Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models?

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 17:25
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - movilogo
I find it quite annoying that most manufacturers don't offer driver's seat height adjustment on entry level models!

That means people taller/shorter than average people will have to spend more to get an upper spec which offers this facility.

Why there is not any law to offer these facilities as a standard on all models?

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 17:33
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Altea Ego
A law? you want government to legislate about what features you get on a car? you would be lucky to get seats.

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 17:49
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Stuartli
You want a basic car? You get a basic price and that's done through cost cutting in a range of areas.

To get more features you pay more money. Simple commercial economics...:-)
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 17:53
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Ruperts Trooper
Or buy a different basic car that does suit you?
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:01
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Falkirk Bairn
The cost of making a base car might be £x,xxx - to get you through the showroom door.

The cost of making top of the range model £x,xxx + £500

Selling Prices are £y,yyy and £y,yyy + £2,500

i.e. much greater profit on the "GXL" model than the base "L" - options you want force you to upgrade and the motor dealer & manufacturer rub their hands.

Similar story with new built homes - they want the punter to buy "inflated extras" on top of the "inflated new houseprice" to get added features.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:01
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - rustbucket
The more basic the seat/ model the more comfortable it is.From my own experiance and I speak from sufering from a bad back the more fancy the seat with all the up / down, rake/angle, lumber ect ,ect adjustment the less comfy it is.I think most seats are designed by the arty types who want it to look good.Try sitting in one for any lenght of time with a bad back and you soon find the porly designed ones.They either cause your shoulders to round, put strain on the pelvis, force your head to not sit straight,twist your legs in relation to your body the list of deformaties are endless.Most of this goes unoticed if you have a good back.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:47
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Avant
You must be young, Movilogo.

I've been driving since 1966, new cars since 1971 and most of them not the base model. Apart from a Triumph 1300 which SWMBO had which had height adjustment, none of the others did until 1994. And those included some very comfortable Renaults.

We used to manage quite happily with seats that just went forwards and backwards. My first ever car, a 14-year-old Austin A50, was one of the most comfortable I've ever had.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 19:00
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Alby Back
I know I'm in trouble here for mentioning the "M" word, but Mondeos have really comfortable seats. I'm pretty sure even the entry level (LX ? ) has height adjustment as standard.

( Great diesel engines too by the way ! Very reliable in my experience. Have I mentioned that before ? ) ;-)
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:54
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Galad
I can remember when the (original) Skodas came into the market the spec (as advertised in press) included:
Four seats
Wipers
4 wheels, with tyres
Horn
In-car heating and ventilation (optional sunroof meant that car could double as a skip)
Heated rear screen (to keep hands warm when pushing)
Rear view mirror


I wondered what the bog-standard version offered...

In my neck of the woods some years past, an elderly driver was finally snared by Plod for carrying a portable gas heater lit, in the back of his Skoda where the rear seats should have been, in winter because the heater had packed in.

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 19:00
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Pugugly {P}
..........a badge (chrome was an option)
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 19:37
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Brian Tryzers
>You get a basic price and that's done through cost cutting

Not necessarily. It probably doesn't cost much less to fit a less-adjustable seat; it's there - like the lockless glovebox and hand-wound windows - to remind you that you're in the base model and that for a few hundred more you could have had the next one up. Airlines and hotels do similar things - they could make their basic service better, but they don't want to because it might take away the incentive to (magic marketing word) upgrade.

Happy 2008, everyone.
}:---)
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 20:52
Driver's seat adjustment - why not on base models? - Hamsafar
I think there should be a law that says every car should have a chrome-plated crust man catching nets like those Chinese 4x4s. Seriously, there is enough diversity in the market already to get a car with a seat that suits you. It's not the government's job to interfere in this.
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