maxud

I would like some of the current 09 premium package owners to chime in on the seat comfort. I love my car, but something about the seat comfort is getting to me. After about 30mins of driving my right side starts to get very uncomfortable, almost like I am pinching a nerve or something. I never had this happen while driving other cars, so its not necessarily me. I weight about 140lbs, so I imagine I should barely stress the seat, yet I have two butt identations in the seat. What I remember is that they were there since day 1, when I got the car. I should make a pic of it, so its obvious what I am talking about.
I dont know if it is possible that I got a defective seat, but thinking that I have to drive this car for the next 10 years, puts some of the excitement off. Love the car otherwise.
Please chime in,
thanks,
Max

MaxDOuT

I'm 5'10 160lbs and I have not had any issue with the comfort in the driver seat. I to own the Sv Premium Pckg. I've already put 2k miles on it and yet to feel uncomfortable or had any butt pains as you mentioned. Maybe its just your butt, are you 40 yet, you should go see the proctologist. J/K you just might have a defective seat.

dauntlessmax

Do you have the lumbar erected???

choice89

I have just under 6000 miles on my baby and I have taken a nine hour road trip from Missouri to Texas and back and never once fell uncomfortable in my MAX what so ever! I actually felt to comfortable where I was close to falling asleep....with the warm seats and the heated steering wheel hmmmmmmm. I am 5' 9 and 180 pounds and my butt feels great eveytime I get in the MAX!!!

MaxMus

Let's put this into perspective. The seats on the new 09 Maxima feels better than the seats in my Infinti M35x. I'm looking forward to getting my new Maxima.

madlaw1071

The seats are very comfortable and the leather very soft for a car in this price range. I am 205lbs and can sit comfortably for hours.

Compusmurf

The seats are so comfortable, I notice I have a tendency to "slouch" some instead of sitting upright. VERY bad habit to get into... It's NOT my living room couch.

I did NOT have this problem in my 99 Honda Accord. those seats were like sitting on concrete. LOL

maxed

1st - I love the seats! BUT I was a wearing a leather coat with an awful inseam that dug into my side. Didn't really notice it at first, but it added up over time. Part of the problem is that the driver cockpit isn't really straight ahead, you sit at a slight angle and the seats are more bolstered than my 2k2. So I was putting pressure on my kidney area without realizing it. Took the coat off & loved the rest of my trip.

We also have a G35 and I find those seats even more constricting when wearing winter clothing.

bk2k3max

Not really sure why a Lightweight like you would be having seating issues but I'm 6ft and 205lbs and have no issues with my seats.

The seats are firm and the extra notches on the leg adjustments suits me well, maybe it is just your seats.

If not the seats then maybe you just have hemorrhoids!!!
J/K

BlueMax

I can add another vote to the "the seats are very comfortable" side. I just broke 500 miles, so I have not had any long distance driving yet. I'm 6'2" and 215, so I've got a lot more of my own padding than you do. Last time I was at 140 was in about 7th grade.

Have you tried changing the thigh support? Maybe the front edge is hitting you at a bad spot and pinching a nerve.

maxud

Thanks for all your responses. I have played around with seat controls, to see if I can find more comfortable position to no end. I do use lumbar support, and I do not use thigh extension. The pain I am experiencing is in my right butt cheek. I did notice that more often than not, the pain comes when I am wearing jeans, and I dont get it wearing slacks. So it could very well be the inseams of my closing. It is just very strange that I only experience the pain after riding the car for 30mins and not sitting at work for 8 hours. I also dont experience the pain driving other cars.

I will take a pic tomorrow, but do any of you have permanent depressions from the butt on your seat? I have two low spots in my driver seat, I imagine from my butt. I remember seeing them when I picked up the car at the dealer. At that time the car had 41 miles on it, from being driven from original dealership to my dealer. Not sure if the depressions became larger since then. I have 2200 miles on my car right now. If I am the only one, maybe I have a case with a dealer.

Please forgive me all the butt references
Max

maxed

Wow! sorry to hear that. A new Max shouldn't be a pain in the a$$

Mick7

Must be a defective seat. I weigh 225 and just drove ours on a 850 mile trip. It was a very comfortable drive...no tired butt at all. Something is wrong there, imo.

CT Maxima

The problem is that you are holding your beverage with your right hand. There is a nice cup holder just beside the shift lever for this!

J/K. I have no complaints about the driver's seat.

Have you noticed in some of the responses to this thread is a hint of "avoirdupois envy?" 140 lbs? I wish I could be this light!

