Hi everyone,

I just leased a new 2016 C300 4Matic. I originally planned to get the CLA, but my back was hurting after the testdrive so they were able to put me in the C300 instead. I test drove the 300 and all seemed great and comfy, and I actually had the C300 about a year ago as a loaner and really liked it.

After getting the car home and taking some very short drives around town, it has become apparent that the seat is causing me extreme pain. The lumbar presses on my lower back, causing pain which then radiates throughout my whole back and neck and down my legs and arms. It's causing me migraines as well. I have the lumbar in the flattest position possible and have adjusted the seat many different ways and nothing seems to help. I have also tried pillows and towels and that hasn't helped either.

I spoke with the dealership and they are not willing to take the car back.

1. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do to fix it?
2. Will buying a cushion help, or having someone remake the seat?
3. Is there a way I can make the dealer take it back without losing thousands of dollars?
4. Is anyone willing to take over my lease or buy the car? It only has 180 miles and the payments are low. I'm in the Los Angeles area if that matters.

I have never had this experience with a car before and would never have gotten it if I thought it would not be comfortable. I had the 2013 C250 before this and loved it (and it was comfy). I don't even want to drive this car; I want to cry just thinking about it.

Please help! I extend my appreciation in advance.

 

I found my C400 to have some the most comfortable seats I've had in a car.

I can't provide any advice in regards to the car, but have you seen a doctor about your back? Multiple cars, same issue, the common denominator would seem to be your body.

 

I have no issues with my amg line seats, far comfier on long journeys than my Bmw.

 

Sorry to hear it. Been there (not on the C, an Audi A5). You can try making the seat back flat using a thin piece of craft foam and a sheepskin seat insert to cover it and hold it in place. As a bonus, the inserts are really comfortable by themselves, and they keep stuff from accumulating in the thigh extender crevice.

The foam will hold your back away from the seat's lumbar bulge.

Cut the foam to size (electric carving knife works best) and make sure the foam starts right where the lumbar bulge ends. Just a thin piece will probably do it, but experiment with 1" if you need to. Don't overdo it...just a little to even out the curve of the seat back and give your low back an area that isn't hitting the seat. Form a little pocket for your low back to rest in.

Installed, no foam visible:



Www.comfysheep.com for the insert.

 

What you're describing is some sort of nerve impingement in the lower back. If you've developed a back problem, the car isn't going to help you. Before dumping the car, a visit to a doctor might be the prudent thing to do.

 

That's true. Pain that radiates from the buttocks and down the leg is a sign of S1 nerve root impingement, possibly caused by a bulging or herniated disc at the L5/S1 vertebrae level. An MRI can rule that out. However, low back pain itself is almost never disc related, since the low back is innervated by a different group of nerves. Also, there's nothing in the low back that would refer migraine pain, and arm pain is a cervical or thoracic disk issue. I think he's just tensing up from the general discomfort.

If the pain is centered on the two dimples of the low back, it may be irritated lumbro-sacral joints. Once they flare up, any pressure on them is painful and they'll stay painful even after the pressure is off. A simple ice pack on them for 30 mins or so helps. Heat tends to make them worse.

If the symptoms began with the purchase of the car, and are alleviated by not driving the car, I'd say it's likely just that his body and the musculature of his back and legs became acclimated to his previous car's seats, and it's making him sore.

BTW, I had an MRI that showed a bulge at L5/S1 and radicular leg complaints. The surgery to remove the bulging disc had no effect, but luckily the surgeon screwed up and now I get to pee thru a straw.

My advice: try padding out the seat and see if it helps, and see your primary MD for a lumbar MRI. Just be aware that most bulging discs are asymptomatic and most people over 40 will have some.

The right way, I've now learned, to rule out a bulging disc as a pain generator is a diagnostic nerve block into that disc space. If it stops the radicular leg pain, disc surgery will help. If not, the disc may be bulging but not be causing any nerve root impingement or leg pain.

Avoid surgery unless and until you have a confirmed impingement with pain that becomes intolerable during normal daily activities. Otherwise, try everything else...PT, massage, steroidal injections, inversion table, etc. first.

 

I'm averse to doing an unsolicited telediagnosis myself, but I'd agree with Mike5215 that the migraines indicate that your body tenses up, causing additional pain above any potential spinal issues. This is probably something systemic worth addressing.

My alternate advice would be to work your way up to an MRI, rather than down from one. Most causes of your pain are not caused by spinal damage, so working your way up to an MRI would also mean working your way down the list of most probable causes. I love my profession, but MDs' weak spot is typically musculoskeletal stuff. We get comparatively little training on it in medical training, and tend to see imaging, drugs and invasive procedures as major options long before other providers do (on the other hand, if you want to know about 1-in-a-million Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria, we're ).

Here's what I suggest:

1. Get a referral to a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) physician who can become your go-to provider while you try to figure out what's going on. PM&R docs tend to have the best everyday musculoskeletal knowledge among MDs. Even if your PCP claims to be an expert on MSK issues, ask for a second opinion via that referral.
2. Have the PM&R doc (aka physiatrist) perform a physical exam and decide whether to proceed with an MRI, or do a referral to physical therapy first. Also, be prepared to mentally separate any potential back issues from broader tension-related pain when discussing your issues. The two may have to be treated separately, e.g. any work on your back may have little affect on your migraines.
3. If referred to Physical Therapy, do take all the exercises seriously, even if it takes months to see results. PTs usually offer far less grandiose promises of improvement than other providers (especially chiropractors), which can be off-putting. But do you want a miracle cure, or a long, realistic path?

Concurrently, I'd try to find:
1. A good D.O, who specializes in musculoskeletal issues, but who doesn't indulge too much in aggressive Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment. I'd gander that the right D.O. would have an easier time getting to the right diagnosis than an M.D.
2. A good massage therapist who has a physiology- rather than spirituality-based approach. Usually, that means a specialist in sports massage, especially trigger point massage. If you're wondering who's a top massage therapist in your area, call the USC or UCLA athletic departments and ask which community providers they use for teams that don't have a full-time staffer.
3. Lastly, I'd suggest being wary of chiropractors. I go to one regularly to get his perspective on a degenerative disc issue, but I've found that chiropractors carry the highest risk of treatment-related complications among non-physicians (yep, that means I think that physicians are most likely to cause complications during your treatment).


PS: Here's a decent image of the dermatomes on your body, and which level of the spinal cord they correspond to:

 

I guess the question for the OP is did the problems start with the new car? It seems like they did. If so, it's probably just the car seat. Hoof beats and zebras etc.

 

It really hurts my lower back and neck

 

When I first drove my C300, it was a bit overwhelming to get the seat in a comfortable position with the many position controls. I followed the suggestions on this website (https://www.wikihow.com/Adjust-Seati...-While-Driving) and saved the seat position as setting 1. I made changes to the position as I drove the car and saved them as settings 2 and 3. I would then go between these positions, made some more minor adjustments, saved them, and finally zeroed in on the one that felt best to me. My wife finds the lumbar bump uncomfortable on trips lasting more than 1 hour. We use a thin foam pad as suggested by Mike5215 to even out the seat back. A piece of memory foam works best but it gets hot next to your body and you may sweat.

 

I had no problem with my previous cars, C220d and bmw 330i.

 

I have also started facing the back pain issue in my c300, Hondas and toyotas are lot better seating or other drving features.