2014 Chevy Impala Marks End of Front Bench Seats in Cars

It's a question we get a lot on Ask.Cars.com: What cars have a front bench seat?

We've always been able to answer: the Chevrolet Impala.

But not after 2013, when the redesigned 2014 Chevy Impala hits dealers early in the year. It will feature two front buckets like every other passenger car on sale today.

We know logically that front bench seats aren't in demand enough to warrant their existence, but many people cling to a nostalgic love for the feature. Let us know in the comments below if you miss front bench seats or if you plan to run out and get one of the last new Impalas to have one.

Comments

How am going to get my girlfriend to slide accross the seat to me going around corners?

Oh, right . . . Seatbelts already put a stop to that.

Nevermind . . .

I won't run out and get a new Impala, but I will miss bench seats. No more girlfriends snuggling up or putting additional riders in front. I have a 1960 Cadillac that has a great front bench seat.

I also miss those front door wind vents we could crank open.

Clergy in the early 1900's decried the automobile as a "rolling bedroom" that enabled all kinds of debauchery. Fortunately... they were right. Now what? Guess we're left with the windowless van. Don't start knockin' yadayada

When I sold cars, I had several ...larger... customers that would only consider bench seats because they could not comfortably fit in a bucket.

Sucks to be them.

It's not so much the lack of a bench seat as the presence of those damned center consoles that leave no room for my long legs. Our 2006 Tahoe has no such console, but the new ones I've looked at do -- even when they have a (sort of a ) bench seat.

What Stephen said. I'm a bigger guy with longer legs, and find many modern cars uncomfortable to drive. I have a GMC Sonoma pickup with no center console and love it because there is plenty of room to sprawl my right leg to the side while driving. I recently borrowed a friend's BMW and found that I had to put the seat so far back to fit my legs comfortably that I practically had to lean forward to reach the steering wheel.

My girlfriend's Ford F150, and my Ranger, both have bench seats, for which I am grateful (see Brent's comment above).

I second and third what Stephen and David said! At 6'2" a properly adjusted seat puts my shin and knee hard into the center console. Driving from a reclined position is not safe and not the answer. I would hope at least Detroit wakes up on the ergonomics of the average male today.

My family is fairly clumsily and we are often getting ourselves hurt. When you have a big knee brace or broken (right) foot, the console gets in the way. Also, even though I'm a little on the shorter side, I like having the extra room to just sprawl out and get comfortable. The newer cars just can't compare to the older ones when it comes to passenger and driver comfort.

Pickups still have bench seats, thank God. They're the best excuse around for your girlfriend to snuggle-up. Plus, I'm a tall guy (6'4"), I need a lot fo room to move my legs occasionally. Center consoles force me into this one convoluted posture.

I notice another poster mentioned crank-open vent windows; I always thought they were great. I also preferred the old left-foot floor toggle headlight dimmer.

I HATE the climate control that comes on most cars; I want some sort of vent that just allows fresh air to flow in. This is especially important when living in humid areas.

I'm a 5'10" female with long legs -- and 60 years old! I've driven a plethora of cars and have yet to find one with a center console that is comfortable for a cross-country trip. I echo the complaints about no room for knees and feet. There's also no place for a woman's purse! My current vehicle has 116k miles, and I'm looking for a replacement car (not p/u) without a center console that I can drive from one end of the U.S. to the other.

I have been looking for a car with a bench seat but could only find a pick-up. I was thinking of asking Honda if they would consider adding a bench seat to one of their models. Impala, I should have known. Never thought to google it. Guess I'm still old school. I found this searching for 60 years old in 2014. Hahaha. I guess I'm decade or two late.

I am an amputee. Very often, in parking lots, cars will park so close to the driver's side that I can't get in. Once I had to wait 3 hours for someone to return to their car so I could get in mine. With a bench seat at least I would have a 50/50 chance of being able to continue on with my day.

