calgary14rdx

My wife and daughter complain about this as well. My daughter cant use the arm rest as it feel uncomfortable because she has to reach up because of the low seat. Didn't think it was an issue. We would be willing to pay to have it raised as we love the new vehicle except for this. $40 k and now I get to put in a Walmart cushion. That's awesome.

pilotbob

Intended to take a test drive yesterday thinking this might be a great suv, but as soon as we sat inside, my 5'7" wife said I can't raise the seat, I can barely see over the dash, I'm sitting in a hole, this is a complete deal breaker. Wonder how many sales they've lost because of such a small design oversight. After reading the forum, doesn't look like there is much of a solution other than seat cushions. Seriously, for a luxury suv, how could they overlook this unless nobody ever sits in the passenger seat. Incredibly disappointing.

weather

^^ I agree! Even if they would have at least made the seat NOT as low.....I feel like a midget when I sit in the passenger seat

BlackjackM

I did this yesterday, took me 15 mins and passes the wife test. Thank you rosen39!!

rosen39

Yeh, I don't know why my wife made a big deal out of it. She is either sleeping in the car, or playing "Words With Friends" on her cell phone.

zorro99

When we looked at 2014 RDX on showroom floor, wife commented that she felt like she was sitting in a hole while on the passenger seat ( she is 5 ft. tall), but we bought the RDX anyways as she liked it alot.

Found we already had a fix after we moved our stuff over from our trade-in.

It was a small decorator pillow we have had for a number of years and wife had used it behind her head when reclined. It fit the seat perfectly and raised the seating position up approx. 2 inches. We had purchased it at Walmart or a furniture shop years ago. It has a rather firm cloth like stuffing rather than foam, so it doesn't compress much. Wife even used it when she drove the RDX as it gave her a better view even when driver's seat was all the way up.

Like the rest of you, I think it was kinda dumb for Acura to not have allowed the passenger seat to be power adjusted up.

dcpc08161992

I bought a seat cushion from Costco and boost about 2" for the passenger... if not used, just toss it to the backseat . Not the best solution for a $40K car but will do in a pinch.

JamesM

I've been trying to find the parts needed to convert the passenger side seat (lower only) from 4-way to 6-way.

I was thinking I could get a driver's side seat frame, the switch and parts, and the motor and install it myself. I cannot find the motor though, only the frame and switch. Those parts add up to ~$400 w/o shipping. I'm betting the motor is another $200. A pricey option AND I'm not sure the driver's side seat frame will bolt in to the passenger side. The switch and possible wiring wouldn't be an issue. Nor am I concerned about the mounting of the different motor.

I'm still trying to find all the parts necessary. Motorcycle parts are much easier to search and find and the online retailers have much better images available.

geocord

Maybe the engineers designed that seat to coordinate with the side impact safety beams and the airbags(angle, distance, etc.) for the average person. I wouldn't mess with it unless my wife was under 4ft tall and couldn't see out at all. The cost would drive me away too and if I was looking at used cars and saw some kind of retrofit like that I would shy away from it. Yeah, maybe it wouldn't be noticed but if you made it a "selling point" it would certainly make me think twice. Just some thoughts. Pillows are cheap and can be tossed if not needed for someone taller.

Texdriver

I've been thinking along the same lines as geocord in reference to retrofitting the passenger seat as mentioned by some posters in this thread. Not only alignment with the beams and airbags, but the integrity of the bolts and frame holding the seat in place would be compromised and could result in the seat coming off the frame if the car was to be in an accident. As I mentioned above, a cushion works fine and presents no hazard in case of an accident.

Just my 2 cents.

Ukalum

I would be shocked if Acura didn't correct this fix in the 2014 models. Can anyone confirm? And if it has been fixed, can we apply the fix to the 2013 models?

CoachRick

Not like the good old days with the '91 Miata. To get more leg room, we unbolted the seat rails, removed them and bolted the seat to the floor. Life was so simple in the pioneer days!

I have to say my DW has not mentioned the seat height in the 15 months/13K miles we've had ours. She's 5' 5.5" Would be nice if someone developed a simple fix, however.

ViperZ

I just bought a 2014 RDX-T, during the test drive with my wife driving it, I felt the front passenger seat was lower than I liked and wished it had a height adjust too. So I suspect it has not been changed.

It was not a deal breaker, but any means, and I'll get use to it most likely.

