rear seats fold down??!!

iwannajettatdi

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Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Location
Salem, OR
TDI
2015 Brilliant Black Audi Q5 3.0TDI, 2014 Tempest Blue metallic Jetta Sportwagen TDI, 2002 Blue Eurovan Weekender BHW TDI
hey folks, just wondering if anyone could offer any advice on how to lower the rear seats on an A4 jetta. what is the key latch for?? is that to lock them? just wondering how so i can try it on the one im probably going to look at again later this week. thanks.
 

lojasmo

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Joined
Aug 8, 2002
Location
Rochester, Minnesota
TDI
'12 JSW
Yup, the key latch locks em in the up position. To fold flat, the bottom cusion folds forward, the headrest must be removed, and the latch on the top of the seat is lifted for the seatback to fold forward (down)
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
The seat bottoms tilt forward by pulling up the rear edge. On my Passat, there are a couple of small plastic loops to help this, but if those are buried or absent on the vehicle you're looking at, just stuff your hand into the gap between the rear of the seat bottom and the bottom of the seat back, grasp the seat bottom and pull it up. After that, take the headrests out (pull up) and then the seatbacks fold down into the space where the seat bottom normally sits. Result ... flat floor! Works great.

As far as I know, all front-drive VW's have been like this since the Rabbit days. Doesn't matter if it's a sedan, hatch, or wagon - they all fold down the same way.
 

naturist

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Joined
Apr 2, 2001
Location
Bro Jerry's hometown, Virginia
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 2005 Jeep Libby CRD, 2012 BMW X5 35d
On the A4 Jetta, the rear seat folds down by first lifting the FRONT edge of the seat bottom. There should be a tag sticking out at the bottom edge of the front of the seat bottom. Lift it up, then swing the seat bottom forward and lift the BACK edge of the seat to pivot it vertically behind the front seat. Then grab the handle next to the key hole and pull to unlatch the seat back, which pivots down.
 

BawlsyTDI

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Joined
Mar 21, 2001
TDI
jetta, someday a getta, 2001, baltic green
They do? How come no one told me?


The little things like lockable rear seats really impressed me. Most cars I've owned have had locking trunks, but not seats. Seams kind of stupid. A big thumbs up for VW from me!
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
They do? How come no one told me?

The little things like lockable rear seats really impressed me. Most cars I've owned have had locking trunks, but not seats. Seams kind of stupid. A big thumbs up for VW from me!

 

caveman

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2003
Location
Madison, WI
D'oh! Where have I been!? This is a geat discovery.... now it folds flat like I thought it should have in the first place.

This forum is great!

Kevin
 

philh

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Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
If you bought your car new, the dealer should have showed you this during your delivery.
 

caveman

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Joined
Jan 24, 2003
Location
Madison, WI
Yes, I bought it new-- coming up on 4 years ago this August, and although he did show me that the rear backrest part of the seat came down, he did not show/tell me that the rear seat folded up to allow the backrest to fold flat. I always thought that was sort of wacky that things didn't fold flat... but I guess the joke is on me that I didn't discover this untill yesterday when I read this thread...

Kevin
 

eluwak

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Joined
Aug 1, 2001
Location
Eustis, FL
TDI
2006 Jetta 5sp Pkg 2 Black/Anthracite
I actually just remove the lower seat cushions when i need to fold the backs down... That lets me keep the front seats in the comfy positions
I learned this after picking up a convertible top in PA, then seats in CT and drove back to FL... Bearable, but not the best for the larger than average types
 

jtroyce

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Joined
May 30, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH
TDI
2001 Jetta GL TDI (sold)
My recent discovery on this topic occured this weekend--more than a year after purchasing my '01 Jetta. Here it is:

When you fold the lower cushions forward to allow the seat backs to fold down, there are holes on the back edge of the seat cushion that allow you to store the headrests. (These holes face up with the cushions folded forward and back with the cushions in their normal position.) I'd always assumed that those holes were part of the securing mechanism for the cushion, so I'd never previously considered them! Then this weekend I noticed that they have the same spacing as the headrest posts. Tried it and it worked! I'd been storing the headrests on the floor or on the rear ledge for over a year! D'OH!
 

Tango_Kilo

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Jun 26, 2003
Location
Columbia, MD
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2004, reflex silver
philh said:
If you bought your car new, the dealer should have showed you this during your delivery.
I was almost scared away from VW altogether when the dealer told me that the rear seat would not fold down flat. "That's as far as it will go." What ever happened to knowing your product? Who wants a wagon if half the cargo area is on an incline?
 

Lectric_Dave

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Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Location
SF Bay Area, Ca
TDI
Golf, 2001, Black
That's nothing......

Coupla years ago I was walking out to my car after work and there was a honda accord with the trunk open and three people trying to unlock the doors with a coat hanger through the closed windows. I stopped and looked and said "why don't you just go in through the back seat?" One of the owners said "the back seat doesn't fold down!" I said "Oh, ok" and then I reached in the trunk and pulled the latch to release and fold down the back seat. The look on their faces was priceless.
<true story>
 

caveman

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Joined
Jan 24, 2003
Location
Madison, WI
It's clearly articulated in the owner's manual, right? You might want to double check the 2000 manual first before statements like this. I plan to tonight-- I was pretty thorough about reading it when I first got it and don't recall this feature being articulated. Like I said, the joke's on me if it is and I missed it...

Kevin
 

jjvincent

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Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Location
Bethlehem, PA
TDI
Jetta, 2K, Green
I was quite suprised that the salesman who sold us our car, did show us how the seats folded down (in detail). One thing that many manufacturers do is train the sales staff when a new model comes out. The problem is, that the sales staff changes about as quick as some people change underwear. The knowledge is then lost untill there is a new model. I used to do these kind of "demonstrations" back in the late 80's and early 90's. The company was contracted to do these "demonstrations" for various manufacrures. They used to get a group of us that raced SCCA club racing to work with them for a few days when they came through the St.Louis area. Groups of salesmen would come down to I-55 or Gateway raceway (depending on vehicle) and we would go out and show them what the vehicles would do.

The last one I did, was for the Jeep Cherokee (in 1993). What was great, was that they let us beat the tar out of the Jeeps for a day before the salesmen would start showing up. We had an off road course, drag strip and wet parking lot to test out various things on them. They had about 20 Jeeps and a Toyota 4Runner, Nissan Pathfinder, Chevy Jimmy? and a Ford Explorer. From talking to the guys that ran the show, they said that the Nissan was the only vehicle that they haden't broke something on (after 12 weeks of bashing). The Jeeps constantly were tearing off the rear bumpers and the shocks (Bilstein) were always being replaced (they would start to clunk real bad).

I got a feeling that the new VW's coming out will have this kind of "demonstration". As usual, the knowledge will be lost in a few short months.
 

philh

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
No I think it's just lazy sub-standard salespeople. The information/training is there if these "employees" want to advance themselves
Heck, the salesperson I had for my wagon wanted to show me the seats folding down when I test drove.
 

caveman

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2003
Location
Madison, WI
Well, much to my chagrin, there it was plain as day in the owner's manual about folding the rear seat cushion up! Beers on me!

Kevin
 
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