Head Rest

[peterdambier]

It depends on the driver I guess but ours were a bit sado maso. Both Karin and me felt uncomfortable when driving downhill in particular.

I have heard Toyota Prius and Yaris but several tries for the keeper of their supply shop went rather unlucky and we tried the bone yard finally. There are so many cars, so many seats and some of them even match in spacing but not diameter. A Mercedes C-class finally got us two "new" head rests. They fit nicely and they are tiltable. Very comfortable.

New Toyota 260 Euros per head rest. Bone yard 20 Euros for two of them. We drowned them in soap water for half a day and dried them another day. It was worth the trouble.

 

[Don]

Thanks for posting the results of your search - I'm sure there are others interested in doing this

When I first bought the car, swapping out the front headrests was pretty high on my list of things to do, but as I got used to it, they didn't seem quite so bad. I still may try bending the 'arms' in a vise a little so as to move the tops of the headrests aft a bit to give more headroom

Don

 

[benswing]

If anyone finds a good replacement that is inexpensive, I'm interested in replacing my head rests.

 

[peterdambier]

A bone yard is the most inexpensive way to go. Take the original from your drivers seat with you and start looking and comparing from car to car. We are rarely more than two so no need for the rear seats but beware they are different size.

Drowning the headrest in soapy water and drying them for another day most surely will get rid of lice and flea if there were any in the first place. Beware of the yard owners dog. They might have slept in the car.

Dont try a microwave! there are metal parts in the headrest.

 

[benswing]

Are there any non-rummaging-through-busted-cars solutions? Preferably something that can be ordered over the web.

 

[Don]

Once you know for sure which models will work, I'm sure you could buy a set off eBay

Peter used some from a Mercedes - An eBay search for 'Mercedes Rear Headrest' will give you more than 400 possibilities

Don

 

[peterdambier]

Peter used some from a Mercedes - An eBay search for 'Mercedes Front Headrest' will give you more than 400 possibilities
Don

I used the front headrests from the Mercedes C Class.

 

[jlhiowa]

I removed our rear headrests so I had more visibility. I liked it so much that when I got home I pulled off the front headrests too.... :lol:

:?: Is it okay for me to drive without a headrest, or do I need it in for safety/in case of a crash?

Edit: Okay, the MiEV and owner's manual are home, so I found the answer. It'd be nice if they put the manual online...

:!: "The headrest can reduce the risk of a whiplash injury." page 2-10.

 

[Don]

:!: "The headrest can reduce the risk of a whiplash injury." page 2-10.

That's been pretty much a 'given' since they were patented in 1921
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_restraint
They've been standard equipment in every American car since 1968

Don

 

[jlhiowa]

:!: "The headrest can reduce the risk of a whiplash injury." page 2-10.

That's been pretty much a 'given' since they were patented in 1921
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_restraint
They've been standard equipment in every American car since 1968

Don

LOL, I guess I'm probably unique. I'm so short, I think I probably don't reach the headrests in most cars.. and now I'm trying to remember if I do in the MiEV. If I don't... maybe I can remove it

 

[MLucas]

:!: "The headrest can reduce the risk of a whiplash injury." page 2-10.

That's been pretty much a 'given' since they were patented in 1921
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_restraint
They've been standard equipment in every American car since 1968

Don

LOL, I guess I'm probably unique. I'm so short, I think I probably don't reach the headrests in most cars.. and now I'm trying to remember if I do in the MiEV. If I don't... maybe I can remove it

I have an invisible sign on my back that says, "Hit Me!". I've had five rear-end collisions and I can tell you headrests are mandatory if you want to save your neck, literally and figuratively. In one incident, I even bent the seat backward when an SUV plowed into the back of my Mitsubishi Eclipse. In my VW Jetta GLX VR6, everything under the rear floor in the wagon area came out and ended up on the dashboard, my spouse was sleeping in the passenger seat and he submarined under the belt and hit the dashboard. I don't recommend taking them out or modifying the headrests, especially the new ones that have whiplash protection built in. If the current headrest don't work for you, find a suitable 'modern' replacement not something from a 1976 Chevette. The ones that Peter found from the MB C Class are what you should be looking for. The pain of a wrenched neck or the possibility of severe neck and back problems are not worth it. :shock:

 

[jlhiowa]

I have an invisible sign on my back that says, "Hit Me!". I've had five rear-end collisions and I can tell you headrests are mandatory if you want to save your neck, literally and figuratively.

