Hi, I love this car and I want to buy one, but I am just a little too tall. A friend of a friend (6'10") apparently has her driver seat lowered in all her cars, is that possible/safe in the TL? If so, what questions should I ask the body shop to make sure they will do it correctly (safely)? Also, what should I expect to pay, ball park? Thanks in advance for any help?

 

her???
shoud not be a problem lowering the seat, you might even be able to get by, by just drilling some new holes in the seat tracks and welding the old hole shut
but anyways i would not think more than a couple of hours of fab (like 2-3 max) (it's a guesstimite)
also if you are that cramped for space it might be worth it to get an aftermarket seat (race seat type) which will be thinner and be able to get you closer to the floor, but you proably lose the power seat fuction (and memory seats) and seat heater (seat heater can be retrofitted pretty easy though)

 

You might want to start with having them move the track back that the seat is attached too. It will just leave that much less leg room. My mother-in-law is only 4'10 and she had the track moved forward in her Outback.

 

might of been to get her pedal extensions, so she is not so close to the airbag (or hand controls)

but yeah moving the seat back might be easier to do cause for the most part you just drill out some spot welds , and weld the crossmembers back in, but the seat belt proably be too far foward then

 

I definitely want the more comfy seat (w/ heater!) but the ability to go back is not a big deal for me. I'm tall, but not that tall. However, as car shopping has shown me, I am very tall from my hips up but I only have a 32 inch inseam, so I actually usually move the seat up when I get in a car someone else is driving and then turn my head sideways to fit under the low roof.

So are those the options then, drill new holes or get a thinner seat? Is there some other option that they might suggest (good or bad, just so I know).

 

how tall are you??? cause i'm 6' 4' and have the same inseam
(heres the funny thing gf is only 5' 10" and sits farther back then i do, i have to move the seat forward like a notch [for manual seats])
like me most of your height comes from your torso,

you could leave the sunroof's shade open all the time to give a you little space

also a shop/you could redrill the holes (they come in from the sides) for the seat cushion to the tracks so it sits a little lower, but you will proably have a little gap between the seat cushion and backrest, (was talking about redrilling the seat track to floorpan/car before)

also make sure the seat is all the way down (it's height adjustable) by pushing down on the long knob (push on front of long knob to put front of seat down, push on the back of it, to put the back of the seat down; push in center to put the whole seat down)
the back is bottomed out for me with the front max out at full high to try and reach my legs
and i these car had come with a telescoptic steering column (did not have to power either, but be nice)

 

Im 6'5 and fit in it. I was able to make my seat go further back by about 2 inches, but lowering it really isnt much of an option without a lot of modification.

 

I'm only 6' 3", and I didn't have this problem until I started doing yoga and got my back straightened out (the down side to proper alignment is that I'm now much further from people when I talk and I don't fit in far more cars). The sunroof is a little too narrow to open the shade--half my head hits. It's funny because in the accord I only fit in the LX too, the EX always has a moonroof and that take about 1-3 inches off the top of the car.

And yes, I do know how to adjust the seat, but I can understand why you might ask.

Thank you for both of these suggestions, I'm really psyched that I can buy my dream car, and fit!

 

sounds like you are mostly legs though

 

fsttyms1, I don't understand, do you disagree with the 2-3 hour estimate, or with the idea of lowering it?

 

"thats a huge B*%h"! duece biggalo male jiggalo

 

yoga
you could try a also try having the seat back leaned back some, it's more comfortable for me to be leaned back some (more like single seater race cars [like formula 1 cars]),
so my head hitting the roof is not that much of problem for me

but yeah the sunroof takes up a couple inches of headroom, another option would be to completly remove the sun roof and seal it up

btw: you should try sitting in a S2000, your knees WILL hit the dash and you have to HAVE ROOF DOWN with the seat maxed out on that (driver and passenger side)

 

I could lean back, but I vastly prefer to sit forward. Put it this way: I'd rather have my head hit the headliner than lean back.

As far as having the moonroof removed, that would also require moving the headliner, or more likely getting a replacement headliner that was designed for when there was no moonroof--but the moonroof is not an option on the TL so there is no such headliner. It would be an option for the Accord, but not for the TL. I guess I could remove the headliner and just get the brains bashed out of my head if I roll the car or get into a serious accident.

 

figured you did not want to remove the sunroof it's nice but i don't really use it much except to vent (tilted) the car when it is sitting in the hot sun, and then the shade is mostly closed to block the sun

also that you sat pretty upright with your yoga

you could also get one of those roof extensions like you see on vans

also here is kinda a dumb question but pretains to the seat.
does your seat heater work especially the butt portion, (the wires like to break in the heater element on our cars, all in basically the same spot) cause if that needs to be fixed, it be the perfect time to try and modify the seat while it is out of the car and apart

 

Friesm2000, I don't own a TL yet I'm asking this before I buy a used one. Honda/Acura's obsession with moonroofs as a luxury option irks me because I have never used one on any of the cars I own. So I am paying extra to have my car be shorter and maybe a just a little less safe in the case of a rollover.

 

i was tring to give you a couple of different options as far as the seat goes while at the same time playing/joking around a little

 

I fit much better in the afternoon than in the early morning when my back is straighter.

Problem is is our seats are already pretty low to the floor. They are thick seats. There isnt much room to lower them much, if enough time were spent im sure maybe a inch could be gained but that might be tough. Lower profile seats are probably the easiest solution

 

get a bigger car without tranny problems.

infiniti i35 is nice and spacious. interior is better thaN THE tl too

 

yes he is...........

 

Fsttyms1, thanks for the note, I really only need like 1/2 inch (I am so close to fitting).

Friesm2000, thanks for all the ideas.

Phee, Edmunds comment on this car was, "it failed to meld into anything more piquant than the Gringo special at Applebee's." Not sure this is exactly what I'm looking for, but thanks for the tip that the transmission is more reliable.

 

np

 

I am 6'6" and Honda's/Acura's have been the one car that I generally fit into best. I do tilt the seat back, as well as all the way down and to the rear. My wife is 6' but we are the same height hip to toe, but she raises the seat up and forward. Thank goodness for the the two seat memory positions!