Honda CR-V Headrests

wild1poet2 · November 2010

I just bought a 2010 CRV and can agree the seats are poorly designed. They encourage a slouch position. The thigh bolsters are tilted too high and the head restraint has been tilted forward to improve crash test results. The restraint intrudes on a head aligned with an upper torso forcing a driver to slouch. These all conspire to make an uncomfortable driving position which can ultimately detract from safety. Honda needs to look at the design of the German car seats. My porsche seats are very light but of excellent ergonomics and have less adjustment than the CRV seats, yet provide a perfect platform from which to drive. Perhaps Honda may have overestimated the poor posture of Americans and attempted to factor that into seat design given their target market. I cannot think of a reason why the seats are like this. Even the seats in the early Pilots were of excellent design. I use this for my winter car and this is our 7th Honda but I may have to look to another vehicle(I may give this to my wife and trade her Honda for an Audi S4 next summer .... LOL). She might not notice the seats.

maraudermick · December 2010

Judging by all the posts here and in other forums regarding the same "pushed head forward" position caused by these new headrests, I'd say it's more like 50% of Americans have a problem with these seats.

Hmmm.....could it be the Pharmaceutical Co.'s have helped design these headrests, so they could sell more pain killers for all the head/neck/shoulder pain?

bpollen · May 2011

I read up a lot on this issue of the head restraints after I test drove the 2011 CRV earlier this year, and found the headrests forced my head into a downward position, as if I were looking at my lap. I test drove more than a few vehicles this year, and sat in a few more (test drove 2011 models of RAV4, Toyota Prius, Subaru Forester, VW GTI, Lexus CT200h, Ford Fiesta, and I sat in Scion xB, Scion xD, VW Jetta Sportwagen, Lexus RX350, and a few others I've forgotten). The CRV was by far the worst. That definitely was a deal breaker for me...couldn't even think of buying it.

The head restraints were mandated to specifications by the fed govt for 2010 and later models of all cars. But Honda installed theirs earlier than other mfrs. (not sure when). The govt and the mfrs KNOW that about 13% (estimated) of the driving population will find the head restraints uncomfortable because of their EXTREMENESS OF POSITION. There was an alternate, less extreme position, but the govt went w/the extreme position. Several mfrs fought the extreme position...Ford being one of them. Honda did not fight it. Apparently Honda was okay with 13% of their customers finding them uncomfortable and possibly losing sales. (Honda wouldn't lose 13% of sales; as you can see from above posts, some people buy the car, anyway, despite being uncomfortable, and some don't realize what a problem they are until after they've bought the car.)

What the govt said about the 13% was that basically, they can just recline their seats. Problem solved. (I'm pretty sure most of the govt panel and the mfr reps were men. You'll find out why below.)

Who are those 13% of the driving public who'll have a problem with the extreme position of the head rests? Primarily women (and shorter people, who are mainly women). They discussed that more women tend to drive with their seats less reclined than men. So they can simply recline their seats more. Problem solved.

What the govt did not do, and apparently the car mfrs didn't know so couldn't tell the govt, is WHY more women drive with the backs of their seats less reclined. That is because women have, proportionately, shorter arms and longer legs than men. So altho they may sit closer to the steering wheel in terms of inches, in terms of their arm length and body size, they are sitting farther away from the steering wheel. (A telescoping wheel doesn't alter the dynamics; women still have proportionately shorter arms and longer legs...men use the telescoping wheel, too.) So it's easier for your arms to rest comfortably on the steering wheel, with the seat back in a more straight position. That way, you're still able to sit far enough way from the pedals for your legs.

Also, a poster above mentioned that it was bad posture to sit with the seat back in a less reclined position. I disagree. If you sit with your pelvis slightly angles upward (which is ergonomic), and your back fairly straight so that your spine is straight (this is not stick straight...just fairly straight), then your head will rest atop your body, and your spine, through to your neck, will be properly aligned. Your back should be supported by the seat back. That's what it's for. To sit with your back touching the seat back to mid-level, and then bending forward isn't good posture or good for your spine. Especially when you're older or have arthritis (as most middle aged people do), that's not healthy.

I'm a 5'5" woman, of normal weight. So I'm not exactly short for a woman. Even so, the CRV headrests were murder, uncomfortable, and unhealthy for my back. My friend got in the passenger's seat, and the 1st thing she said was, "What's wrong with the headrests?" I looked at her, and her head was being forced down, as if she were looking at her lap. She's about 5'4" and normal weight.

