ZC Vectra CDXI Hard front seats

[gvr69]

Howdy All, I’m a new member and seeking some input with a front seat issue in a 2005 CDXI Vectra. This is my second ZC CDXI, the first one I purchased new when they were first released in 2003. After 180k of mainly trouble free motoring I traded the 2003 model and purchased a second hand 2005 model with 60k on the clock.

The problem is both the driver and passenger front seat cushions in the 2005 model are like sitting on a park bench when compared to the seats in the 2003 model. The driver’s seat especially seems to me to have a lump in it just to the rear of the join in the leather about 150mm back from the front of the seat. It is simply not possible to get comfortable in the seats and long trips are a real trial.

I have been to my local dealer and established that the seat cushion padding is not available as a spare part and that there is no difference in the padding between the 2003 and 2005 model. Next I visited a reputable upholstery business who told me they have never had a CDXI seat apart. They are hesitant to say if they can re-pad the seat cushion and retain the seat heaters as no information seems to be available as to where the element is or if it is separate to the padding or part of the padding.

Does anyone share my view regarding the hardness of the 2005 model seats and if so any comments or input regarding a fix would be appreciated.

Cheers GVR69

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 120 days. information contained in it may no longer be current . Please think of the children before resurrecting this ancient thread!

[guy 27]

Guess you could always find one at the wreckers and see if they will do a trade. Will probably be the cheapest option. Shouldn't cost more than $100 with a trade of your old seats.

As for retrimming iirc the heater elements are ontop of the cushion so they are able to be repadded.

[gvr69]

Thanks for the input. Knowing that the heater element is a separate item will calm down the upholsterer. I checked around re the wrecker idea but as this car is the upgrade with electric memory seats I could not find any in South East Queensland. Thanks again for the reply GVR69

[ChrisMaz]

2005 Vectras had electric memory seats? Wow, I want some.

As far as I know I think the later model C's ended up with leather seats like the SRi and SRi-T Astra's. After sitting in them I couldn't tell much of a difference. Appart from the side bolstering being slightly lower.

[stevedee3]

2005 Vectras had electric memory seats? Wow, I want some.

2005 CDXi's had heaps of bells and whistles that the 2003 models missed out on...

• Electric memory seats
• Memory mirrors/auto dip passenger mirror
• Electrochromatic inside rear view mirror
• Curtain airbags
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Auto headlights

[Paddy]

Paddy here, I'm new also, just joined up today.I have a 2005 CDXI and Imust admit the seats are a little harder then say a Calis however they seem to lossen up over time. I'm now on 100K and they seem fine. When I first got the car it took some time setting the best adjustment and once it was there I locked it in to the memory. Now Ihave a setting, The wife has one, and the young fella has one (he never gets to drive it though as it's too trmpting to flatten it). Keep playing witht the adjustments and see what happens. Alternatively you could go for a really long drive and shape your but to fit the seat??

[Bobarache]

My brother-inlaw had a 2005 CDXI and yes I found his front seats much harder than mine too.

[gvr69]

I went ahead and had the seats bases repadded. The upholsterer removed the top part of the foam and replaced it with a softer springier (for want of a better word) foam, bringing the seat back to its original height. The difference is amazing. I couldn’t be happier with the result. The cost (drop the car off and pick up when finished) was $500 and well worth it. I checked the progress at his request when he was half way through the driver’s seat. The upholsterer said that the original foam had lost a lot of its rebound quality and that the centre spring in both seats appeared to have more tension then the side springs resulting in a slightly raised centre when loaded. He adjusted the centre spring tension. Head off tomorrow on a 2000klm round trip over 6 days so will advise how it goes.