Liberty Headrests

[jp928]

A few of us have problems with these newish forward leaning headrests - even at full height, mine keeps biffing me in the back of the head on uneven roads. One dealership told me to see Franks Engineering in Preston, they can shave some padding off it. Another says we'll contact head office. The Age review of the new Forrester even noted that some passengers complained about the headrests being too far forward.
I emailed contact us at Subaru Oz, and got the below response - last line being a bit ironic..

"Thank you for your email to Feedback at Subaru Australia.

It is most unfortunate the headrests in your 2008 Liberty GT Bspec are
causing you discomfort while you are driving. The seating configuration
is any motor vehicle is built to conform with a standard shape which is
then made adjustable to suit the different shapes & sizes of drivers.
Whilst the seat will conform with most driver's body, unfortunately it
will not suit everyone.

As Subaru Australia is the importer, not the manufacturer, of Subaru
vehicles we are unfortunately not in a position to modify the design of
the seating in your Liberty. The seat has undergone many hours of design
and testing for safety and durability and this cannot simply be changed.
To further this, the seats fitted to your Liberty have been approved for
use under Australian Design Rules (ADR) and to modify them would be to
render the car unroadworthy.

The only advice we can offer you to resolve this situation Mr. Pitman is
that you attempt to make further adjustments to the seat position until
you find one that best suits your body shape - should you need any
assistance in finding the balance of comfort, your local Subaru dealer
will be more than happy to assist.


Assuring you of our continued commitment to our valued customers,"

Docklands warranty guy should also be chasing it up, so I will give them a few more days before doing something.
jp 08 gtb 6mt Wagon.

[coyote]

Translated, that means:

Thank you for your email to FobOff at Subaru Australia.

It is most unfortunate the headrests in your 2008 Liberty GT Bspec are causing you discomfort and injury while you are driving. The seating configuration in this particular vehicle is built to conform with a standard shaped 5'4" Japanese person which is then not adjusted at all to suit the different shapes & sizes of drivers in other countries Whilst the seat will conform with almost nobody in Australia, unfortunately we refuse to even consider doing a bloody thing about it.

As Subaru Australia is the importer, not the manufacturer, of Subaru vehicles we are unfortunately taking the position of not taking responsibility for the basically unusable design of the Liberty we sold you. The seat has undergone many hours of design and testing for Japanese people and this cannot simply be changed if we continue to pretend there is no problem. To further this, the seats fitted to your Liberty have been approved for use under Australian Design Rules (ADR) and to modify them would be to render the car unroadworthy. We would actually have to replace the seats and it's far cheaper to just deny there is an issue.

The only advice we can offer you to resolve this situation Mr. Pitman is that you attempt to make further adjustments to the seat position until you find one that best suits your body shape (because we assume you were too stupid to try this before taking the time to contact us in writing) - should you need any assistance in finding the balance of complete discomfort and permanent spinal injury, your local Subaru dealer will be more than happy to assist, or put in contact with a physiotherapist. Note that we take no responsibility for any injuries incurred as a result of the poor design of the product that we sold you.


Assuring you of our lack of commitment to our valued customers.

[Gir]

Seen others complaining of this on other forums... Wierd..

[jp928]

Finally got around to getting them fixed. Went over to Franks Engineering (84A Bakers Rd Coburg). He said 3 hours, but I walked down the road and drank coffee, read the paper, and he called after 50mins. $50. Bent the posts to same angle as rear seat rests. At full height , they feel like 2-3cm clear of my bonce. Set lower down I can feel them close, as the front face is at an angle.
Much happier now, I can sit right back with shoulders fully supported and not get a crick in my neck...

jp 08 gtb wagon