Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Help me out here. I'm trying to find a vehicle for my wife. In order to know what type of vehicle we need, you have to know we have an unusual story.
The main thing that makes my wife the most beautiful woman in the world (my apologies to any other ladies who might be reading this right now) is her unique body. That's the main reason why we're looking for a special type of vehicle.
1) First of all, she's 6'3". Hence, we need a vehicle that's good for really tall people. I'm 6'2", so that'd be good for me too. (Also, she likes SUVs / trucks / high-riding vehicles. We recently purchased a Honda Odyssey and that's proven not to be what she likes / needs... so we're strongly contemplating selling it.)
2) Secondly, she has a REALLY big butt... R-E-A-L-L-Y BIG... and her thighs aren't just thunder thighs, they're thunderSTORM thighs. As such, she appears much taller than 6'3" when sitting. (She's only one inch taller than me but she looks 5 inches taller than me when we're sitting.) So, we'd need a vehicle that would work for someone who is like 6'7"... not just any ordinary 6'3" person.
Also due to #2 above, there ain't a bucket seat on the face of the planet in which she's comfortable sitting, so we need something with a FRONT BENCH SEAT. (Besides, those are better for cuddling!) The main reason why she's not comfortable in the Odyssey on long trips is because the relatively immobile metal seat belt anchor digs into her butt... there have been other vehicles she's tried, and her most common complaint is that she feels squeezed into the driver's position due to the center console between the front bucket seats. I have a 1996 Silverado with bucket seats and she's had few complaints about it, mostly because it's bigger and the seat belt anchors move around quite a bit... plus, the center console is fairly low so she can hang over it when needed. A split front bench seat is a consideration, and I suppose it would be okay to have one of those bench seats that has a console in the center when you flip up the middle part... but her last car was a 2006 Impala with that seat setup and she still broke the center console. I'd much rather have a vehicle with a 50/50 split bench or a plain ol' solid bench. Given that we're both tall, we wouldn't have to adjust the seat when swapping drivers.
Also due to #2 above, it needs to have at least a tilt steering wheel so her legs will fit under it comfortably... and I will admit, a telescopic steering wheel would be amazing because, despite her long arms, she likes the wheel to be relatively close to her body. (Do any cars except old Cadillacs have both tilt and telescope steering wheels?! My '72 Sedan DeVille had that and it was AWESOME!)
Hunting around on Craigslist and Cars.com is rather tedious. Whatever help you can render would be great. Don't worry about the age of the vehicle... we're looking to get something older and cheap anyway, so we don't have to deal with a car payment. Comfort and size are most important... gas mileage is always a factor but for the type of vehicle we're going to have to get, we know that we won't be getting great gas mileage.
She prefers SUVs but I know that a truck is her second choice. What do you think would work for her?
(Let's keep the discussion on vehicles only. NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY WIFE'S SIZE. I have my preferences as we all do, and nowhere in the Bible does it say what size woman a man should / shouldn't pursue. I don't know when / if she'll lose the weight, hence why we need a vehicle that's good for her right now. Even if she loses the weight, she'll still be 6'3" and she'll still like SUVs, so whatever we get now will still be good later on.)
Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado were all available with a split bench front seat, with the Tahoe and Suburban the newer they are the harder it is to find one with a front bench.
I've seen a late model Impala with a front bench, but only one of them so that would probably be hard to find.
I'm pretty sure older Suburbans had a front bench option, and any pickup would have one as well.
Just a thought....... Perhaps the bench seat from a Silverado of the same year would bolt into a Suburban? If it did, I bet you could find someone on Craigslist who would gladly make the swap.
Front bench seats( with an armrest that could be lowered) would be my choice as well. I feel a little claustrophobic with my legs if theres a center console and you lose a possible third passenger in the front seat if you need it. Our dog rides with us and she'd have to sit on the floor if theres a front seat passenger if we had bucket seats.
I have seen Impalas with bench seats so they aren't quite as uncommon as thought. Also check out the Buick Rendezvous SUV, they have the column mounted shifter and bench seat.
Those are all good suggestions... haven't looked inside a Rendezvous in a while.
A split bench seat is an okay idea as long as it has the old-school seat belt anchors. Y'all remember those- the ones that bolted into the floor under / behind the seat, and came up through the seat between the "back" cushion and the "butt" cushion? And then if you didn't need one, you could bury it between the seats? The new seat belt anchors don't move very much... they're practically stuck where they are.
My '96 Silverado has the bucket seats and we'll see how it works on our next big road trip next month. What I'd love to find is a vehicle that has a split bench seat a la the 1979 Dodge Ramcharger (the back is split 50-50 and each side reclines independently, and there's no center console of any kind) and a tilt/telescope steering wheel a la the 1970's Cadillacs.
If it's a new enough vehicle, the tilt/telescope wheels have gotten reasonably common, even in small cars. Most of the rentals I drive have one that does both (my 2000 car is too old to have the telescope, only tilts).
