Saturn Wagon

Anybody have a picture of the back seats folded down in a late-90's
Saturn Wagon? Do they fold totally flat?

Anybody tried sleeping in one? Enough room to stretch out, or cramped?

 

On 17 Jul 2006 19:58:27 -0700, in rec.autos.makers.saturn

I've got a '95. The back seats fold down near enough to flat as makes
no difference. As for sleeping in it, I've not tried it but it would
be a bit cramped (I'm 6' even) unless you curl up a bit.

 

The 96 and up SW rear seat does not lie flat, which I feel was a real design
fault and almost stopped me from buying one. I found that by removing the
lower foam cushion that the seat back would lie properly flat. There is a
bit of a trick to removing the seat foam which IIRC involves pushing down
and back on the seat front about 1 foot in from the outside. IIRC there is
an illustration in the owners manual, or a dealer should be able to show you
how. There is a strong hard plastic seat base under the cushion. If you
place a folded blanket on this plastic base (or even with nothing) it is not
too uncomfortable for a short trip if needed, the seat belts stay attached
to the body and are fully functional with the cushion removed. With the
cushion removed and the seat back folded, the seat bucket area is a nice
place to store a tool kit and the load straps for my roof rack and other
stuff like emergency raincoat and gloves. I do not think I have ever
bothered to completely reinstall the cushion as it is well retained in the
hard plastic seat base without latching. I normally keep the cushion in my
garage and only seldom bother to put it in the car and only when required.

I am just under 6 feet and find it quite comfortable for sleeping. I push
the seats forward and fill the leg area with soft stuff. If I am alone I
will sleep at an angle and only push the passenger seat forward. I keep a
piece of heavy cardboard on the floor area over the seat back hinge as this
helps to flatten the hinge gulley. I keep some closed cell camping foam
under an old carpet cut to fit. The extra carpet is soft and easy to remove
for cleaning and the cardboard can be used if I need to carry something
dirty. The carpet can also be pulled back to cover the latch ring and
prevent scratching flat stuff when sliding it in and out of the car. I
usually keep a couple of old blankets in the back and they also help to make
it more comfortable for the dogs and I and are helpful for padding when
moving furniture.

Both my dogs and I have found this arrangement works very well. I really
treat it as a two seat vehicle with covered storage, I doubt that the seat
back has been raised more than 3 % of the time.

YMMV

 

I have a 94 SW2 1 owner and it is flat which is why I bought it. We
camp a lot and when it is raining hard we just move our stuff to the
front and sleep in the back. We have 168K miles on her but replaced the
engine & trans from 6th Planet Auto in FL (1200 for both w/shipping) I
will eventually replace her with a hybrid plug in wagon as soon as
someone makes one. In the mean time if you want a flat wagon for
sleeping I tried out the Toyota Matrix and they are flat & comfy. I
hear the Honda Fit is good too.
Happy Motoring