folding rear seats

[TerryG]

My new Nox is a replacement for a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. With the kids off and gone its now my wife and I and the Golden Retriever Riley. Riley goes with us everywhere so the entire rear section is hers. I miss the Vibe in this respect. The rear seats in the Vibe folded flat but not the Nox. I cut a blue poly tarp to fit the rear section then  cut a piece of indoor outdoor carpet to go in over the tarp material. We are avid Geocachers as is the dog so she is in and out of the car alot. When necessary we can remove the tarp and carpet for cleaning or for hauling passengers. For those who arent familar with Goldens, they are capable of shedding enough long golden hair to fill up the entire rear portion of the car in a single sitting so protecting the carpet and seats is a must. Yank out  the carpet, vacuum it and then to the local laundromat and wash it. Works great.

[Superboy95]

Ours is a replacement for an 03 Vibe.  I had the same question about the back seats and the dealer told me the designers of the interior went for comfort instead of the flat-folding seats, so the butt pad is more contoured than the Vibe was.  Too bad they couldn't do both like they did in the Traverse...

[Steve A]

I hate to appear, and be, uninformed, but, what are "Geocachers" ??  Surely you aren't out looking for Chevrolet Geos to cache away??

[TerryG]

Geocaching is kind of a high tech scavenger hunt. Basically someone will hide something out in the woods or in a park (usually but not always) then post the GPS coordinates on the website (geocaching.com). You enter the coords in your handheld GPS and take a walk to see if you can find it. There are roughly 1 million geocaches hidden around the world (215 countries). Good reason to take a walk and be outdoors.

[RIT333]

Another Vibe-trader here.  I also miss the flat folding seat of the Vibe and the flat folding front seat.  Come on GM, the vibe was built in 2002, and this is 2010.  You went back in convenience on those 2 counts.  Otherwise, everything else is fantastic.  Just hope it holds up as well as the Vibe did.

[Narg]

I debated this in my own head for a while.  I finally came to this conclusion:  Rear seat could either be 1. flat folding or 2. comfortable.  After thinking about it for a while, I feel the #2 choice was a fantastic choice by GM. 

[GMCdriver]

I debated this in my own head for a while.  I finally came to this conclusion:  Rear seat could either be 1. flat folding or 2. comfortable.  After thinking about it for a while, I feel the #2 choice was a fantastic choice by GM. 

I was under the impression that GM offerd choice 1 on the Saturn Vue and choice 2 on the Equinox & Terrain.

[Steve A]

Thanks for the explanation !! 

[Narg]

I was under the impression that GM offerd choice 1 on the Saturn Vue and choice 2 on the Equinox & Terrain.

I'm not sure, but wasn't the Vue based on the old Theta design, and the new 'Nox and Terrain on the new design?  That may answer that question.  And the old design back seats were rated very badly.

[GMCdriver]

I'm not sure, but wasn't the Vue based on the old Theta design, and the new 'Nox and Terrain on the new design?  That may answer that question.  And the old design back seats were rated very badly.

02-07 Vue would be Old Theta, same as 1st gen 'Noxs & Torrents.
08+ Vues should be the first North American application to use the New Theta platform.
I think the SRX folds flat as well, I'm sure neither the SRX nor the Vue offer the sliding(for/aft) rear seat and that could have as much to do with it as anything I suppose.

[RIT333]

I think that the Honda CRV's use a fold-forward design, and they are also very comfortable.  I think they have the best of both worlds.  And RAV4's have an easy to remove rear seat and it is also very comfortable.  I would think that GM could have tried to "copy" one of these designs.   

[Brushstrokes]

I replaced my 2003 Venture with a new 2010 'Nox. The folding rear seat should have been a deal-breaker. There's no good reason to not fold completely flat. You lose a bunch of cargo space. My HHR has more usable cargo space.

[RIT333]

The slanted rear seat makes it hard for me to carry my marbles.  I keep "losing my marbles" - but some say I already lost them before buying the Nox.

It just seems anoying they they couldn't find a couple of inches someplace to make the seats lie flat - we won't go there with the "finding a couple of inches".

[RIT333]

We want both - Heck, this is a Chevrolet, afterall.

I'll bet (or I should say, I hope) that the Mercedes SUV rear seat does both.  Mercedes owners are no better than we are - they put their pants on one leg at a time - or do they !!!
 

[Roesterman]

If you want to see how folding or hiding impacts seat comfort try sitting in midrow seats in a 2010 Chrysler van with 2 row stow and go seating. Seat is extremmely short and hard. The head rest ends up as part of the back rest. Seat may be okay for a kid , but not for an adult. I vote for comfort!