (maybe trim level is part
    of the equation?). My wife at 5'5". older daughter at 5'6" and youngster at
    5'2" have also not complained.
     
    Seth, Jun 27, 2011
    #11
  12. SMS

    jim beam Guest

    so, are you going to write to honda corporate or not? what part of the
    management principle of "not being able to correct a mistake if nobody
    says anything" is difficult to understand? or are honda execs supposed
    to trawl the whole of usenet for one bleating and take that as an
    emergency requiring a full recall and immediate corrective action?
     
    jim beam, Jun 27, 2011
    #12
  13. SMS

    SMS Guest

    No, the EX-L is what she got as well. I'm 5'10" and could not stand the
    front seats or the right and left back seats.

    One thing that makes a difference is whether or not your own head juts
    forward. If your head doesn't jut forward to match the headrest then
    your back can't be against the back of the seat, there's a big gap
    between your back and the seat. That's why some people added foam to
    solve the problem. Part of the problem is that the lower lumbar support
    is too thick, and some people have had upholstery shops modify the seats.

    There's a good thread here
    <http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.f194d64/0> on the various
    things that owners have done to solve the problem, and some are very
    elaborate.

    Some people want to bend the support rods for the headrests to be
    straight, but I think this would weaken them.

    What's scary is the person that wrote: "I had the same problem with the
    CRV. When I mentioned it to the salesman, the pulled the headrest out
    and flipped it around. That position was more comfortable than the
    original position." Uh, can you imagine the liability that dealer now faces?
     
    SMS, Jun 27, 2011
    #13
  14. SMS

    jim beam Guest

    message still not getting through. try this:

    imagine it's warm and sunny, and you're running a lemonade stand. you
    make your lemonade, and you sell it to the other kids on the street.
    but no one ever comes back to buy a second one. would you not want to
    know why? the answer is probably yes, unless you think that going back
    to mom and asking for a raise in your allowance to compensate for your
    business [and lemonade] failure is an acceptable solution.

    now, imagine you're the head of honda usa. would you want to know why
    your repeat sales are dropping or not? put yourself in their shoes and
    make a decision about what /you/ would want done to ensure you don't
    piss your customers off.

    you gonna write now? or is carrying on whining to people that care less
    than mom the solution?
     
    jim beam, Jun 27, 2011
    #14
  15. SMS

    SMS Guest

    Actually she didn't get the EX-L, she got the EX. Maybe the leather
    seats are not the same seats just covered with leather, but a different
    seat entirely.
     
    SMS, Jun 27, 2011
    #15
  16. SMS

    C. E. White Guest

    It is not just Honda that has headrests that annoy people. Both of my sons
    complain about the headrest in my 2009 F150. Interestingly, they don't seem
    to bother me but I am older and sit higher in the seats than my older son,
    and my youinger son complains about everything.....

    I think this is one you can blame on the IIHS. Having the headrest jut
    forward improves the score on the IIHS head restraint evaluation. See
    http://www.iihs.org/ratings/head_restraints/headrestraints.aspx?honda .
    Older Accords only got the acceptable rating. The newer models get a good
    ranting. Of course the ratings don't take into account what happens when the
    Custoemr modifies the headrests to fix them.

    Ed
     
    C. E. White, Jun 27, 2011
    #16
  17. SMS

    jim beam Guest

    indeed they do ed, indeed they do.
     
    jim beam, Jun 27, 2011
    #17
  18. SMS

    SMS Guest

    Right, and technically they are not headrests, they are head restraints.

    There's a reason why they (and some other manufacturers) did what they
    did, but the side effects of this are pretty crappy. Honda seems to be
    among the worst though. I went peering into a bunch of parked cars to
    compare, and many don't have the problem that Honda has (though I did
    not compare IIHS scores on the vehicles).

    And of course despite those head restraints, the Accord was still not a
    top safety pick for IIHS, the agency whose ratings are much more
    relevant than NHTSA ratings. <http://www.iihs.org/ratings/>.
     
    SMS, Jun 28, 2011
    #18
  19. SMS

    tww1491 Guest

    "SMS" wrote in message
    My sister-in-law bought a 2011 Honda Accord a few months ago and has
    been struggling to find a solution to those absurd headrests. Right now
    she has them all reversed, and I helped her notch the opposite post so
    they latch in. This helped, except for the center rear headrest which is
    very small and has short posts because of the fold down console, and
    when reversed is totally non-functional. This is the seat she would like
    her 7 y.o. to sit in, but the child's head is now reaching the headrest,
    and it's so uncomfortable that the child was squawking about how it hurt.

    I see a large number of complaints about the Honda headrests, but no
    good solutions. Some people say reclining the seat further helps. Some
    say using a cushion behind you to push the rest of your body forward
    helps. Some say to take them to an auto upholstery shop and have them
    modified. Some suggest after-market LCD headrests that don't jut
    forward. I've seen the Pyle LCD headrests which aren't all that
    expensive (about $63 each) even if you don't use the 7" LCD. They come
    with 1/2" post sleeves which are needed for the Honda (some LCD screen
    headrests don't have large enough diameter posts, and there have been
    complaints by Honda owners that bought them that they don't latch in).
    However from the specifications on this headrest, it may not allow the
    posts to be close enough together to replace the middle headrest in the
    back.

    What are others doing? I tried sitting in her Accord with the headrest
    facing forward and it's incredibly uncomfortable. She also has a Honda
    Pilot, and that vehicle does not have this issue, but the headrests are
    not interchangeable (besides being the wrong color and material).

    I know the reason Honda did the headrests like this, but personally this
    is more than enough to prevent me from buying an Accord. She would not
    have bought the Accord if she had realized how bad the head rests were.

    Anyone on this thread who remembers old Morgan Plus 4s from the early
    60s -- inflatable bladders on wood with a coal cart ride. And we loved it.
     
    tww1491, Jun 28, 2011
    #19
  20. SMS

    J.L.Hemmer Guest

    Several months ago, a similar discussion was going on. One person
    mentioned that the headrests from the 2007 series seats would fit (the
    posts are the same spacing). The headrests in that model don't have
    the severe forward tilt as the ones that have "active" head
    restraints.
     
    J.L.Hemmer, Jun 28, 2011
    #20
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