Jack Mosca

My 07 RL passenger seat has the same problem you folks have with the RDX. I believe in 08 the RL came equipped with a power passenger seat that will raise and tilt like the driver side does. Has anyone inquired about the cost or feasibility of of making that work on an RL?

tedricko

I've worked on this for about an hour and a half came up with a partial adjustment with not much trouble. I removed the rear and front bolts (under plastic cover) off the seat assembly and took to Ace hardware to match the size and then bought some that were about 1.5 " longer. I bought a couple nuts for each bolt and with trial and error was able to raise the seat about an inch with putting the bolt through the track and attaching the 2 nuts under it with leaving enough to screw into the floor. Then I set the nut closest to the floor down to lock the bolt into place and screwed the other up to the bottom of the track that elevated the track about 1-1.5 inches. The floor mats in back conceal it so it doesn't even show. That height is about the thickness of both nuts together or 1" and then you'll be able to get another 1/2" when you srew the nut up tight against the bottom of the tract. The problem is the front bolts attach horizontally on the front or face of an elevated rise (under a plastic cover you'll have to remove) in the floor board and the the back bolts screw down directly to the floor so the possible height adjustment will only allow about an inch to maybe an inch and a half in back and maybe a 1/2" in the front since there's no height adjustment possible in the front track except maybe about an 1/2 on the bias of the bolt insertion. If the front attached directly to the floor there would be no problem raising it as high as your bolt length but that's not the way the front ones attach. You'll be able to put thew covers back on the front to conceal the bolts once you finish. The passenger seat isn't as bad as before but still too low in my opinion. The 2014 has 6 way seats on the passenger side which at least shows Honda/Acura acknowledged they screwed up.

Hopefully there will be a retro fit kit manufactured for what all owners have found to be a flaw in engineering of what is "the hole" the front passenger sits in. Hope this helps. Be patient going from the back adjustment to the front bolts until you've maximized the height allowing the front bolts to screw in. It's a bit tricky but possible and worth the trouble. It will take a couple attempts until you get it but easy enough.

It's better but still much lower than the driver side and could use another 2-3 inches but not nearly as noticeable as it felt like sitting in a hole with the side door panels of this model being pretty high as is the dash compared to other like cars in this class.

You would think at this price point ($36K) you would at least have 6 way power seats and other things like fog lamps that aren't included except on the tech package and splash guards, etc., etc.. This is an Acura and not a Honda after all but "cheap" is the word there. People would gladly pay the couple hundred more for simple things like that which are worth thousands in convenience, comfort and appearance in my opinion. I've added them and just about every other option including luggage racks, the 1/2 running aluminum running boards they offer (no full length just a contouring one that works only for the back doors) and a couple other minor upgrades. All made a big difference. Shame on Honda/Acura. Cheap shouldn't be part of the business model in their luxury division. Can't imagine Lexus or Infinity doing that and easy to see why the don't compete with units. I'll certainly consider other manufactures next time including back to BMW that I traded in but in the X3 model or even the Audi. All have good points but other than these inconveniences we (my wife's car) like the new RDX and the new suspension and 6 cylinder introduced in 2013. A few tweaks and it could be much better. Good luck!

Raghuvir

I just test drove a 2013 RDX from an Acura dealer and my wife complained of low seat height on the passenger side. Spoke to Dealer about making some adjustments but the Foreman/Technician cautioned me from making any "unauthorized adjustments". He mentioned that this is something similar to repairing the seat-belts which are illegal in some provinces in Canada. He also mentioned that some injuries to passengers (in case of accidents) are not covered by Insurance if the seats are modified (outside of Acura's specifications). 2014 RDX has the same problem.

I bought the 2013 RDX regardless, as there are much more to it than just the seat height...:-).

marcoesquandolas

My wife was driving the other day and looked over at me in the passenger seat and said "you look like a short man". (I'm 6'2'')

The seat is definitely too short, but what can you do? It was obviously a cost saving measure on Acura's part. I can understand restricting the ability to move up/down, but not sure why then elected to mount it so low. Could have easily been mounted 2 inches higher.

rosen39

marcoesquandolas, here is a prior posting that I had on the seat height issue.

The first thing you will need are some metric grade 10.9 flange bolts. These are a little stronger than an SAE grade 8 bolt. I ordered mine from Fastenal.com and there was a store near my house that I could pick them up at.

