2004 Golf TDI - MY BACK IS KILLING ME!

I'm about 6'1", what I would consider average height but maybe not in 2004! We've owned this car for a year and a half, from day one I found it unbelievably uncomfortable, the exact same discomfort that my parents 1994 Jetta had, my back would kill me after 10 minutes. Don't ask why I bought a car with uncomfortable seats, but I did, I wanted a TDI with the idea of driving the car for several years like I usually try to do.

I just threw my back out at work today, I was set up for it after a lot of driving this weekend, I could feel the discomfort in my back all weekend, plus my job has a lot of lifting required.

We have a very long trip planned coming up (lot of driving I mean, from Saskatchewan to B.C to Washington to the Yukon and back . . .) and I'm concerned about my back.

Have other people had this issue? The car doesn't have lumbar adjustments, and thats the area of the seat that kills me, the lumbar seems so low and sticks out too much but the fricken car doesn't have an adjustment for it. Has anyone replaced seats or looked into some sort of molded seat covers??

Is there a round dial on the left side that raises and lowers the seat? It will help some.

I am also 6'1" with a messed up low back, and I installed a retrofit of the Passat power heated leather seats and felt it was a good improvement. The power seats in general have a power tilt front and rear seat base. I found changing those heights moved my thigh angle and I could sit much more comfortable. Took the strain off my low back. They do also have the lumbar support knobs. The I swapped a set of the sport cloth GTI (low bolster) into a friends car and I think they felt a little firmer and I think lumbar knobs. Decent upgrade, even better if you can find at a pull a part junkyard.

not directly relevant , but i started to wear a kidney belt many years ago when 16 hour non stop drives started to be uncomfortable,. it might help , doesnt cost much to try.

Plus of course , if the incident happened at work , make sure you report the incident asap to your employer and possibly WCB. You have no way of knowing if this will develop into a life changing event.

I believe currently average height in North America is about 5'9 or 5'10. Regardless, comfort in car seats is an individual thing. Years ago my wife was driving a Toyota Corolla and we got her a larger car to carry kids around. I was going to take the Toyota over for my commute but after 45 minutes in the car I was nearly paralyzed, could barely get out. We had to trade it in.

I'd look around wrecking yards for some Recaro seats out of MKIV GTI or GLI. They're plug and play and make a huge difference. If you find real Recaros they'll also have lumbar adjustments. I found long drives in my wagon much better after switching to those seats.

You also have to realize that you are sitting in 13 year old seats...I am sure the seat has lost a bit of support over the years.

If your seat does not have the lumbar dial on the side, try buying a lumbar support add-on. They are relatively cheap.

Also, a towel (rolled) and under your knees may help, or put the towel behind your back at different heights until you find something comfortable. As another poster has stated, it could be the angle of your legs more than just your back support...

D.L.-I am 6'3", 220lbs in my 2004 Jetta wagon. My car is very comfortable for me. Even with a bad back, the seats are great. It is on it's second set of factory foam cushions (I am the second owner, it has 198K on it, my father bought it new in 2004). The seat covers have a very tiny amount of slack in them (indicating the foam starting to settle). Work on the adjustment or get new foam from ECS Tuning.

I carry Naproxen in my armrest in case I get back flare-ups. I think if you buy the brand name stuff, it's called Aleve? I used to carry some stronger meds with me just for emergencies...but I haven't had to in quite a while. If I was going on a trip and was worried about my back (BTDT), I'd be bringing something with me.

I try to get out and go for a little walk about every 2 hours on the road now. It helps.

I'm a touch over 6 feet, and my Golf never really felt too uncomfortable. My 03 has the narrower/lower? seats in it...they seem to be common in the later models with the center consoles that had the cup-holders. I don't see them all that often in MY 2003 cars, but I see them all the time in the later 05 and 06 Golfs.

I bought two different sets of seats from earlier Mk4 cars and I couldn't use them. (I ended up throwing them away, because I couldn't sell them either).