JHOVAMAX

As with others I havent had any comfort issues with the drivers seat. You might want to try re adjusting the seat and see if that helps.

maxud

I finally got around to taking a picture of my drivers seat. Can you please say if your seat has a similar depression in it? The depressions are outlined in red ovals.
Thanks guys, I appreciate it.
Max

Mick7

Looks like someone very heavy sat there before you bought it..definitely a defect that Nissan should cover..the leather is "stretched" it would appear. I am betting the others with leather seats don't look like yours. My seats are cloth so I can't compare directly.

lightonthehill

The leather that came with the premium package in my car looks nothing like that. And definitely does not show the slightest hint of depression where the buttocks press against the leather. That is downright strange.

maxud

Light, thanks for reply. By saying that "leather that came with the premium package in my car looks nothing like that" do you just mean that yours is latte and has no depression/stretch marks? Or is yours different somehow? As far as I remember we have almost identical cars, except for inside color/spoiler.

Your replies will definitely give me the ammo I need dealing with the dealer. I can just hear that "Oh it is perfectly normal for the seat to look like that" story.....

thanks,
Max

rkurlander

Maxud - You absolutely have a defective seat. My Max is six months old and seats are very firm with no indentations.

lightonthehill

I just checked my seats again, and found our seats are very similar except for the color and the 'buttock bumps'. I had not realized my seats have all those tiny perforations; that could make them even more comfortable this summer.

For the record, I have a very bony butt, and if my seats don't develop buttock depressions, then yours certainly shouldn't.

t8kover

I have the same issues with my Max, but I am not sure how these little bumps or buldges in the seat actually happened to occur.

It may be weight related, but that can't be verified. I am going to try and post a picture.

maxud

Buckle your seatbealts guys and gals, we are in a for a rough ride!
I have been dreading the thought of going to a dealer.
Yesterday I called a dealer thats next to my work (Shelton, CT), thinking I can just stop by for a couple of mins for them to check out the seat cushion and pronounce it defective.
I call them up and explain that I have an issue with my 09 Max, he replies with two questions:
1. did you service your car with us?
answer no, I just got it.
2. did you buy the car from us?
answer no.
Then he says, "unfortunately we are not accepting new customers right now. We have a 5 week appointment backlog. Call us in 5 weeks."

Apparently this dealer only serves the "in" crowd, outsiders need not apply. I figure this is a "legal" way for them to refuse service, as oppose to just say no!

So I called a different dealer (again, not the one I bought the car at), who promptly booked me for the first appointment the next day. I got to the dealer first thing today, explained my issue. I also have noticed another "weight" related issue with my passenger seat. Whenever my wife is in the passenger seat, the "Passenger airbag light" some times illuminates. She is 120lbs, yeah I know, I am lucky :-) Sometimes repositioning herself fixes the light, but it is kind of fussy.

So about 2hours later the dealer tells me I have "NO PROBLEMS" with my car. Everything is "Normal", "as expected", "I am smaller than average" and the seats are sports design, blah, blah, blah.
I said, what are my options, he offered talk to his manager.
After talking to him for about 20mins, again listening to the same bs about how this is so "Normal", I lead him to my car and point out, that there are obvious issues with seat cushion. The cushion suppose to keep the leather stretched and firm. It looks like the low spots have a cushion defect. So after going back and force he finally offers to call Nissan on my behalf and see if they OK replacing the cushion. I said ok and left the dealer at that.
While at the dealer I sat in 2 showroom Maximas, which obviously had no such defects. I did not experience and discomfort either. I also went around the lot to look at used Maximas with leather, and while the leather did not look tight as a drum, it did not show the same type of depressions I have in my car.
I will update when I hear back from the dealer and if they end up repairing my seat.
wish me luck
Max

bk2k3max

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a pain in the anus with these various dealerships, it sounds the first you went to just flat out didn't want to service the car because you didn't buy it from them so they looked for a reason not to take care of you. If I were you I'd report that first STEALership to Nissan Consumer Affairs Department:

Nissan Consumer Affairs
P.O. Box 685003
Franklin TN 37068-5003
(800) NISSAN-1 (or 800-647-7261)
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.,
Eastern / Central Time / Pacific Time
Monday through Friday

Let them know how the dealerships are treating you regarding this problem because as I can tell here that most of us have not or do not have any issues with our car and especially with the seating.

Good luck Bro, I pray that you get those issues resolved quickly.

