Rear Seat Headrest Question

B

Big jay

Member
Mazda makes a big deal about the levers that allow you to drop the rear seats from the cargo area. However, with the driver's seat set for my 6' fit the rear headrest hits high on the back of the seat and stops at a 45 degree angle. You then have to go back to the driver's seat, power it forward, fully lower the rear seat, then reposition the front seats. This seems to completely illogical. Is there a trick I'm missing that makes these seats work?

This problem seems to be unique to the US version since it come with ridiculously huge head rests. The EU versions have nice small headrests that allow the seatbacks to drop.

I'm not a CX-5 owner (yet) but I went to the autoshow last night to check out the CX-5 and it's competitors. Mazda only had one CX-5 on display and it was a 2013. So, I don't know if this problem has been fixed in newer version. I did notice that this headrest issue is pretty common in the smaller SUVs, and even the Acura MDX.
 
One of the neat features on the CRV is that its rear headrests pivot over at a 45 degree angle as the seatback drops, thus avoiding the problem you mention. I suppose one could purchase a set of the euro headrests you mention, otherwise the only solution is to remove the headrests either permanently or as needed. Mine now reside on a shelf in the hall closet; some owners keep them in the cargo area of the car. Not a perfect solution, but it also dramatically improves rear view vision in the mirror.
 
Our Mazda3 has little pull tabs at the bottom of the rear headrests that flip them forward. Not quite as fancy as the CRV ones that do it automatically but still odd that Mazda didn't include that on the CX5. And unfortunately, the Mazda3 ones don't fit in the CX5.

Trevor
Mazda Accessories
 
yeah, and someone else warned on here once that if the seat is just forward far enough the headrest can catch the seat back pocket and tear it.
 
Sorry to hear they only have 2013 at the Baltimore Car Show. I'm hoping to get there tonight or Sunday. It's where I first learned of the CX-5 at last years show, but it was behind ropes and you couldn't see inside. The 2014 is not that different and I'm not sure if they changed anything on the head rests. This issue was dissed in another thread a while back. I think someone may have looked into the possibility of getting the European headrests, but the post spacing doesn't match. I'm 6'-4" and my seat is always all the way back. The few times I've dropped the rear seats, I've pulled the head rest out first. Not a great solution.
 
I was surprised that, for such a hot seller, they only had the old CX-5 on site. They do have two Mazda6s and I was very impressed. If I didn't need the hauling capacity of a CUV I'd seriously consider it.

I had not planned on looking at the new CRV but I did check it out. It's rear seat flipdown is amazingly cool. Pull the latch and the bench flips up, the head rest flips forward, and then the seat back drops into place. It all happens very quickly and leaves you with flat cargo area. I still don't want a CRV but the cleverness left me impressed and reluctantly considering giving it a second look.

That being said, once the seats are down, the CX-5 does have a pretty decent amount of space.

I too would likely end up removing and storing the CX-5s rear seat headrests. However, if you ended up w/ a rear seat passenger w/o them in place, and they were hurt in an accident, you might get sued.



mddriver said:
Sorry to hear they only have 2013 at the Baltimore Car Show. I'm hoping to get there tonight or Sunday. It's where I first learned of the CX-5 at last years show, but it was behind ropes and you couldn't see inside. The 2014 is not that different and I'm not sure if they changed anything on the head rests. This issue was dissed in another thread a while back. I think someone may have looked into the possibility of getting the European headrests, but the post spacing doesn't match. I'm 6'-4" and my seat is always all the way back. The few times I've dropped the rear seats, I've pulled the head rest out first. Not a great solution.
Click to expand...
 
Big jay said:
I too would likely end up removing and storing the CX-5s rear seat headrests. However, if you ended up w/ a rear seat passenger w/o them in place, and they were hurt in an accident, you might get sued.
Click to expand...

Right now I have mine just on the floor in the back so they are real easy to put back in, but I need to come up with a way to store them that keeps them from sliding around but keeps them handy too. Because as you mentioned I'd hate to not have them in place and need to have a person back there.
 
I took mine off, wrapped them in a towel, and placed them in the spare tire. Of course, I don't often have people in my back seat so it doesn't matter. And, now I can see everything out the back window.
 
I am not sure if anyone has measured the Euro ones vs the US ones. If I recall correctly, they had looked at how the center headrest on the US model doesn't have the same post spacing. It would be nice if one of our non-US or Canada CX-5 driving brethren would measure the post spacing. It would be very nice to be able to order them from the UK or someplace that has access to the spares.
 
I just take the headrests out before pulling the lever and then put them on the floor behind the seats. I have kids so the headrests are needed most of the time, but I rarely fold the seats down (because of said kids occupying the seats) Would be nice if they folded out of the way like the CRV, but Mazda probably wanted to both keep the weight of the CX5 down and avoid costly re engineering needed to ensure they didn't run afoul of Honda's patent (and don't think they didn't patent the idea). Heck they patented the ui-bed trunk on the Ridgeline so Dodge had to create the Ram-box on the bed rails instead.

And Yes, I did almost tear my seat pocket due to pulling the lever and not being careful, so a caution to everyone.
 
rcs914 said:
I am not sure if anyone has measured the Euro ones vs the US ones. If I recall correctly, they had looked at how the center headrest on the US model doesn't have the same post spacing. It would be nice if one of our non-US or Canada CX-5 driving brethren would measure the post spacing. It would be very nice to be able to order them from the UK or someplace that has access to the spares.
Click to expand...

center headrest holes 10.5cms center of hole to center of hole
outer headrests 12cms center of hole to center of hole.

I managed to lock myself in the car (rolleyes)- the child locks were on ... lol
 
ekcooper said:
I took mine off, wrapped them in a towel, and placed them in the spare tire. Of course, I don't often have people in my back seat so it doesn't matter. And, now I can see everything out the back window.
Click to expand...

There are side wells on each side in the back of the cargo area made for storing the headrests. At least there are on the 2014.
 
backpackerx said:
There are side wells on each side in the back of the cargo area made for storing the headrests. At least there are on the 2014.
Click to expand...
You're not talking about the triangular holes in the floor on either side of the hatch are you?
 
backpackerx said:
Yes. They aren't a perfect fit but work fine and I read that's what they are there for but could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's what they were intended for and, you're right about the fit. I think I'll keep mine in the hall closet!
 
I could see this being somewhat annoying, but I can't imagine they are too difficult to remove. I think for me I would want to keep them in the car either stored or attached as I never know when I will have passengers in the backseat. About 50/50 to when I would have passengers and when I would need the seats down for cargo.
 
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