I had this minor emergency this week and needed to purchase something very long from Lowes (long story, but I had water damage and needed to purchase a long drain pipe to divert the water). Anyway, the wacky guys at Lowes would not cut it for me because it was metal. So, I had to buy a hacksaw and cut it up in the parking lot. I then managed to get it in the TSX with the seats folded down, a feature I had used a few weeks earlier when I bought a ladder.

I was thinking that I would EVENTUALLY upgrade to a TL. But, once again, this experience drilled home the reality to me. If you are a homeowner, and you don't have a wagon or SUV as a second vehicle, a car without fold down rear seats is not very practical.

 

I hope the pipes didn't crap up your car.

 

Fold-down seats>Non Fold-down seats

 

 

Amen, this was a deal killer on the Lexus IS300 for us, and on base model 3-series.
We had to have fold down rear seats, I've used them too many times in the past.

How did we live without them?

 

Darth, the lack of fold-down rear seats is pretty much THE ONLY reason why I didn't get the TL...... sigh......

 

I keep forgetting i have them, so i always borrowd my mom's minivan to go off road biking (it can't be called mt. biking in this state... ever) at this park across town. My bike frame is an XL so it doesn't fit in the trunk normally like all my friends bikes do, and i'm deffinatly not putting it on the back seats. But when i remembered the seats, and realized i didn't have to drive around the cow (btw, does anyone know how to make a car horn create a moo sound. just curious), i went crazy and just left my bike in there for whenever for about a week. Folding seats are a deffinate winner imo.

 

In case anyone cares...Child seat in back = no fold down seats

 

yeah, i came from a wagon, so i was definitely glad to have the split fold-down seats. i still can't believe the other models don't have 'em.

 

I gotta tell you ... a 5-door or wagon TSX would still rank high in my book. And as a bonus ... you would get a rear wiper (I love those things)

 

what? there are child seat anchors in the rear deck.

 

X464916519816

Most Lexus vehicles don't have fold down rear seats... and of course the TL

 

Yes, but the car seat blocks the fold points in the back.

 

you can't just put a car seat on the 40% side of the seat...and fold the 60%??

 

But still dunno why Accord always have that 2 small triangle on the bottom side of the trunk pass through after the seat fold down??? It really brothering me!

 

If you put the seat on the passenger side, you can just barely get the driver side fold-down to work. Ran into that issue one myself.

 

This burned me too. I had a couple of items from Home Depot that needed all that space and I kept thinking, wtf, why isn't that area bigger.

I'm guessing it has to do with body rigidity and makes the car handle better. Think about the fact that the shock towers for the rear are very close by and you need that rigidity to prevent body flex.

 

Having fold down seats will be a MUST for me when I purchase a new car because I'm pretty sure I do not want to purchase a roof rack for my road bike...don't want to ruin the paint ya know.

 

Not for me, maybe my car seat is larger then yours?

 

Since the opening is so narrow, how does the bike fit in there? Is it big enough to pass the wheels through? I haven't measured it. And what about road vs. "off-road" (sorry, FL) bikes?

 

I don't know about bikes, but the fold down seat has come in very hand for me, as a homeowner. When I first moved in, I had to go buy a later. If I hd the TL, my only choice would have been to get it delivered or buy it over the internet.

Anyway, my next vehicle will be a wagon of some sort (maybe a RDX!). But, I will never own anything that doens't have fold down seats. Maybe if I was married and also had a minivan or SUV in the garage, but not as a single guy.

 

I only dislike the fact, that to get the seats in back down, i need to pull the seats up from forward...... Bla...