CT Maxima

I can corroborate Max's experience. The dealer is Mario D'Addario Nissan in Shelton CT. They booted my butt on the same pretext: no openings at this time for "new customers."

It appears that Nissan imposes a requirement that all dealers honor requests for warranty work. However, dealers can liberally interpret this requirement to their benefit.

LtLeary

Wow, I can't believe a buck40 can make those kind of dents! I am almost twice as big and don't leave that kind of dent and I am driving 3-4 hours a day. I concur, your seats are toast! I sure hope Nissan comes thru for you!

willg

I have one dent on my new premium sv that looks just like those (only 400 miles so far). Is this a problem? maybe it has something to do with the seat position

Mreim769

I hope it is not too late to chime in on this issue. I have had the same problems you have mentioned minus the imprints on the seat. I am 5'10" and weight 160 lbs. From time to time on long distance drives I do have a feeling of discomfort on my right lower back. However, there has also been times when I have driven for 13 hours with two or three stops and have not had this issue. I do have the sport package seats but thought I would let you know I have the same issue.

willg

so you have no indents on the seats? I think the premium and sport seats are the same "premium leather" type. I wonder if I should bring mine back for a seat replacement because I certianly don't want these indents if they shouldn't be there. Only 400 miles so far too

DCLawyer68

Hmmm - definitely something off here. I haven't driven mine very much yet, and no long distances, but the seat feels very comfortable.

MDG4572

just thought I would put my 2c in on seat problem. I am a big man 5'11 and pushing 300lb. I have the sv sport and have about 4000 miles on it and find the seats to be very comfortable with no sign of dents in seats.
I hope you get satisfaction from nisson on this matter.

zukabaker

I also have no dents in my seat. Rocking yes but no dents!
I am also on the larger side and the seats are great!
18-19-20-Blackjack! How kids in Vegas count to 21!

2young2retire

Six feet tall, 215 pounds, 6000 miles on the Max and the seats still look new. Got in last night from San Antonio, 11 hours in the car driving 600 miles. No aches and pains. The 04 Altima I traded did give me the right buttock pain and I had to stop every three hours or so to get out and stretch.

I went out and checked my '04 Murano (70050 miles) and the seats still look good. A couple of creases but no indention.

lightonthehill

Seven months, and so far the seats look like new, and feel great. I can always find a position in which these seats are very comfortable.

But my situation is different in two ways:

Because of a long-time back problem, I constantly shift posture and positions while driving.

My wife and I take turns driving, and use different posture and different seating positions.

Because of those two variables, I don't expect to see any residual impressions in our seats.

maxud

Hi guys,
I see that the thread got bumped back on top, so I will tell the rest of my story.
So back in February I brought my car in for the dents in the seats and also seat comfort issue. Initially the dealer dismissed my claims and did not want to do anything. Eventually I talked the head service person and they agreed to exchange the cushion if Nissan ok's it. He actually told me that they would leave original leather and just replace the cushion.
This turned out to be BS, as the seat cushion comes in as one piece new foam and leather already preformed, so there is no way to replace one without another.
So Nissan approved the exchange and the dealer installed a new cushion.
Guess what, by the time I got home (less than 10miles), I saw the formation of the new imprints in the seat cushion. Right now I have two spots/indentation (from butt cheeks or bones what have you), that definitely stand out from the rest of the seat.
I also experience the same amount of discomfort in my right butt-cheek only (not back or lower back). That's where I am today. I kind of learned to tolerate the discomfort, but as far as the the issue is concerned, I am stuck. The dealer showed their good faith by replacing the cushion once.
I don't have a case for replacing the cushion again, unless I can somehow prove the fact that the seat is defective.
I was thinking off unbolting the seat and inspecting it, try to take the cushion off and see what's below it. I have the shop manual, but it does not clearly shows what's under the cushion in terms of springs or what not.

I try to look at every 09 Maxima on parking lot every time I pass one, to see whether they have the same indents as me. In my head I can not reconcile how all of you who chimed in here with much bigger mass (weight) don't have any indents and lowly midget (me) at 135lbs can put indents into a seat in a matter of 10 miles??? I definitely don't fill out the seat side to side (32 waist size), so I am applying pressure to the seat more towards the center line. May be the seats have a weak point there?