The stock seats in an '04 were horrible. I decided early on in my ownership that I was going to spend the money on decent seats. I bought Recaros from Bleached Bora at TDIFest and never looked back. Yeah, they're expensive but do a simple task: calculate how many hours you sit on your ass in your car. Then multiply that number by the pain you suffer (1-10 scale) and look at your answer!

You can thank me later!

Seats are about as important as it gets in a car of any type. Doing seats made me LOVE my TDI ever since!

Would love to know in which world you consider 6'1" to be average height!

Might be worth investing in decent seats if you still love that car. No point putting yourself through the pain every day if you can't enjoy your ride.

Different seats may help some, but I found, for me the seating position does the most good in all of the cars I have owned. I survive better if I tip the seat bottom up in the front and lay the seat back down quite a bit and drive semi rapper style. My mind tells me that is wrong and I want to sit up straight and drive, but my back thanks me if I lay down some.

I discovered this on a long trip in my motorhome and was feeling that I couldn't make the trip when I decided to try something radical, and it worked well. I was amazed, no more back pain, though I felt like an idiot driving that way. I am short 5'11" height.

I did have an Acura though that I could not get to be tolerable, I sold the car. Just sayin', try redistributing the load, made my life much easier, and costs nothing.

some jetta's have a lumbar adjustment and that can be changed to your seat with your upholstry.

I'm 6'1 and find these cars very comfortable.

You might try one of these seat cushions. The ones with the hole in it to get the pressure off of your tailbone.

https://www.relaxtheback.com/contou...gG1u_ZuUmNY3lNiEvErOtJV6mlkU2aKcaAt6OEALw_wcB

We recently upgraded the seats in the Beetle to near unused seats that were tucked away for years. They are better than the older seats but still lack the lumbar support.

Last week we picked up a MK5 GTI for the kids and those seats are amazing with adjustments for just about everything like side bolsters and lower back support.

An upgrade that would be worth looking at would be getting some MK4 GLI/GTI Recarros and swapping those in.

i love my 05' golf seats so much i couldn't wait to reinstall them after torturing myself for a few weeks after a GLI "upgrade" ... to the OP you could try some early mkiv seats which are somewhat softer or you could try some beetle seats which i found to be some of the most comfy seats i've ever been in...actually drive cross country in the beetle i owned at the time a few years back and never experienced any discomfort... another option is mk5 or even passat CC seats, however adapters are required

Any comments on GTI seats? Any real differences in leather vs cloth?

I recently installed some seats out of a 2003 (I'm thinking) in my blue Golf (2000; original driver's bolster worn, and I wanted heated seats) and I just cannot seem to get comfortable. One of my hips is being a pain, and I can step into the car pain-free and right away my hip starts to bark. I can notice the difference with my other cars, so I'm thinking that these almost have to be the narrower ones (my thigh seems to high-side a lot).

I had older Saabs and I could drive forever w/o any discomfort at all. If I had seats like that in my Golfs I could see trying to see how far a tank of fuel could get me in one shot!

My 2003 Golf cloth seats were terrible! Too soft, no support. Could not commute long without back pain. Tried a set of NB leathers. Much better seat but same complaint as Dannyboy, not so much cold but way too hot/sweaty in summer.

Scored some euro Recaros in very good condition. (cloth) Had them professionally cleaned and could not be happier. Very nice seats and no pain, even on long 6 plus hour trips.

jimbote said:

... to the OP you could try some early mkiv seats which are somewhat softer...

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Isn't that funny...I found the exact opposite. I find the factory seats in my 03 Golf to be much more comfortable than the early Mk4 seats. I bought two different sets of them, about a year apart, and they were both much stiffer than my 03's. I tried them and ended up re-installing my original 03 seats.

Dannyboy said:

To me leather is a pain to keep Clean, ice cold during winter and red hot in summer. And makes my back sweat like crazy.
One vote for cloth !

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It's funny how we all like different things. I prefer leather over cloth personally. My wife is fussy enough, I don't think she'd even drive a car with cloth seats anymore...lol. And, I find them easier to keep clean.

Different strokes for different folks as they say.