About 33 days into my xB ownership some inattentive clown plowed into me from the read at about 3 to 4 mph. The damage was only $640. But, the impact jerked my head back into the bottom edge of the headrest. The headrest was fully extended and waay to high for my 5'10" noggin. I usually leave headrests down, anyway.

Well, after the accident (I'm still seeing a chiropractor) I set the headrest all the way down and kept on trucking. The other day, at the Toyota dealership, I got out and noticed my headrest was almost all the way up just like the passenger headrest! I reached over and put it down the put one finger under it and EASILY lifted it, click by click, to the top position! The spring putting upward tension on the headrest is way too strong for the latch.

While getting the car serviced I walked in the showroom to an xB and xA and could NOT budge either headrest with one or two fingers! I told the service writer and he seemed concerned. He had a sevice tech come out and he looked at it and shrugged.

Thinking about a lawyer. BTW, mine is an early 2005.

Was it always like that, or was it more prominent after the accident? Sounds like it is defective. Toyota could be held liable, and would likely settle in such a case. I suggest asking a lawyer or your insurance company.

if you want to take someone to court, why dont you take the idiot who hit you!!

Ding, ding, ding!

BTW "3-4" MPH is not enough to go to the doctor over geez!!

I'm sure that you can find an ambulance chaser to take your case. Why bother to consult with us?

Pardone, but 3-4 mph is enough to get injured as I did. Especially when your head hits a metal edge. It was like being tapped on the head with an aluminum bat.

I think eveybody ought to eyeball his headrests to see if they are like mine. The showroom cars are six months older than mine and they have plenty of resistance to riding up.

if you want to take someone to court, why dont you take the idiot who hit you!!

Ding, ding, ding!

BTW "3-4" MPH is not enough to go to the doctor over geez!!

For any accident where you're hit, you must get a police report and you must go to a doctor immediately. If you don't, any injuries that happen as a result 2, 3, 6 months down the line will not be taken care of. It's called covering your own ___. Don't be naive.

Could the looseness have been caused from the earlier accident?

if you want to take someone to court, why dont you take the idiot who hit you!!

Ding, ding, ding!

BTW "3-4" MPH is not enough to go to the doctor over geez!!

Umm, hello? He was commenting about how is headrest does not maintain its position and raises too easily, thus not doing its job.

Try running into a brick wall at 4mph, and see how you feel! When the car impacts something else at that speed, everything else inside the car continues at the same speed while the car stops. Now your head, moving at 4mph, reaches full extension, bounces back, and misses the headrest. Now you've got whiplash, buddy.

4mph, is a a good jogging speed. A normal accident at that speed is not a big deal, but if the headrests failed, then it is.

DING DING DING!

Could the looseness have been caused from the earlier accident?

I was trying to ask that too. . . it's a possibility.

Didn't realize Jenn was logged in. Will repost under my own name. :)

My headrest in my xb does the same.. you can barely touch it and it will raise up a notch or two

I'm sure that you can find an ambulance chaser to take your case. Why bother to consult with us?

i could just see it in court..."Your honor i have over 100 posts from people on scion life agreeing with me!! lol

My headrest in my xb does the same.. you can barely touch it and it will raise up a notch or two

i thought that was normal. i have an 04

Actually, you probably don't have a case. This is something you didn't notice when you got into the car.

A good lawyer will liken it to not putting your seatbelt on and blame it on you.

You won't be able to prove it was down, and just going "up easy" won't be enough.

While mine does go up easy (I can push it up with my head while driving), I noticed it long ago and monitor it.

Also, you mentioned that the passenger side headrest was up, sounded like you leave it that way as well, these things will work against you. And if they can find one person who "kinda remembers it was up when I saw him", your case would be gone.

Lastly, they'll place liability on the guy who hit you as he is the one who was truely at fault.

Worst case...You cause them to add some part to the xB, make them a few dollars more expensive and you still get nothing. A case like this would cost a ton of money to get into court, more to get through court and, in the end, you won't see anything.

get rid of the xB..take the bus
zinc

My '05 is the same way. Real easy going up. It's an odd design. The lock should hold it in place going up or down. Seems to me, in a rear end crash, maybe your head could hit it and raise it at the same time, cause it does'nt lock going up. This could be bad in a rear-ender at any speed !!