Would love to hear your opinions on the matter and possible resolution!
thanks
Max

p.s. As a side story, we drove to South Carolina from Connecticut this summer in my wife's Honda Odyssey. She also has leather seats. On the way back I drove 14hours straight and not a hint of discomfort. Also the 4 year old seats do not show any kind of depressions or indentations. So the pain is definitely related to the Max seats.

maxud

Now I remember where this info was first posted!!!
So last month I stopped by this dealer again - Mario D'Addario Nissan in Shelton CT. I went to the service shop, this time in person and asked if the will take a look at my car. He looked in his computer and told me
"Unfortunately we still do not accept new customers"
I replied: "Does Nissan know what you guys are doing?"
He says: "We are not doing anything."
I replied: "You are refusing warranty service."
He says: "No, we are not. Our scheduling only goes out for a month and we are booked solid"
I replied: "Yeah right and left"

The same day I called Nissan Consumer affairs and reported it. I gave them all the detailed info about me, my car and detailed account on how I was refused the service not once but TWICE!

I got multiple call backs asking if I still want to file complaint. Then I get a called from Nissan Regional Consumer Manager or some such title. His name is Owen. He is responsible for CT and NY regions.
He started by apologizing and explaining how each Nissan franchise is independently owned and operated. He said each dealer is suppose to work on all warranty issues for any Nissan cars, whether the car is purchased there or not. But then he says, I can not make the dealer fix your car, so I suggest you contact a different dealer and go there. I made multiple arguments (not by yelling and giving him attitude), but just saying that how could Nissan allow such dealer attitude, and what if each Nissan dealer took the same approach. He says that is clearly not the case and he would not speak in hypothetical terms. He said he will inform the dealership's general manager, but as far as my issue is concerned, case closed. I realized that this is going absolutely nowhere, and if Nissan is not interested in dealing with this situation, I am not going to waste any more of my time. We ended the phone call and he was going to close my case.

So not 30mins later I happen to talk to my work body and he suggests that he call the dealer pretending he has an out of warranty Maxima and see what the dealer says. He calls in and gets an appointment for next Tuesday (we called on Friday), they did ask him if he bought the car there, and he said he did not. The only difference is we invented the out of warranty car.

So of course I called Nissan consumer affairs right back and had them reopen the case and requested for Owen to call me back and discuss the issue further. That was 3 weeks ago, naturally I did not hear back from Nissan either after that first callback, or the voicemail I left Owen 2 weeks later.

I was going to ask him for 3 things.

1. Snail mail written or emailed Nissan's official opinion on this matter.
2. Response of the General Manager of Mario D'Addario Nissan
3. Compensation of a rental car for each time I have to drive my car to a different Nissan dealer and having to take a day off work for warranty issues.

Obviously this dealer is a biggest Jerk ever, and at this point in time, I would not feel comfortable them having to service my car EVER. But beyond that, here you have an official Nissan's word on how much they care for their image and for their customers.

Short of calling local news investigative news program, I am lost for words and actions. I don't know if there is a dealer's stories forum here, as I realize that this response will not reach its intended audience, but it gives me small satisfaction to share this story with you guys.

Max (Mad)

MaxLoverAz

iTrader: (1)

Wow that is a heck of a story! I'm glad my dealers don't act like that here in AZ. I think part of your problem may be is the lack of dealers (competition) in your area, I have 7 dealers to choose from within a 30 mile radius all are eager to service my car warranty work or not. You should write several letters detailing your story, send to Nissan, the local news outlets, the local BBB, and also other non Nissan dealers they love to tell a bad story about the competition.

lightonthehill

maxud - Man! What a tale of woe!

If I had gone through what you have, I would be very disappointed in Nissan. They are correct in that a dealer can't be forced to do work he can't fit into his schedule. But when the same dealer had no trouble fitting in non-warranty work, that proved he had been lying to you, and Nissan should have taken the ball from that point. But they dropped the ball. Badly.

I think MaxLoverAZ has a point. I have 23 Nissan dealers within a 90 minute drive (my favorite is just four miles from my home), and have always been accepted with open arms at all times. Even for piddling little things that they fix right at the writeup desk within minutes of the time I drive in.

I would like to hope your dealer's practices are somehow noted by Nissan, and that he will end up losing his dealership. But that is probably wishful thinking.

I wonder if the seat cushion from your wife's Honda Odyssey would fit into your Maxima?

willg

Do you have any extended warranty on your car ("gold preferred" I think its called)? They told me that I get preferred service with it at any dealer. If you have it, I would use that as leverage

DCLawyer68

Every state Attorney General office has a department handling consumer fraud. I'd take this up with them as they're apparently engaging in deceptive practices.