Rear seats, what the heck were they thinking ?

[glocke12]

I know this has been beat to death, but I was just out messing around with the rear seats and realized they actually included strap on them for securing them to the hand grip on the door pillar after they are tumbled forward.

I can't imagine the thought process that went into adding all those extra steps for this. Tumble the seats forward, remove the cover on the bottom of the seat that is now facing rearward and unfold the seat tether, secure it to the grip handle on the door pillar...than do everything again in reverse when you are done.

It's just mind boggling stupid.

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[Nodak]

its mostly for off roading, the jolts and angles and what not dont lend very well for the tumbled seat to stay in place vs a vehicle dealing with pavement princess issues.

cant help it if you cant see what other people use the vehicle for and the engineers thought of that simple solution

 

[127.0.0.1]

imho
it's a brilliant design that doesn't add expensive, complicated, and heavy mechanisms

 

[Sween77]

Question is how could they have created a flat cargo floor? The 5th gen seems to have a better solution for usable cargo space.

 

[Lamuncha]

It's the same guy that created the totally useless auto close/open rear hatch sensing. Try installing or removing the trailer ball or connecting the wiring harness. Effing hatch thinks you're carrying 50 bags of groceries, it beebs and swings open in your face.
Same thing happens if the hatch is open, becomes a guillotine.
You are back there surrounded by wires, trailer, rear bumper and here comes that effing hatch.
You ever watch people in grocery store parking lots dancing around behind the rear bumper. Never works then.
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DESIGN SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD IMPLEMENT IT!
Put the money into sound deadening.

 

[JONNYBOSCO]

Personally, I liked the OLD way much better. Flip the base of the rear seat forward, then fold the back of the seat on top of it... It made for a nice long, even "fat-bed" in the back.

 

[glocke12]

its mostly for off roading, the jolts and angles and what not dont lend very well for the tumbled seat to stay in place vs a vehicle dealing with pavement princess issues.

cant help it if you cant see what other people use the vehicle for and the engineers thought of that simple solution

I see what others use the vehicle for just fine. Being in PA, most of the off-roading ( if you can even can what we have here off-roading ) I'll be doing is on relatively flat terrain through forest service roads. jeep trails, and through the NJ Pine Barrens and if I am out doing that there is a chance I will be camping/sleeping in the back of the vehicle. The way the seats fold make doing that difficult. I really didn't want to invest in a sleeping platform but I guess I will need to.

It also makes it difficult if not impossible to climb into the back area via the passenger doors.

If it wasn't for the fact that I don't have any place to store them I'd be doing a rear seat delete.

imho
it's a brilliant design that doesn't add expensive, complicated, and heavy mechanisms

You're joking right ? It's not brilliant...it's probably a cost savings measure so they could do something to provide easier access to the third row for vehicles that have that option. They should have just gotten rid of the third row period. This vehicle is really not sized appropriately for a 3rd row to be a comfortable option unless you have toddlers back there and don't expect them to get any larger.

I still love my 6th gen and think its a great ride, but man..they really screwed the pooch on that aspect of it.

 

[Archer]

Your missing out on some great off roading in Pa. Schuylkill County has 3 different off road parks...


.

 

[glocke12]

Your missing out on some great off roading in Pa. Schuylkill County has 3 different off road parks...


.

I am aware of whats out there, been to one in the past with my 5th gen, I forget the name of it though. I sort of lack the free time to make it out there also....90 minute one way commute to work every day and long work days means that my driving is done for the week once I am home on Friday.

Maybe next spring/summer I can combine a trip there with some camping and get it done that way.

 

[Nodak]

I see what others use the vehicle for just fine. Being in PA, most of the off-roading ( if you can even can what we have here off-roading ) I'll be doing is on relatively flat terrain through forest service roads. jeep trails, and through the NJ Pine Barrens and if I am out doing that there is a chance I will be camping/sleeping in the back of the vehicle. The way the seats fold make doing that difficult. I really didn't want to invest in a sleeping platform but I guess I will need to.

It also makes it difficult if not impossible to climb into the back area via the passenger doors.

If it wasn't for the fact that I don't have any place to store them I'd be doing a rear seat delete.



You're joking right ? It's not brilliant...it's probably a cost savings measure so they could do something to provide easier access to the third row for vehicles that have that option. They should have just gotten rid of the third row period. This vehicle is really not sized appropriately for a 3rd row to be a comfortable option unless you have toddlers back there and don't expect them to get any larger.

I still love my 6th gen and think its a great ride, but man..they really screwed the pooch on that aspect of it.

outside of that feature, i agree the seat setup is not ideal, especially in the hybrid with the battery pack in the back.

if they would have retained the setup for the 5th gen for the 6th gen non HV setup, that would have been ideal.

even looking at it yesterday when i had to take my 12yr old GSP to put to sleep, the configuration on the HV model is wonky. the dog stands way higher and closer to the headliner than i like.

also i use to let them into the back using the rear doors, but now with the way they fold, i have to let them thru the back door now, the jump from ground level is too high now from the rear passenger door. even the rear liftgate the jump is way higher now with the 3-4 inch raised floor with the battery pack.

but in the end, i still wanted the platinum. i never travel now with more than the wife and 90% of the time it is just me, so i never needed a 3rd row (even in my 2014 4R Limited, i specifically ordered it w/o a 3rd row)

the storage area is not ideal but i can work with it since i need the creature comforts and FT4WD more than i need carrying space or passenger carrying capacity or comfort

 

[127.0.0.1]

I see what others use the vehicle for just fine. Being in PA, most of the off-roading ( if you can even can what we have here off-roading ) I'll be doing is on relatively flat terrain through forest service roads. jeep trails, and through the NJ Pine Barrens and if I am out doing that there is a chance I will be camping/sleeping in the back of the vehicle. The way the seats fold make doing that difficult. I really didn't want to invest in a sleeping platform but I guess I will need to.

It also makes it difficult if not impossible to climb into the back area via the passenger doors.

If it wasn't for the fact that I don't have any place to store them I'd be doing a rear seat delete.



You're joking right ? It's not brilliant...it's probably a cost savings measure so they could do something to provide easier access to the third row for vehicles that have that option. They should have just gotten rid of the third row period. This vehicle is really not sized appropriately for a 3rd row to be a comfortable option unless you have toddlers back there and don't expect them to get any larger.

I still love my 6th gen and think its a great ride, but man..they really screwed the pooch on that aspect of it.

umm, not joking. I can see the big picture and understand clearly every aspect of vehicle design choice and component choices, and don't throw shade towards Toyota or anyone else on the team about things I would personally disapprove.

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