2014 Mazda 3 seats - a pain in the ribs.

I came up with the same towel "solution" in a '17 GT(faux leather). Not ideal, but cheapest/easiest.

Any complaints about the shape (rim cross-section) of the steering wheel? Feels very "pointy" against the palms..

I find the steering wheel to be really comfortable and ergonomic particularly when placing your hands on the 9 and 3 position. The material on the steering wheel for the higher trims wears quite easily so you need to be careful, but the material itself is good quality and feels nice to the touch. No complaints there.
 
I received my Obus back support tihngy yesterday, but unfortunately that doesn't work at all. It's too firm and pushes you out of the seat too much.

So I'm sending that back and am going to call some upholstery shops here in town to see if and how the seat can be modified. I don't want to drive around with a towel in my back for the next 10 years...:(
 
Horrible Mazda Seats

Neo90277 - I know this is a long shot but I just bought a 2013 Mazda3 with "leather" seats and my back is killing me, like no other seat I have ever sat in. Did the fixes work for you? I am about to give up on the car because my back cannot stand it.
 
Those of you with issues, are you predisposed? I mean, I don't have any back issues, therefore I don't really "shop" car seats. If anything, I prefer a little side bolstering as my one criteria. Never had issues with seats in my Mazdas, though. I feel for those of you with issues - that's a big ordeal after such a major purchase.
 
I am not pre-disposed to back issues. I haven't owned that many cars (I tend to keep my cars for a long time) but because of my work I find myself driving rental cars a lot. I can safely say I have driven over 100 different vehicles easily, all for longer stretches of time.

Never ever in my life have I ever experienced the insane discomfort these Mazda3 seats are giving me. They are without a doubt the absolute worst seats I've ever sat in. It's killing all the pleasure of ownership for me.

I am to this day still driving with a towel behind my back:
View attachment 217782

It alleviates most of my issues and makes it bearable. To all of those that suggested to modify the seats; this is much harder to accomplish than one might think.
I have visited 6 different upholstery shops now. 5 of those flat-out refused to do the work, and number 6 (very friendly shop owner) had no problems wanting to do the work for me, but said he will not take the seat out himself. I have to bring the seat to him.
So I called the Mazda dealership and asked them if they can remove the seat for me, and reinstall it a few days later. They said OK at first, but then called me back an hour later saying they cannot do that kind of work, and warned me that I would void my warranty if I were to modify the seat.

I told the lady that I don't believe a drive-train warranty would be affected by modifications made to the drivers' seat, but the lady from the dealership kept insisting that was the case. I still don't believe that, but all things considered I have given up on trying to get the seat modified. It's just way too much of a hassle.
I will keep driving this thing with a towel in my back for the next couple of years, and this particular Mazda3 might be the first car I've ever owned to which I will not get any emotional attachment. I've owned it for 3 months now, and I still feel like I drive someone else's car.

I fiddle with the seat constantly. Man, when I bought the Protege, I set the seat during my test drive, and the seat never ever moved from that position, ever. It was perfect.
I'm afraid on this Mazda I'll wear out the seat motors soon, since I keep adjusting constantly.

Truth be told: I miss my Protege terribly. I'd buy it back if I knew where to find it. I've been checking Craigslist in the hopes it would pop up there. I'm not even kidding. That thing fit me like a glove. If I could rewind time with the knowledge I have now, I'd have the engine rebuilt on the Protege and kept driving that for another decade. Oh well, live and learn.
 
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I believe that according to the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, dealerships cannot void a warranty unless they can prove that the failure is a result of something the owner did to the failed part. In other words, if the transmission fails, the warranty cannot be voided if the owner modifies his or her seat. Now, if you modify the seat in such a way that causes a lumbar support motor failure, perhaps that motor warranty would be voided. Any dealership person who wants you to think otherwise should be directed to this warranty act.
My Protg, MX5, and MX6 GT seats were very comfortable, primarily because they were a bit more "forgiving". My Mazda 3's Eibach springs make the firmer seats feel much less forgiving but that's the tradeoff of having razor-sharp handling.
 
I traded in my 2008 3 GS Sedan for a 2015 3 Sport. I went from perfect seats, that were not aggravating my back to the most stiff, narrow, uncomfortable seats I've ever encountered. As others have stated, I didn't notice it on my 2 test drives but now find I'm unable to drive the car due to it aggravating an old back injury that had not been giving me problems. As others mentioned, I've played with every seat adjustment, with no relief. I tried a 1 inch piece of firm foam between the bolsters on the seat bottom which seems to help a little but it's too thick and my hair touches the roof (I'm 6'1"). I also placed a firm piece of foam on the back part of the seat. None of this has helped enough where I can drive the car. My back literally flares up on a 10 minute drive. Everything previous posters mentioned about the headrest angle, the "v" in the seat bottom and the poorly positioned lumbar seems to nail it. I wish the seat had a tilt feature since I notice lowering the seat also sets it back.

If a 2008 Mazda 3 seat would fit, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one from a wrecking yard and put it in. Unfortunately I have found that the planted seat brackets for 2004-2008 are a different part number to 2014-2018 which means it's not a direct fit.

I'm now down to 3 options:
1. Do as Neo and cre8tive did and go to an apolstery shop and redo it completely.

2. Find an ergonomic aftermarket seat or figure out how to put an 08 seat in.

3. Sell the car.

It's annoying how Mazda has botched what was a perfect seat 04-08.
 