Ouch!! That really sucks, I'm glad you're okay!

After reading the manual yesterday, I installed the driver's headrest back in the car this morning, before I drove it I also stored the front passenger headrest and a rear headrest in the car I've never been in an accident, but if I ever am I'm sure I'll be glad I have a headrest..!

 

[MLucas]

Glad to hear that you put the driver's headrest back until you can find something else that will work for you. Most of my collisions occurred while I was sitting at a traffic light waiting for it to change, basically minding my own business. The cause was usually a distracted driver that didn't realize traffic had stopped or they were following too close. The force of the collisions usually caused my foot to come off the brake and pushed my car into the vehicle in front of me. Accidents are a horrible event that I can't stand thinking about and I've got enough anxiety issues as it is!

 

[PeterC]

My wife and I both found the headrest uncomfortable. We both drive with the seat back quite upright and it was either tipping our head forward or tapping us on the back on the head at each bump.
I have just been to a car wrecking yard and bought two replacements for A$15. After a bit of searching I found headrests with the same spacing and same tube diameter so a perfect a direct swap. It had very close to matching fabric also. You would not notice the headrests are not original. In fact I think they look better than the originals being more rounded to match other features. They came from a Holden Astra. Other older japanese cars (a 1991 Daihatsu charade and a 90s Mazda) had headrests that would do less neatly as a stopgap. They had the same spacing between the posts but the posts were a smaller diameter.

 

[iMiEVNZ7]

Thanks guys, good advice.

I haven't had any problems with the headrests but they do seem too far forward. I might see if the Holden Adventra ones fit when we get the iMiEV. Patiently waiting for the dealer to fax our paperwork....

Had a crash by being hit once from behind, in a line of cars waiting for pedestrian crossing. Seat submarined, dog got freight and jumped onto the front passanger seat from back seat. Did find the idea of turning wheels at stops was good, once hit, we were propelled left, around the car in front. ended up in carparkspace, partly on footpath ! look of passangers in car in front, as we sailed past on their left after we were hit from behind, was priceless, as was the fact they didn't get hit by us. !

 

[PeterC]

Recently on the Australian Electric Vehicle Assoc. forums someone with two iMiEVs in the family found that the MY2010 headrest was more comfortable than the MY2012 headrest. He swapped them about so that in both cars the driver had the more comfortable older headrest.

 

[carnut1100]

That's me!
I have a 2010 and my fiancé has a 2012...when she and others on here were complaining I was thinking what the hell are they so grumpy about?
Then I drove my fiancé's one and the difference is HUGE!
So...we each have a 2010 headrest on the driver's seat and a 2012 on the passenger seat where the seat position is not as critical and it is easier to find a comfortable spot.
That and the fact that most of the time we are commuting to our respective workplaces with nobody in the passenger seat.....

 

[JoeS]

Like the song says:"I'm a Believer" in headrests, now. A couple of days ago, while driving down Interstate 5 to SoCal around Bakersfield in the right lane in my beautiful 2002 Insight, I was rear-ended by a car traveling VERY fast - he had swerved in from the fast lane from behind a bunch of cars slowly passing me. Luckily, it was a glancing blow - his entire left front wheel assembly was torn off. Multi-car accident - I'll save you the details, but no one seriously hurt. My Insight is totaled. I had just a split-second to snug against my carseat with integral headrest. My first accident in over 40 years - don't remember the number of accidents I've avoided due to having small agile cars.

Even though I take off the passenger headrests in the i-MiEV to improve visibility, whenever I have passengers the headrests go back on immediately. This event will make me even more conscientious about doing this!

 

[PV1]

Joe, sorry to hear that. Glad you're okay.

 

[alohart]

Joe, I'm so happy that no one was seriously injured in this accident which seems to have been caused by a very dangerous driver. As a fellow Insight and i-MiEV owner, I am sad to hear that one less Insight is on the road.

We are currently driving our Insight on an 8-week, 5,000-mile road trip through Europe. I occasionally worry that one of the truly crazy European high-speed tailgater boy racers will do something stupid and collide with our Insight. I guess the good news is that an Insight seems to be a really tough little car that generally offers good protection for its occupants.

I hope that your wrecked Insight becomes a parts car for other Insight owners. Maybe alerting Insight Central forum members about your accident would help one of them acquire your car.

Fortunately for you, you still have another Insight.