Are you looking for a car if one existed, or would rather stick with truck/SUV as you've listed? Because a late model Impala is a car that still could be had with a bench seat, I think even in 2011 or maybe even 2012 model year. I don't know if the wheel telescopes, can't remember. I drove a 2011 Impala as a rental just once.
You could always look for a Crown Vic/Grand Marquis. Some of those should have benches. I think the final model year for those is 2011.
Also maybe a Town Car or a Caddy DTS? Dunno about benches in those, but a Town Car is related to the Crown Vic.
Some large cars may not have a bench exactly but have a wider seat that isn't exactly a bucket either. Some cars just have wider seats than others, and that could be something to look for. Just look for absence of side bolsters, etc. Although I do understand that the placement of the seat belt connector may be an issue.
For truck/SUV/van I think you'd be limited to full-size pickups and the Tahoe/Suburban, and maybe, just maybe, a full size van. (I know the van-type cabin they use for some box trucks like U-Haul is often configured with a bench, so maybe you can get it in a regular van.) Maybe some smaller pickups too but those might not seem roomy enough.
If you're looking for NEW I think you're going to have a tough time of it apart from the pickups maybe.
Another possibility might be to look at conversion vans or similar perhaps configurable with wider captain's chairs, etc. Not a bench but a better chance at getting a seat that is wide enough to be comfortable.
If it's a new enough vehicle, the tilt/telescope wheels have gotten reasonably common, even in small cars. Most of the rentals I drive have one that does both (my 2000 car is too old to have the telescope, only tilts).
"Too old to have telescope" - not true, my friend. It's just that the manufacturer of your car didn't see fit to put it in there. Cadillac has had tilt / telescope steering wheels since 1965. My 1972 Sedan DeVille had tilt and telescope... and I LOVED IT. It also had the right kind of bench seat... but my wife likes vehicles that are high off the ground... hence why I asked about trucks and SUVs. If she liked regular cars the most, it'd be really easy to find what she wants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
Are you looking for a car if one existed, or would rather stick with truck/SUV as you've listed? Because a late model Impala is a car that still could be had with a bench seat, I think even in 2011 or maybe even 2012 model year. I don't know if the wheel telescopes, can't remember. I drove a 2011 Impala as a rental just once.
She actually had a 2006 Impala for several years... same body style. As a car, it was really good... I'd recommend the Impala to anyone. Only thing is, when she had it, she kept complaining about how low to the ground it was. Since she's always wanted an SUV, I figure... let's get an SUV. A pickup truck is her second choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
You could always look for a Crown Vic/Grand Marquis. Some of those should have benches. I think the final model year for those is 2011.
Also maybe a Town Car or a Caddy DTS? Dunno about benches in those, but a Town Car is related to the Crown Vic.
Right you are, but for what I said before...
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
Some large cars may not have a bench exactly but have a wider seat that isn't exactly a bucket either. Some cars just have wider seats than others, and that could be something to look for. Just look for absence of side bolsters, etc. Although I do understand that the placement of the seat belt connector may be an issue.
Those side bolsters tend to be what hold the side airbags... and sadly, most of this modern safety stuff is what makes cars so uncomfortable these days.
You know, I don't buy all of this modern garbage about how newer cars are so much safer than older cars. That MAY be true when you crash a newer car into a newer car, or into a bridge abutment, but I don't intend to do either of those things. The most likely wreck is car-to-car, and if I have an old tank of a car and I crash it into someone's newer car, the newer car that's designed to take the damage will take the damage and my car will just plow through it. I know that because it happened to me once. I no longer have my '72 Caddy because a drunk driver pulled out in front of me in a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am and I smashed her. Her two-year-old car was totaled (meaning damage of $15,000 or more, I'd guess), one passenger had to be life-flighted to the hospital, and another passenger got a broken shoulder. My Caddy still ran AND drove after the wreck and the sum total of my physical injury was a sore neck that went away on its own after two days without any treatment.
Side airbags? Come on. If my wife and I are sitting next to each other, we are each other's airbags. If we take a side hit from another car, I'll hit the door and she'll hit me. I'm tough enough to handle it. Again, I know this from experience... when I was a kid, I was riding in my dad's 1977 Oldsmobile Omega (think Chevy Nova), sitting in the middle seat position next to him, when someone pulled out of his driveway without looking and smashed us. A wreck which these days would cost thousands of dollars in repairs due to deployed side airbags cost us (or the insurance) only a couple hundred bucks for a door from a junkyard. My dad hit the driver's door, I hit him, and his 6'4" 275-pound self was not hurt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
For truck/SUV/van I think you'd be limited to full-size pickups and the Tahoe/Suburban, and maybe, just maybe, a full size van. (I know the van-type cabin they use for some box trucks like U-Haul is often configured with a bench, so maybe you can get it in a regular van.) Maybe some smaller pickups too but those might not seem roomy enough.
