Cars for back problems | Vauxhall Zafira News & FAQs

Hi

My wife has back problems and finds many car seats uncomfortable. The best so far is my Renault Vel Satis Initiale with fantastic, fully electric seats. She used to have a Suzuki Wagon R which she found comfortable despite the seats not being height adjustable. She also liked the space and practicality. However the ride was harsh, the clutch very fierce, which made smooth driving a problem and the fuel consumption was disappointing – averaging around 38mpg. 

We replaced that 2 years ago with a low mileage 2002 Honda Jazz SE automatic. Lovely car – light and easy to drive, beautifully built, equally spacious and practical and far more economical – around 45 -50 mpg. However the front seats are not comfortable over any distance. My wife can just about cope with the driver’s seat, which has height adjustment, if she uses an orthopaedic wedge cushion, but the passenger seat is uncomfortable for anything but the shortest drives. The relationship between the seat squab height and angle with the floor just is not right.

So we are looking ahead to a new replacement. It must as economical and practical as the Jazz, preferably automatic – could be diesel but there are few small diesel autos – and needs to have height adjustable seats for both driver and passenger. This seems almost impossible to find. We tried a Skoda Roomster but its engines are surprisingly rough and the auto is not economical enough. She did not find the older, tall Mazda 2 comfortable. We want something that’s around 2-3 years old that has suffered the worst of its depreciation and want to pay around £4-5k over the value of the Jazz (2002, 25000 miles) . Any suggestions?
Thanks
 

Kevin,

Can you keep a secret? This is a little trick of the trade. If you are looking for a car that will suit someone with a minor physical disadvantage, visit www.motability.co.uk

The cars in the motability scheme will have highly adjustable driving positions and easy-access. The site information will tell you specifically about the seat model-by-model.

Then, having seen the car you want you can buy in the normal way. So if you pick the Vauxhall Zafira (which I think will meet your criteria very well) you can then check our price guide and discover that you can afford an average mileage 1.9 CDTi from 2005/6.