Update: I went to Honda and they got the back of the seat off and let me look at what was bothering me. They ended up removing the upper wire strap which helped some. I am in the process of making minor changes and will update with photos when I am satisfied with the changes.

This is really a big problem when you are very uncomfortable in what you drive. Everything else about this car is near perfect. I sat in a 2006 Accord and it has no such uncomfortable lump in it's seat. It really looks to me as if Honda made a big misstep in this seat design.

 

Yeah, I'm with you - uncomfortable seats are no fun at all. A little surprised Honda would do that, but I've never sat in a 2008 or newer Accord. I was OK with the 2003 seats.

But it sounds like they're making some effort to work with you...?

 

The dealer is but I think there is a limit to what they can do. My wife says I need to stop tinkering with the seat and call up HONDA and complain to them. I think there is nothing different about my seat from the way they designed it originally, it's just that they designed an incredibly uncomfortable seat. If they inspect it, they will see that this seat is exactly as they designed it. I'm not sure that there is anything they can change or modify except possibly putting in a seat out of a crosstour (fat chance on that).

I am really stunned that everyone is not complaining about this. I have even thought about trading this in on a Camry because it has very nice seats. I don't really want a Toyota, because other than this seat, I like this Accord so much. I guess I will call Honda tomorrow to see what they can do. Probably nothing, but I'll try.

 

Well, I called up Honda today and they basically told me that the car is just as it was designed and that's the way it is supposed to be. I didn't think calling them would do anything but they said that they would write my complaint down and if enough people complained, that Honda would issue a recall.

Now for what I did.

I realize that most of you might not have a 2008+ Accord so you will not know the pain I am experiencing. I sat in a 2006 EX and the seat felt wonderful, no pain at all. That is because that car does not have the active head restraint plate jabbing you in the back!! Also, the passenger seat in this car feels 50% better than the drivers seat and I found out why. Each seat has a back plate in it that makes the Active head restraint move. The drivers seat in addition to the plate has a bumped curved plastic piece that moves in and out to make the lumbar support more or less. This piece adds about 1" to the thickness of the plate so it sticks out 1 more inch into my back.

With my back hurting as bad as it is, and Honda not having any solutions to my problem, I decided to take the ENTIRE back plate out and put the seat back together. So far, the seat feels EXCELLENT! With pulling out the back plate (and two wires) I realize that a couple of things have changed. For one, I do not have adjustable lumbar support any more but that was part of my problem in the first place. The other thing is that my active head restraint is now not active anymore. I never liked lumbar support anyway so it not working is not a problem at all. I also don't think that de-activating the "active" head restraint is a problem because with the way Honda designed it, the head restraint is only an inch behind my head to start with. In an accident, I cannot see that the head restraint moving forward 1" will be better than the permanent back damage that this system is causing me every day.

I have only owned this car for three weeks and was really considering getting rid of it because I am in so much pain. Now the next few days will tell me if I have solved my problem or not.

 

In a rear-end collision you'd be very surprised how much the seat deforms during the collision. It's not so much that the headrest moves forward but rather this prevents it from moving back & hurting your neck.

How was it with the active head restraint but without the lumber mechanism?

I just had to get that little warning in there, but after all I can't tell how the seat feels for your back. I hope this works out.

 

What I did does not effect the head rest structural support. The same load can be applied to the head rest and it will be able to resist it just the same as before. Removing the plate simply removes the mechanism that makes the head rest move forward (about an inch) in a rear end collision. The seat back is now in pretty much the same condition as a 2007 Accord seat minus the flimsy springs in the back. If you look at a 2007 seat microfiche you can see the springs.

The plate and the adjustable lumbar mechanism are two different things. Removing the lumbar mechanism greatly relieves the pressure on my back. By removing the plate (with the lumbar mechanism on it), will not effect where the head restraint is because it still is in it's original position. I have not experimented with the plate in place, sans the lumbar adjustment, I may do that this weekend.

I am debating on fabricating a new lower wire that would be a little longer moving the plate back (less protruding) and removing the white plastic adjustable lumbar piece. These two things may make the seat feel better and make the head rest active again. I am not sure what I will end up doing but I will continue to tweak my settings.

 

I have read about the seat issue you had with you 2009 Accord. Our son is having the same problems with his 2009 Accord. Hi back hurts terribly.

Please tell me exactly what you had done to fix this. Honda is no help at all and the vehicle is a lease so I have to be careful with any modifications.

Just out of curiousity, how tall are you. My son is 5'10 and another guy wrote and said he was 5'9. My husband is 5'11 1/2 and his back does not hurt in our son's car.

Thank you

 

Out of curiosity, how tall are you? We are thinking this issue might be bothering men in the 5'8 to 5'10 range.

 

So...how does this cover come off? I'm a new accord owner, and I am making plans on dealing with the "lump" issue. So far it isn't too bad, but I can see where a long trip will be a pain.

I bought this car for the size and comfort (moved up from a civic) and didn't discover the seat issue until too late. For around town driving it is great, but once you are in the car for an hour or so, things start to hurt.

I'm playing with the idea of adjusting the angle of the seat with shims, but thought I would at least take a look in the seat and see what I can see. I cannot figure out how to disconnect the bottom of the rear cover. I can see that there are clips in each side in the middle (edges) and there are three hooks up top that the cover slides into. The bottom is a mystery, how is this thing attached?

 

Here is a thread with pictures that shows what I did

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...ad.php?t=37122