About 33 days into my xB ownership some inattentive clown plowed into me from the read at about 3 to 4 mph. The damage was only $640. But, the impact jerked my head back into the bottom edge of the headrest. The headrest was fully extended and waay to high for my 5'10" noggin. I usually leave headrests down, anyway.

Well, after the accident (I'm still seeing a chiropractor) I set the headrest all the way down and kept on trucking. The other day, at the Toyota dealership, I got out and noticed my headrest was almost all the way up just like the passenger headrest! I reached over and put it down the put one finger under it and EASILY lifted it, click by click, to the top position! The spring putting upward tension on the headrest is way too strong for the latch.

While getting the car serviced I walked in the showroom to an xB and xA and could NOT budge either headrest with one or two fingers! I told the service writer and he seemed concerned. He had a sevice tech come out and he looked at it and shrugged.

Thinking about a lawyer. BTW, mine is an early 2005. Lawyer? you should probably try to find a strong positive male role model to help you to quit being such a _____! 3-4 MPH? :roll: Yeah, go ahead and sue Toyota, it's the American way right? It's people like you that keep jackass lawyers in business and everyone else paying way too much for things to cover the product liability cases that are way too common. I am not a big fan of this couse of action if you can't tell. :twisted: :twisted:

Can we keep things civil, folks? It's still the holiday season... :roll:

I think you definitely ought to consult a lawyer, mainly because all the opinions you are getting from the nice folks, (and not-so-nice folks), in here don't amount to a hill-o-beans. (that includes my own comments)

If the head rest migrates out of position all by itself that is a serious problem. You were lucky the speed of impact was so low. What could happen to another person getting hit at much higher speed? At the very least...if this head rest thing is common...Toyota needs to know, and then decide if a recall is warranted.

(I'll be checking my own head rests tomorrow).

..and if your lawyer doesnt win the case, sue your lawyer too!!

'lil update: my headrest also moves upward very easily, with the tip of a finger. It does not, however, ride up just from vehicle vibration or motion.

I wonder if a person's head would nudge it up there, if that person was in the habit of leaning the head back into the rest while driving?

Actually, I just realized that in an impact the force of the head hitting it would probably shove it up - which I think would be detrimental to its purpose. It's looking more and more like a product defect case to me...

(I'll test this theory by giving it a few whacks tomorrow)

I'm 5'9" and I tried to find a way, with the headrest up, to line my head up with the metal bar.

The only way I could do it was to, just about, sit on the floor.

This was something I couldn't do with the seatbelt on. The only way it could happen would be for my back to hyper-extend, backwards. Again, this couldn't happen without the seatbelt being off.

So, IMO, it sounds like you didn't have your seatbelt on.

Clarifications:

After the accident I put both headrests in the full down position. They had both creeped up on their own.

I always wear my seat belt.

I did not hit the metal rods--I hit the bottom edge of the cushion which is like hitting a straight edge--no padding--it was that high.

I went straight to a doctors office and got immediate treatment (ice). I have a form of whiplash and a small goose egg on the back left of my skull where I impacted. Not my imagination. A four mph tap with an aluminum bat is pretty hard.

Several of you have noticed that you headrests do the same thing. Mine creeped, yet a vehicle 6 months fresher did not.

This is a problem that needs to be looked at.

Of course, there's no way to prove anything and I still love my xB. Just check yours out for the same thing.

to all of you negative folks---skipp yall.. i fell on my back playing volley ball on some ill figured sand at what? .25 mph after jumping to block a ball.. and guess what i had 6 vertabrae out of place..i doesnt matter how fast or how high you fall or whatever...it depends alot on how you got hit...as for the suing goes---get a lawer that doesn't collect if you dont win--if they are still around..

One to look at.. as far as it moving up on its on.. Now mine moves up really easy and when i get in and sit down alot of time i will adjust to get in a comfy position for driving and if i lean back my shoulders will also move the headrest up without me knowing it.. im 6ft2 by the way and my shoulders have more use of the headrest then my head does lol..

to all of you negative folks---skipp yall.. i fell on my back playing volley ball on some ill figured sand at what? .25 mph after jumping to block a ball.. and guess what i had 6 vertabrae out of place..i doesnt matter how fast or how high you fall or whatever...it depends alot on how you got hit...as for the suing goes---get a lawer that doesn't collect if you dont win--if they are still around.. Did you sue the maker of the sand? :roll: :lol: :lol:

^^^ LOL..no but is sure did use my insurance to the fullest to get my treatment..im better now..but i have to go once a moth to better myself\check up.