LAST....I think it's more than just the angle of the headrests, since the CRV was worse than others. I think it must be a combination of the shape & size of the headrests (CRVs were shaped very different from some others), with the shape and thickness of the seat back. It's the whole setup.

Honda is very aware of this problem. They just don't care. The headrests suit most of the driving public, and it looks like quite often it's the man who makes the buying decision, so as long as the headrests suit him, Honda will still make the sale.

I will say that I did have to take the CRV on a long test drive before I realized the extent of the problem. At first I thought I had the seat in an awkward angle, then I tried to "fix" the headrest. Until I finally realized how serious and unfixable the problem was and how much it hurt the back of my head or my neck (depending on position).

I got a kick out of the post above, where the woman says how she ran over the headrests to straighten them out. Good idea. Something to keep in mind. But I think I'm going to try to just buy a car that doesn't have this problem in the first place. They'll all be irritating or uncomfortable to some degree, but there are cars out there where it's not as bad as the CRV. A pity. The CRV is being redesigned for 2012. I would like to think they'll make this problem less severe...but it's been this way for a few years, so.....

Oh...I forgot to say...in the govt articles I read on this, it was mentioned that the specs and angles for the head rests were designed for a driver of about 5'10" tall, but that the headrests have to have a LONGER range of being lifted up, to suit taller drivers. If you are much shorter than that, the govt and the mfrs know that the head rests will be a problem, unless you recline your seat back so that it is no longer supported by the seat back.

Why the CRV headrests hurt the back of my head...when I was driving, the headrest actually pressed up against the back of my head. When I hit bumps, my head would jostle ever so slightly forward, so the the headrest was constantly jab-jab-jabbing the middle of the back of my head. The only thing close to a solution was to raise it ALL the way up, so that I no longer had the use of any headrest at all. I wonder how that would protect me against whiplash?

One last thing...State Farm and other ins. cos. were involved in the hearings on this issue. I'm not intentionally being political when I say that the ins. cos. seem to have required these head restraints. Lot of whiplash claims.

sunshinegirl1 · June 2011

I just purchased my 1st Honda, a CR-V. Love the car, but the headrests are an unbelieveably poor design! When I mentioned it on the test drive, my salesperson said I could recliine the seat and that did work. I purchased the car and things went from bad to worse. I then was holding myself up from the seat using the steering wheel. Finally, I read where someone had turned the headrest around. With my neck hurting, and now my back also, I also turned my headrest around. Wow! Relief! It's like a brand new car again! No more riding like a turtle, it's ridiculous! Honda should make an alternate headrest!

bpollen · July 2011

Sunshinegirl, I'm glad you solved your headrest problem. I've heard of people turning them around. In fact, the salesman mentioned that to me over the phone after he checked with his service people about the problem and called me back. Then he didn't mention it again, when I back to check out the headrest problem. I think he found out he wasn't supposed to recommend that. The problem with you doing that is it doesn't protect against whiplash, like it's supposed to. So if you ever do really get whiplash, your ins. claim might be denied, since you altered the whiplash protection. Some car mfrs fix the headrests so that they can't be removed, and certainly can't be turned around.

Turning them around wasn't an option for me, since it would take away my ins. protection against whiplash. And that other poster who ran over hers with a car to straighten them out, she too probably wouldn't be able to make a claim for whiplash.

Personally, I think that's the point of the headrests (cynical me): to lessen whiplash CLAIMS, not whiplash injuries.

I just wish the govt had gone with the less extreme head restraints. They would have increased whiplash prevention without creating this problem for that 13% of drivers.

I STILL haven't bought a new car. The # of vehicles for sale decreased...some sold out! So I'm waiting for the 2012 models to see what will be available. Maybe the headrest/seat system on the 2012 CRV will be better. Sure wish the CRV came with chrome door handles.

ouchcrv11 · January 2012

CRV 2011 NECK SHOULDER ROTATOR SKULL OUCH! I am 5'2" very fit with great posture..(i teach yoga zumba spin etc..)
One day into driving off the Paragon Honda New York City Lot I noticed a dull pain in my neck...for the past 2 months I have in order of occurance...removed the head rest from the front seat and replaced it with the less forward angled one from the middle seat in the back row and WEDGED it into the holes. It seemed to work at first but NOPE! I am in agony. My neck is numb with shooting pain down my right side. I have adjusted the steering wheel, angle of back support etc... I placed a lift at my tailbone under my butt, I put a lumbar support at the base of my spine...I feel like a lunatic. It has made me feel like I need to ride my bike in the snow to get to work. I love to drive...btw..I enjoy I95 trips to Florida from New York...but this has really practically paralyzed me.:(

rikrikardo · January 2012

Ever consider that your neck pain has nothing to do with the CRV but is an injury from your other activities? That this happened the day after you bought the car is just too soon for the angle of the headrest to mess up the alignment of your vertebrae and nerves. At the outside it pressed on a point on your neck that was already injured, alerting you to the problem. Don't blame the messenger!