I'm now down to 3 options:
1. Do as Neo and cre8tive did and go to an apolstery shop and redo it completely.
I hope you can make that work. I was unable to find anyone willing to do that work, but I live in Alaska and thus don't have that many options. You might have better luck.
2. Find an ergonomic aftermarket seat or figure out how to put an 08 seat in.
According to my Mazda dealer here in Anchorage, doing something like that would void any and all warranty. I personally don't believe that for a second, the Mazda dealer here in town seems to have the absolute worst customer service and uninformed employees ever, but thought I'd mention it nonetheless.

3. Sell the car.

It's annoying how Mazda has botched what was a perfect seat 04-08.

Reading through reviews of the 2017 and up Mazda 3's, it seems Mazda has redesigned the seats for the newer models. They are supposedly a whole heck of a lot better than these terrible ill-fitting crap-things they jokingly call "seats" in our cars.

Just a thought, but if you're sold on the Mazda 3, you might try one a few years younger? Of course that would also be more expensive. I'm with you though, my Mazda Protege had such brilliant comfy and supportive seats. How in the hell did they screw up this bad for the Mazda 3? They clearly know how to design a proper seat. Was the seat-guy out on vacation when it came time to draw up the plans for the 3rd gen Mazda3? Jeez Louis, Mazda, you did terrible.
 
Mazda's seats are stiff, but they become softer after using them for a certain period of time. I find them to be good seats, just a touch too narrow for taller/bigger people.
 
I hope you can make that work. I was unable to find anyone willing to do that work, but I live in Alaska and thus don't have that many options. You might have better luck.

According to my Mazda dealer here in Anchorage, doing something like that would void any and all warranty. I personally don't believe that for a second, the Mazda dealer here in town seems to have the absolute worst customer service and uninformed employees ever, but thought I'd mention it nonetheless.

Thanks for valuable input, Ceristimo. I live in BC, Canada and an apolstery shop has verbally told me on the phone they can do something. I hope that doesn't change if I go there. Maybe our warranty laws are different, I don't know.



Reading through reviews of the 2017 and up Mazda 3's, it seems Mazda has redesigned the seats for the newer models. They are supposedly a whole heck of a lot better than these terrible ill-fitting crap-things they jokingly call "seats" in our cars.

I didn't know they changed the seats in 2017. I know the planted bracket for aftermarket seats is the same 2014-2018, so it should be a direct fit. I will ask my dealer what changed and ask if. can seat in one thanks!!

Just a thought, but if you're sold on the Mazda 3, you might try one a few years younger? Of course that would also be more expensive. I'm with you though, my Mazda Protege had such brilliant comfy and supportive seats. How in the hell did they screw up this bad for the Mazda 3? They clearly know how to design a proper seat. Was the seat-guy out on vacation when it came time to draw up the plans for the 3rd gen Mazda3? Jeez Louis, Mazda, you did terrible.

Lol maybe he was because my 2008 Mazda 3 seat never gave me any trouble. Did you ever try a 2017-2018 sit? I'm almost 100 percent sure the bolt pattern hadn't changed but it would be expensive to buy one and hard to get one from a wreck.

Thanks again, this forum is great.
 
I've googled "mazda 3 back pain" for hours on end, and that's when I came across two reviews of the newer Mazda 3's that said the seat was better. Of course, now that I am trying to find those reviews I'm coming up empty handed. If the part number for a 2017 seat is different than a 2014 seat, we'd have our answer right there.

As far as back pain goes, I have finally (after 4 months!) found a driving position that kind of works. The trick (for me at least) is to recline the seat back further than I naturally want to. So recline the seat to where the angle feels natural to your back, and then recline it further. The upside is that the headrest will no longer be in the way and bumping into the back of your head while driving.
The big downside of reclining further is that this will feel like you're laying too far back, and it'll make the car feel very "disconnected". It feels as if you're sinking inside the car, since your line of sight is now too low, with the dashboard being up too high. Kinda like when you were 10 and sat in your dad's car...
To counter that, I raised the seat up to where my hair is just not brushing against the roof liner, to get a commanding driving position again. Adjust the seat distance to where your leg has a slight bend when fully pushing in the clutch, and lastly I pulled the steering wheel towards me so that I can still rest the palm of my hand on it with my shoulder still against the seat, and lowered it as far as I can without obscuring the view of the gauges.

I wouldn't say this is perfectly comfortable as the lumbar support is still a noticeable "bump" and pressure point in my back (lumbar is at the lowest setting), but at least it no longer hurts my lower back. Do be mindful when you sit down to not scoot your butt against the back rest. That is how you naturally would want to sit in a seat, but doing that causes the seat to bend your spine in funny ways. So make sure to scoot forward a little to get that pressure point off the lower back. These crappy seats kind of make you slide forward anyway, since the seat cushion angle is non-adjustable (really, Mazda...Ugh) so this kind of naturally happens it seems like.

I drove for an hour and a half straight yesterday without it hurting my back or having to resort to towels etc. So for me reclining it further (and scooting forward a little) has seemed to do the trick, but again; it's still not 100% comfortable.

I think for me this is going to get as good as it can get, and I can live with this. I think.
Such a shame though, because the Mazda 3 is a heck of a lot of fun to drive. It's peppy, the manual transmission is snappy, the Bose audio is pretty good, the steering nicely balanced, it's a super sexy car to look at...Why did they cripple all of the awesomeness with that dreadful seat, though. Why oh why, Mazda... Shame on you.
 
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