For the front you need an M10x1.25 30mm:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...Id=&rfqLineId=

For the rear you need an M10x1.25 50mm:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...Id=&rfqLineId=

I bought a box of 100 fender washers from Home Depot size 3/8" hole by 1 1/2" wide. I used three washers (taped together to make install easy) in the front, and 19 washers stacked under each rail in the rear. The 19 washers gives you a one inch rise. I cut two pieces of 1/4" plywood 2" x 3.5" to put under the front rails. This is all you can raise the front and still line up the front bolts. The bolts are torqued down at 24 ft. lbs.

The plastic covers in the rear pry up with a plastic or nylon molding tool. The front plastic rail trim can be spread apart and slid towards the front.

Joesaab55

I have an Acura TL - 06 that has the same lame passenger seat. One would think that a 'High End' Acura would have a multi position power passenger seat that even the most mundane Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, etc has. My Wife has to drag herself out of the car and hates riding in it. I am hugely disappointed in this vehicle. The gas tank is ridiculously small as well.) I would like to find a 6 or 8 way seat but am afraid that is not available from what I have read.

ceb

Congratulations on reviving an ancient thread. Buy a 2016, the airbag system now accounts for some adjustment.

snorf

We have a 2016 RDX and one of the features we were looking forward to having was a passenger seat that went up and down. It does in the 2016..... but my wife (5' 3" tall) says it doesn't go up enough. She says there are two positions - low and medium.

snorf

I was reading through the manual today and I think they added the passenger seat that will go up (part way) and in exchange for that they deleted the heated rear seats in the 2016.

snorf

I rode in the passenger seat of our 2016 RDX yesterday for the first time. It does go up and down, but I think acura really missed the mark on this one (they seem to have done that on a number of things). The seat is too low. I would say that when the passenger seat is at it's highest level, that is where it should be when it is at its lowest level. I guess the idea of having the same seat heights for the driver and passenger was asking too much.

rosen39

Snorf, go back a little on this thread to posting #58. I did this mod a while back, and the passenger's seat is now as high as the drivers seat.

snorf

When I got into the passenger seat I felt like I was sitting real low and tried to raise the seat. It wouldn't go up because it was already maxed out. It may be the same, but you couldn't prove that by me. My wife does not keep the driver's seat at its max elevation, but says the passenger seat is too low.

snorf

Forgive me, rosen39, I didn't read your post before commenting. Several years ago, prior to installing a passenger seat that would go up and down on all models of the sonata, people complained that the passenger seat was too low. (They did the fix right, btw.) Some people put shims in like you did. When I contacted USAA and asked them about this on the RDX (was not a problem in the Venza) they told me that if I was in an accident and there was an injury to the passenger that they would have to investigate it thoroughly because I modified the vehicle. They made it sound as though they wouldn't be held responsible for me altering the seat.

sekngen

Interesting I found this post. I installed rear weathertech mats and noticed that it wasn't sitting flush on the passenger side, but the drivers side was perfect. I just had bought the car used from a private seller, so I reached out to him and he said he raised up the seat to fix the height a bit. Looking at the modification, it looks like he just used longer bolts along with large nuts to raise it about an inch or so.

I'm thinking about removing it because the floormats aren't sitting right, but I'm not sure how noticeable it would be for my wife if I'm driving. Maybe I'll revert it to stock when I plan to work on it this weekend.

RDX-Rick

I would be concerned that he just picked up the longer bolts at the corner hardware store, and that they do not meet the same strength specs as the OEM bolts. In the case of a collision the bolts could snap, resulting in increased risk of injury to the front seat occupant.

Of course, even if you replace them with shorter bolts you will need to locate some with the same (or greater) strength than the OEM.

I guess what you do really depends on who sits in that seat.

sekngen

Do you happen to know the original bolt length? I'm thinking of just undoing the modification. If not I'll just buy them from the dealer if possible.

moatsyjr

There is a couple company who recognize this problem with many vehicles, the company https://desertdoesit.com/ makes them for many vehicles. Not the RDX yet though.
I am looking for the exact same thing though. Long trips cause hip issues for many people myself included.

Poolman

If the 2016 models have passenger seats with all the trim that we want, how would you power the seat if you installed it? would you run wires over to the drivers electrics and then over to the passengers side. Might be the thing to do , if ya want to keep the ride and make the
upgrade, head to the junk yard and cop one of these seats.