nseiss · July 2012

I just bought a 2012 CRV and, like others, figured I could fix the uncomfortable headrest situation with a seat adjustment. Well, that didn't work, so I took it to my physical therapist who tried to help me adjust the seat to a level of comfort and safety. According to him, it doesn't exist! The headrest is tilted at such an extreme angle that if you adapt the seat inclination, you start losing the safety factor and you put stress on your shoulders to adjust to the distance from the steering wheel. And, unfortunately, you can't turn the headrests around...we tried. But we have adjusted the seat as well as we can and I can only hope nobody wants to drive my car and adjust the seats otherwise!
So why are Honda and other car mfgrs. not paying attention? Surely the headrests in the past weren't so awful that they caused more problems. The headrest in my Tahoe was very comfortable to rest against when I needed to and never felt like it was in the way.

mamm · July 2012

I'm so glad to see other people are having problesms with the hedrest although it looks like there have not been any posts since 2010. I just bought a slightly used 2011 and have to choose between using the headrest or developing back pain. I need to find a solution. I also have thought of writing to honda or going to a dealership. The irony is that in the manual the picture of the correct position of the head fest is a linear vertical line from the back through the neck and head. Of course that is not the reality. What are people doing?

dtstof · July 2012

I think that some people have a misconception of the "head restraints" that come on the CRV. They are not headrests. They are made to protect your neck and head in case of an accident or sudden stop against whiplash. They are not there to rest your head on them while driving. My head does not touch them in a normal driving position. It tells you hoe to adjust them in the owners manual. They are adjusted for safety.

nseiss · July 2012

The "restraint" restrains me from sitting in a perfectly upright position, because when I do, my head hits the headrest (excuse me, head restraint) and I can't sit comfortably, as I am forced to cock my neck forward. It is much like sitting in an airplane seat which forces your body into a "C" curve position. Don't know your height, but I am 5'8" tall. I have a friend who is 5'4" and has no problem with the headrest. I can't imagine where a six-footer puts his/her head!

snuke · July 2012

I agree with you Nseiss. The head restraint can be quite uncomfortable.
When I first encountered the problem, I pulled out my owner's manual assuming I could read something that could help me find a solution but there was none. I found a little relief by finally finding a seating position that positioned my body in a way to tolerate the head restraint. Fortunately, I don't spend a lot of time in my vehicle. If I did, I don't know if the current seat position would be of much help.

glittergal · July 2012

A friend of my husband had a similar issue. He took his headrest and put the prongs into a vice and gave it slight bend where the headrest and prongs meet. The prongs in his headrest went through the top of the headrest so there is no issue of snapping off and no stress fractures in the metal. Not sure if it met the new standards but it made him more comfortable and it still protects him from whiplash. Another option is to buy an adjustable headrest.

imajaguarsfan · January 2013

After reading all the complaints, and getting no help from Honda, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I removed the headrests and took them out on my outdoor carpeted, congrete slab, patio. I laid the first one on the floor (on its back). I then took a screwdriver with a hard rubber handle (approx. 2" in diameter) and propped it (the handle) under one of the legs of the headrest, as close to the cushioned part as possible. I then took a medium sized rubber mallet and took several whacks straight down on the leg of the headrest, as close to the screwdriver handle as possible, until it appeared to be bent back 10-12 degrees further than the one on the other side.
I proceeded to repeated the process on the remaining leg until the angle of it matched the first one. I then reinstalled the headrest into the seat-back and got the desired relief I was looking for.
This procedure did not cause any stress fractures or cosmedic blemishes to the legs of the headrests and they are still fully adjustable. I can now take extended trips without arriving with a nagging back ache. If your're handy with tools, give it a try. I think you'll be inpressed with the results.

al_g · July 2014

I have a 2014 Honda CR-V and would like to replace the manual drivers' seat with a power seat - is the wiring in-place for this in all models?

thanks

Honda CR-V Headrests

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