2011 Elantra Limited Head Rest lack of tilt adjustment, Head rest leans too far forward no tilt adjustment Options

[agc500]

Hi all,

If I had to come up with another con besides the lack of spare tire on the 2011 Elantra Limited it would be the lack of tilt adjustment on the head rest.

It seems that it is tilted to far forward and can't come up with a comfortable position to rest my head and shoulders combination.

I feel like bending the rods a few degree backwards to accomplish that.

I know that they are designed to prevent whiplash but you shouldn't have to be hunched forward to drive.

Does anyone have that problem?


This adjustment is especially need on the passenger side when someone wants to recline the seat back and rest their head back simultaneously.

AGC500

[Tony240]

hmm, i dont have a problem with my head position, you can always try to lift the headrest abit more so it cradles more into the bottom end for a less lean forward feel

[yjolly]

That's one of the reason we didn't buy a previous gen elantra for my wife 4 years ago. She likes to sit with the back of the seat really straight up, and with the seat in that position, her head actually gets pushed down forward by the headrest. To be fair, most cars that we tried at the time were designed the same way. The only confortable cars for her were the Chevy Aveo with an adjustable tilt headrest, and the Saturn Ion with a fixed, but better headrest angle. We ended up with the Ion.

This would not have been an issue for me, as I (like most drivers, I think) prefer the seat angle back a couple of notches, and that eliminates the "head pushing" sensation. This is maybe something worth trying for you (i.e. recline the seat a bit more)?

Yves

[Tirolerpeter]

This "head rest" issue has been around for a long time. When I owned a 2003 EGT my wife (who rides and drives with the seat back nearly vertical) nearly refused to get into the car until I bent the rods enough to stop pushing her head and neck forward. This is not a situation that is limited to Hyundai's. The vehicle I replaced my EGT with is a 2008 Subaru 2.5i. The headrest issue is equally problematic for Subaru's. Many Subaru owners have complained about the head rest pushing their heads forward when the seat back is set fairly forward. I applied the same solution that I used on my Hyundai. I bent the rods enough to give her neck clearance. Many people do not like driving with the seatbacks in a semi-reclining position. For those, the "forward" position of the head rests are a real "pain in the neck." Just bend the stupid rods! BTW, just raising the head rests until it is high enough to not "push" your head forward looks like it actually increases the risk of a neck injury. In a rear impact, having your head just catch the lower part of the head rest looks like it would really give your neck a nasty "snap" as you slid under the raised portion.

[NevynPA]

How is it if you just pop the headrest out and put it in backwards?

[agc500]

Thanks to all that replied,
I'm glad it's not just me with this problem, I will probably bend the rods back a little later.
I just tried NevynPA suggestion of installing backwards and it may actually work for the passenger that wants to rest head way back. The up and down adjustment won't latch, only works all the way down but that's where is is anyway, I'll give it a try.

[cobas]

I can't stand that in my parents' '06 Tuscon. Not a problem in the '03 Elantra though.

[natesi]

Yeah, mashing the headrest forward is something a lot of auto manufactuers are doing now. It totally blows ass. I rented and test drove a lot of cars last year and noticed this.

HOWEVER, the previous generation Elantra head rests were adjustable in the fore and aft direction.

Go to the 21:30 mark here, to see it illustrated:


Not sure if the 2011s are the same way or not. Can someone check it out and verify??

[elantragt]

My Kia Forte SX is the same way and I'm not a fan.

[flydon]

I just went out to try the fore/aft adjustment on the 2011 Elantra Limited. There is none
Then I tried our 2007 Tucson, it does have up/down and fore/aft adjustment.
The fore/aft seems to be in the headrest itself, don't know how difficult it would be to put either the Tucson ones in the Elantra, or the part that allows it to move fore/aft.
I just tried moving the hearests from the Tucson (2007) to the Elantra. They fit perfectly, so if you want headrests for your Elantra that have fore/aft adjustment, as well as up/down adjustment, head for your local wreckers or order some from Hyundai.
Don

This post has been edited by flydon: Jun 1 2011, 04:43 PM

[flyswatter]

The headrest is a minor annoyance to me as well. I adjusted the seat to recline further back than I normally would to reduce the feeling of having my head pushed too far forward. flydon seems to have stumbled upon a good work around for this depending on how much a replacement head rest would run. Good going flydon!

[elantragt]

I just went out to try the fore/aft adjustment on the 2011 Elantra Limited. There is none
Then I tried our 2007 Tucson, it does have up/down and fore/aft adjustment.
The fore/aft seems to be in the headrest itself, don't know how difficult it would be to put either the Tucson ones in the Elantra, or the part that allows it to move fore/aft.
I just tried moving the hearests from the Tucson (2007) to the Elantra. They fit perfectly, so if you want headrests for your Elantra that have fore/aft adjustment, as well as up/down adjustment, head for your local wreckers or order some from Hyundai.
Don

I'm suprised the new Elantra doesn't have the fore/aft adjustment. It's cousin the KIA Forte does.