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Chevrolet Ranks Well In 2020 Seat Quality And Satisfaction Study

The Chevrolet brand ranked very well in the 2020 J.D. Power Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study, which attempts to identify the highest-quality seats in the automotive industry based on survey responses from new 2020 model-year vehicle owners.

The J.D. Power Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study ranks vehicle seats based on the number of reported problems per 100 vehicles on the road. The lower the number of reported problems, the higher the quality of the seats. The study surveyed owners with vehicles in the following popular segments: mass market compact car, mass market mid-size/large car, mass market compact SUV, mass market midsize/large SUV, mass market truck/van, luxury car and luxury SUV.

The Chevrolet Sonic topped the mass market compact car segment with just 2.5 problems reported per 100 vehicles. The Chevrolet Impala, meanwhile, was atop the mass market mid-size/large car category with only 6.6 reported problems per 100 vehicles. Both the Sonic and Impala seats are made by Lear Corporation.

Chevrolet Silverado seats

Additionally, the Chevrolet Equinox had the best seats in the mass market compact SUV segment, with 4.2 problems reported per 100 vehicles. The Chevrolet Silverado was third for mass market trucks/vans, behind the Honda Ridgeline and Ram 1500, with 6.8 reported problems per 100 vehicles. The Equinox seats are made by Magna, while the Silverado seats are also made by Lear.

According to J.D. Power, vehicle owners “say the leading issue with seat quality is their seats have insufficient range of adjustment—an issue that should be addressed early in the design process.” In addition, Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive quality at J.D. Power, said that the “vast majority of seat problems cited by vehicle owners are also design-related,” and that brands like Chevy and BMW “have optimized relationships with their seat manufacturers to leverage quality and innovation coupled with a keen understanding of owner needs and expectations for seat comfort and adjustability.”

Chevrolet was the only General Motors brand to rank well in the 2020 J.D. Power Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study.

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Comments

  1. Not buying it, I sat in the Ram, F150 and Sierra this past weekend. The GMC felt like I was sitting on the bricks compared to the Ram and Ford. Was a little surprised that the Ford seats felt better than the Rams.

    Reply
    1. You do know there are different seats for each model, depending on how its equipped. Saying Ford, Ram or Chevy/GMC is better without specifying which model and seats it has, is like comparing apples and oranges. I find overall, the electric powered seats in GM products tend to give you a firmer ride than those in a Ford or Ram that are similarly equipped. If you like a firm ride, that is still comfortable, IMHO Chevy/GMC has the best seats. As one would expect, the better quality seats are in the better equipped models. You get what you pay for, regardless of manufacturer.

      Reply
      1. I have a sierra 2016 slt leather. They are much stiffer than my 2013 sierra leather slt. That was really a great seat ,I miss it. The 2019 was stiffer yet. I use to buy a new truck every 1-2 years. Waiting on a seat change to buy again. If not,the ram is next. They have two years before I am ready to buy again.

        Reply
        1. Every new generation, sometimes every new model year, the seats get worse. The seats are less comfortable. The seats are less adjustable. A feature that was power adjustable is now manual. The front passenger seat can no longer be configured to have the same range of motion as the driver seat. Completely ridiculous as the price always goes up.

          Reply
          1. What a load of crock, anyone that owns a Chevy Bolt will tell you that the seat could have been designed much better.. the Bolt is awesome for an urban car (sorry Tesla, it really is), not so much for a long road trip car.. it’s only weak spot is the skinny seats with the poorly designed seat bottom.. to clarify, I am 5’ 8” tall, 155 lbs. I am not over weight by a long shot. I would have gladly paid extra for better seats because the car is worth it.

            Reply
      2. I’m going to assume that he was shopping for a truck since he sat in all of them, and was therefore looking at similarly priced models.

        I could be wrong though.

        Reply
  2. I agree on the quality. But they are no good for long trips. To stiff and uncomfortable. I bought my last Gm truck in 2016,but will buy again if the seats are made comfortable.

    Reply
    1. I have a 2019 Chevy Silverado LTZ crew cab and the seats are much better than my 2010 Silverado LTZ. They have the same basic power adjustments as the 2010 model, and now are ventilated, not just heated. Also the bolstering is better as are the leather surfaces. I’ve taken trips in the 300 mile range and find them supportive and comfortable. Of course I’m retired, so I take breaks whenever I feel like it, and the longest I’ve spent in the seats is about 4 hours straight.

      Reply
  3. The seat quality control may be decent but comfort has taken a larger dip on many GM products. My Impala has wonderful all day comfortable seats akin to higher end Laz Boys. I have sat in current Equinoxes, Terrains, Regals, Enclaves and the two Buick cute utes and seat comfort is sub par with bottoms that are too hard and narrow. Why is this so hard? Even the sales manager at my local Buick dealer agreed with me about the Buick crossovers saying he was disappointed in how hard and narrow the seats were so it wasn’t just me.

    Reply
    1. We all get older, and with age our butts don’t take to firmer surfaces as well as when we were younger. I remember the seats in my first car, a 1954 Chevy station wagon, they were comfy, the first 100 miles of travel. After that, you got out with a sore butt. To say today’s seats are getting worse is a nod to lost memory, they are far better than those of the past. Unfortunately, in order to get a vehicle with seats that have lots of options, you’ve gotta invest in top of the line models. Cheap vehicle, cheap seats!

      Reply
  4. Chevy Denali XL SEATS SUCK !!! I own a 2004 Chevy Denali XL in which all 3 rows of seats are soooo comfortable, wide, soft, luxurious. I need a new XL, but I have been waiting for them to improve or go back to the same style and comfort in the 2004. Every year the #1 complaint about the Chevrolet Yukon Denali, Suburban, ect is the seats feel like you are sitting on a box of bricks. You cannot drive these vehicles long distance without getting severe back pain. Why in the world do they cheap out on $100,000 vehicles?

    FOR GOD’S SAKE…..FIX THE SEATS. YOU HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. YOU HAVE THE POWER. YOU KNOW THIS IS THE #1 COMPLAINT YEAR AFTER YEAR. FIX THE PROBLEM.

    Reply

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