Soooo after much discussion about how the hell you maneuver the seats into all of its multiple forms, here is a guide in case you ever get into a sticky situation. If you want to know about RECLINING THE REAR SEATS, please skip to REFRESH MODE.

1. Tall Mode
Pretty Straight forward with this one. Pulling on the latch on either corner will release the seat mechanism allowing you to adjust them as necessary. First pull up on the latch and then pull up on the base of the seat until the base is sitting parallel to the back of the seat. Push the black metal seat stand down and firmly push the seat bottom against the seat back to lock it in place. When all is said and done, it should look a little something like this:



2. Cargo Mode
Repeat the steps above to put the magic seats in tall mode. There are two methods to do this. The first one is you can remove the headrest and then pull on the latch to release the seat and you can neatly tuck the seat into the floor. The second method (my preferred method as you won't need to find storage for the headrests) is to use the latches on the front seats to push the front seats as far forward as possible. With the seat forward, you can pull on the rear seat latches to release the seat and put the seats down. You can now slide your front seats back into position with the headrest neatly tucked underneath the front seat. The headrest will act as a lock and will prevent the seats from going back up unless you move the front seats forward. It will look like this:



3. Long Mode
Put the magic seats into Cargo Mode by following the steps above. To put the magic seats into long mode, simply slide the front passenger seat as far forward as possible and then recline the back of the passenger seat until it is against the back of the rear seats. That is as far as it goes. Handy for big boxes. Looks something like this:




4. Refresh Mode
Finally we have refresh mode. To do this, you start from the beginning and have all of your seats in their normal upright position. First, remove the front head rests:



Now you'll have to recline your rear seats. To do this, simply pull on the latches on either side of the rear seats and then gently push the seat backs towards the rear of the car. This will recline the rear seats by a few inches. Here are the before and after shots from the front and the back of the rear seats:

BEFORE:



AFTER:



OK, now that that is finished, you can proceed to move the front seats as far forward as you can. After doing this, recline the front seats backwards towards the bottom of the rear seat. This is where it gets a little tricky. I usually recline it to the bottom notch first. It should be pretty close, if not touching the bottom of the rear seat. Go to the back seats and lift up on the rear seat latches and pull up on the seat bottoms a little bit so that they sit above the back of the front seats. You can just leave it there and return to the front seats. It should look like this:



Make sure that the seats are fully pushed forward. Now you can pull up on the reclining handle and then proceed to push the back of the front seats down. The bottom of the rear seat should follow the back of the front seat down into place against one another. To be sure, I would push down right at the point where they meet so they go down evenly together. Once down, you are in refresh mode and should look something like this:



Well, there you have it. A short tutorial on how to use your magic seats.

 

so i think i have a few questions... i'll make a new thread.. :P jk. great write up!

 

Awesome, thanks! Very good pictures to illustrate the various modes. RepPower++

 

THANK YOU!!! Omg man u beat my to it! i was going 2 make one tomm but nicely done!

 

thanks, i didnt know the rear seats reclined. + rep for you my friend.

 

so how is refresh mode done again?!?!? J/K I like your write up alot. very informative. thanks for the time and effort in all of this. Hoperfully it answers the questions that were floating around there and will prevent future questions of how in the hell do my seats work?!?!?!

 

No problem. I hope this will be of more use than trying to explain it every time. It gets frustrating. Definitely add any tricks you may have come up with to get the magic seats to fold down easier etc. The more information, the better!

 

hahah so you really did make a tutorial, nice!

 

Of course hehe!

 

I was thinking about using refresh mode on the passenger side, and have a friend hold one of my spare steering wheels and record the traffic next me's reaction

 

Great write up Illusive, it seems very useful for people who have questions about the magic seats!

 

Moved thread to "Fit Inside" for better visibility

 

Thanks for the guide! Not sure if I'll ever use Refresh Mode, but the little tips and tricks will come in handy if I ever do. Maybe when I demo it to friends and family, it'll help, instead of me fighting to figure it out on the spot.

-Mike

 

Glad you could use it!

 

I just wish there was a place to keep those headrests when the seats are folded down. I recall seeing a picture where they stayed attached but sort of folded up when the fron seats went down. Mustve been an overseas version that wouldnt comply to US safety rules...

 

Yup, you can leave them attached. The only pain is that you have to move your seats as far forward as possible so that the headrest clears the back of the front seats. You can then proceed to move your seat back into place. I've explained both methods of cargo mode with and without headrests in step 2 above

 

aggggh. having a hard time reclining the rear seats! tried pulling the latch and pushing the back part to no avail.

 

Great job.... I have been wondering how to do refresh mode!!!!

 

What is the point or use for refresh mode? Does the passenger sit in that back seat with their feet on the backrest part of the front seat like a recliner or something?

 

Where did you get the matching blue trim around the door pulls? Thanx!!