back seat fold?

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
jessica_rabbit said:
Do the back seat fold down on 02-05 Jetta sedan/wagon? Jess
__. Hi, Jess. Yes, but differently. On the Jetta sedan, the lower seat cushions are held in by swivel pivot rods. You can either fold these cushions forward and then fold down the seat back (either side or both) and have an almost flat floor from the trunk lid (just above the rear bumper) to the rear face of the front seats. On my car, it's long enough to stretch out (I'm 6'+) and sleep.

__. But to fold the rear cushions down, you have to move the front seats forward. Not a problem for smaller people but a pain for those of us who are taller. On the sedan, I can quickly detach those swivel rods and remove the cushions and store them in my garage.

__. Unfortunately, in the wagon, the rear seat cushions are held in by hinges that are screwed down to the vehicle floor. Thus, to fold the rear seats down, you have to fold the lower cushions forward and this means moving the front seats forward and there's no way to avoid this.

__. Sorry if this is confusing -- it's a little hard to describe -- and I hope that it helps with your question.
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jessica_rabbit

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Location
886 2
TDI
2002 Silver Manual Jetta Wagon (sold) *@*
mrGutWrench said:
__. Hi, Jess. Yes, but differently. On the Jetta sedan, the lower seat cushions are held in by swivel pivot rods. You can either fold these cushions forward and then fold down the seat back (either side or both) and have an almost flat floor from the trunk lid (just above the rear bumper) to the rear face of the front seats. On my car, it's long enough to stretch out (I'm 6'+) and sleep.

__. But to fold the rear cushions down, you have to move the front seats forward. Not a problem for smaller people but a pain for those of us who are taller. On the sedan, I can quickly detach those swivel rods and remove the cushions and store them in my garage.

__. Unfortunately, in the wagon, the rear seat cushions are held in by hinges that are screwed down to the vehicle floor. Thus, to fold the rear seats down, you have to fold the lower cushions forward and this means moving the front seats forward and there's no way to avoid this.

__. Sorry if this is confusing -- it's a little hard to describe -- and I hope that it helps with your question.
'
Thank you mrGutWrench for answering my "basic" question. I really havn't been in a 02-05 Jetta before (as if you can't tell already) and am really heavily doing research on it before I make my purchase.
 

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
jessica_rabbit said:
Thank you mrGutWrench for answering my "basic" question. (snip)
__. I hope that it's helpful. You might want to look at the "tall guy" thread too. But there's really no substitute for actually sitting in a car and trying out how it fits you. Also, there are big differences in the Golf, Jetta, and Jetta wagon. The Jetta is super for long, flat items (I've very rarely had anyone in the rear seats of my car) and the Golf will hold taller bulky items. About a year after I got my car, my sweetie bought a Jetta waggin -- especially for her dogs. It has tons of room - makes me wish that that's what I had bought.

__. I've put about 110 thousand miles on my car in 4 years and I've averaged almost 57 MPG (but I'll admit that I have very favorable conditions for good mileage -- the mileage that everyone gets depends on a lot of factors). I've loved my car as long as I've owned it. I've driven it from the Atlantic to California and to Canada many times.

__. There's a "search" feature on this forum but unfortunately, it's not very good. But try it out if you have specific issues or questions -- people who know a lotmore than I do have posted much good info in the past on many aspects of these cars.
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Birdman

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Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Location
Near Hagerstown MD.
TDI
Jetta 2001 Died by Truck one snowy day. Jetta 2003
Only thing to watch is when you put the front seats down first ( the back seats you set on ) is they do sometimes rub on the front seats leaving wear marks on the back seats.
 

SoaceMunky

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2005
Location
Webster, TX
TDI
Blue Anthracite Golf IV, 13 miles and counting ;)
in my golf, the 40% seat back detaches (with some difficulty). i did not attempt to detach the 60% back.
I've heard of people removing the rear seats completely, but i have a coupla questions:

-Are they supposted to detach?
-Whats the proper way to do it?
 

JetWag03

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Joined
Jul 3, 2003
Location
Rochester Hills MI
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2003, Baltic Green
MrG, I'm not sure how your sweetie's wagon is configured, but on my '03 the rear seat bottoms are removable, just like the sedan. What MY is your wagon?
 

mrGutWrench

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Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
JetWag03 said:
MrG, I'm not sure how your sweetie's wagon is configured, but on my '03 the rear seat bottoms are removable, just like the sedan. What MY is your wagon?
__. Strange. MzLauraLee's waggin is an '03. The rear seat bottom cushions are held in by hinges that are firmly bolted in place.
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jessica_rabbit

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Location
886 2
TDI
2002 Silver Manual Jetta Wagon (sold) *@*
It really does seem like I need to dig deeper into this. Maybe I can't buy one sight unseen after all.

Jess
 

JetWag03

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2003
Location
Rochester Hills MI
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2003, Baltic Green
mrGutWrench said:
__. Strange. MzLauraLee's waggin is an '03. The rear seat bottom cushions are held in by hinges that are firmly bolted in place.
'
They've got to be the same, then. I just popped off the cover plates (phillips head screws, IIRC), removed the hinge pins, and voila! No rear seat bottoms:D . Maybe not as easy as the sedan (which I haven't seen), but certainly doable.
 

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
JetWag03 said:
They've got to be the same, then. I just popped off the cover plates (phillips head screws, IIRC), removed the hinge pins, and voila! No rear seat bottoms:D . Maybe not as easy as the sedan (which I haven't seen), but certainly doable.
__. OK, that's the difference. On the sedan, the bottom cushions are held in by large bent metal rods -- each arm is about 8" long with a little hook on the end. To remove, all you need to do is to lift the cushion, push on the bent metal rod until the hook pops out of the socket and lift out the seat. It takes 10-12 seconds, tops.

__. I'll give your technique a try this weekend and see how it works on the waggin. Of course, one of our differences is that MzLauraLee actually has friends and she carries people in her rear seats often ;) -- plus, the pups are in and out of the back all the time. Thanks for the info!
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