I like full-size vans but the problem with those is what we affectionately call "the doghouse". For those unfamiliar with the term, that's the engine cover that protrudes significantly into the passenger compartment. Box trucks are actually trucks, not vans... hence no doghouse. I had a 1987 Dodge Ram van back in the day and I loved it, but it has a doghouse and I doubt my wife would be comfortable in something like that. But if there were a van with a bench seat and no doghouse, I'd consider it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
If you're looking for NEW I think you're going to have a tough time of it apart from the pickups maybe.
Another possibility might be to look at conversion vans or similar perhaps configurable with wider captain's chairs, etc. Not a bench but a better chance at getting a seat that is wide enough to be comfortable.
Not looking for new - too expensive. As for wider / unobstructed captain's chairs, yeah, it's a possibility... what I've discovered about most split-bench cars and trucks is that the seat doesn't recline. What's up with that? Does anyone know exactly when vehicle manufacturers started putting reclining split-bench seats into their cars & trucks? I know that my '72 Sedan DeVille, my '76 Olds Ninety-Eight, and my '81 Coupe DeVille didn't have a reclining function for the bench seats.
"Too old to have telescope" - not true, my friend. It's just that the manufacturer of your car didn't see fit to put it in there. Cadillac has had tilt / telescope steering wheels since 1965.
Ah, it was kind of a shortened bit which assumed that you should know I have a small car, LOL. My car is a 2000 Acura Integra. Anyway, so it's too "old" for the tilt/telescope combo to have trickled down into what by 2000 was a several-year-old Honda design. A few years ago (even before their latest redesign) I had a Ford Focus rental that had tilt and telescope both. That's how far it's trickled down now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy
She actually had a 2006 Impala for several years... same body style. As a car, it was really good... I'd recommend the Impala to anyone. Only thing is, when she had it, she kept complaining about how low to the ground it was. Since she's always wanted an SUV, I figure... let's get an SUV. A pickup truck is her second choice.
Ah, okay. It's kinda too bad because I think the SUV is going to give you the fewest choices of vehicle. I mean, it would be nice (to me anyway) if you could get into a more moderate sized crossover, something a bit less truck-like, but none of those are going to have a bench.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy
You know, I don't buy all of this modern garbage about how newer cars are so much safer than older cars. That MAY be true when you crash a newer car into a newer car, or into a bridge abutment, but I don't intend to do either of those things. The most likely wreck is car-to-car, and if I have an old tank of a car and I crash it into someone's newer car, the newer car that's designed to take the damage will take the damage and my car will just plow through it. ...
Like many, you have focused only on the crash part. I always like to point out that one of the biggest safety advantages of a newer car is not just the survivability of the crash (there's a good reason the auto deaths are down to the lowest levels ever per mileage driven and even lower actual numbers for the last several years, so there is something to the new safety equipment) but things that make it more likely to AVOID the crash. Better steering, better brakes, stability control, etc. can help you avoid the crash in the first place. A smaller car with good handling is better able to avoid a crash than a larger truck (assuming equal driving ability). Anyway, you won't be talking about a smaller car here, but unfortunately the pickup or full-size van will be somewhat less adept at avoiding the accident due to the nature of its handling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy
Box trucks are actually trucks, not vans... hence no doghouse.
The box trucks I'm talking about use a van cab. Look at the cab of a small U-Haul box (or Budget or Penske); it will generally look exactly like a full sized GM or Ford van that someone took a guillotine to just aft of the front seat. That's because it is exactly the same as that, with the same type of configuration. Nothing is changed that would make the engine protrude less on those particular models.
Anyway, I think you might want to take a glance at least inside a modern E-Series or Express/Savana. There may be a little protrusion in the center console down low, but I think this protrusion is much smaller than it used to be. It's hard to tell in the pics on the manufacturer web sites. The Ford is the clearest one, but I'm still not sure how much less it might be protruding. You may remember better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy
What's up with that? Does anyone know exactly when vehicle manufacturers started putting reclining split-bench seats into their cars & trucks?
That's a good question. Recline was not common in the split benches like the Caddys and such until later. I remember my grandfather having a couple of Caddys from I think the 80s even (although one was late 70s I'm sure), and I'm not sure they reclined, although the seats were of course power operated, providing endless fun as a kid when I actually got to ride shotgun.
I did a quick search for "reclining split bench seat" and the Tahoe still can be had with one, the split is 40/20/40 though, so what is in the center 20 I'm not really sure. If it's truly a bench I assume that part simply doesn't recline. Seems like if you want an SUV more than pickup or van, the Tahoe (and maybe the Yukon if they also put the same seat in that) would be the place to look given this feature option. I'm sure it goes back some years; others have mentioned it above. Dunno how likely it will be to find a used one with this seat.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My car is a 2000 Acura Integra. Anyway, so it's too "old" for the tilt/telescope combo to have trickled down into what by 2000 was a several-year-old Honda design. A few years ago (even before their latest redesign) I had a Ford Focus rental that had tilt and telescope both. That's how far it's trickled down now.