I'm not 6'4" - I'm a slender framed 5'3" female and I find bucket seats uncomfortable. I am in the market for a new car. I'm actually considering buying a very old car simply because there's no center console and although it doesn't have a bench seat (which I'd prefer), it's not a newer type bucket seat which I find extremely uncomfortable. I herniated a disc in my back when I was 29 and the physical therapist told me that bucket seats are not made for comfort (they're very un-ergonomic) - insurance companies push them because it reduces injuries in a crash. Insurance companies driving our market - no surprise there.

I really dislike sitting next to a cheap peace of plastic that takes up room in a car. Currently I drive a 1995 Oldsmobile and love it. It has 152,000 miles on it and runs great. If car firms can't build what I want, I will keep mine and visit a mechanic when needed rather than a dealer!

Why this foolishness. Bench seat allowed a car to be 6 seater.

2 parents, 2 kids and 2 grand parents can use this car. Not anymore.

GM wants to force people to buy bigger SUVs, thats why this move.

When plugins / EVs become common, there will not be any gear stick, so the bench seat will come back again.

If some car company introduces a 6 seater, the companies will bring back.

Bench seats are part of a by-gone era of fake wood, landau vinyl tops, and opera windows. Very outdated.

This is a travesty! I've been driving for almost 20 years and I can't stand console-mounted shifters for automatics. I only like console shifting for manuals. It's a total waste of space for automatics. I'd much rather have that wasted space be open and have the shifter on the column or dash, for four main reasons: 1) Comfort - it's so much more comfortable to be able to spread your right leg out and not be confined by the console, 2) I can easily slide over to the passenger seat or from passenger to driver in tight parking situations, 3) I can have a 3rd passenger in the front row for those instances when I need the seat (we did this all the time when I was a kid in our Ford Fairmont station wagon), and 4) I can hold my wife next to me when driving, like people do (or at least did) all the time in pickup trucks. Can someone name one single advantage to having an automatic shifter in the console?

Hallelujah!! to everyone who hates center consoles..I have delayed buying a new car for over a year now because I cannot find any that are comfortable for my legs..am 6'3" not heavy..only vehicle I've found that is as comfortable as my Olds 88 is a Ford F-150...never owned a truck but will probably join thousands of other tall men and buy one. No wonder pickups are the #1 selling vehicles today

I love my benchseat (I'm not getting any younger)- did you ever try climbing over the middle console (ow)to open the passenger side frozen door from the inside when you're in a hurry?

One more benefit being taken away.

I have a 2002 Buick Park Avenue with a bench seat, and I honestly can't tell you how many times I have used the front middle to carry an extra passenger. I'm 23 years old, and let me tell you, the second we need to drive anywhere, my friends flock to my vehicle. Makes carpooling a heck of a lot more efficient.

Also, the car used to be my parents'... whenever my mom uses it, she always comments on how she likes that there is a place for her to put her purse (in her current Buick, that space is taken up by a centre console!)

front bench seats are the most comfortable seating that a vehicle can have. i do not care for the console. our legs need space also. front bench seat also represent American identity in vehicles. Why are we totally doing away with American ingenuity that really works at making us feel comfortable while operating a vehicle?

The Bench front seat is pure genius. But a one-two punch of the big gulp followed by the iPhone killed it.

It's not the big luxury SUV my wife drives, but I drive pickup and need seating for only 3 when I have the kids with me.

With gas prices never going down again, I've considered a 2 door sub compact or v6 muscle car. But those cars have no real back seats or bench front seat. I would consider something as small as the honda CRZ if it hand a bench front seat for 3 like the crx use to have.

I think car makers are missing out on something important. Bring it back please.

From the comments here, it sounds like there's a bigger market for bench seats than you think. I'll add my voice in favor.

is it also one of the last to have the shifter on the steering column?

I love rench seats! Hope they will return pretty soon...

I echo the posts above. I'm a tall guy and love the bench seat on my 2002 Impala so I can spread my right leg out while driving.

They say "only" 10% of people bought the bench seat, but that still seems like a lot of cars to me, and it doesn't count the people who probably didn't even know it was an option!

Looks like I'll be getting a 2013 Impala in a year or so...

I am a German and really like German cars but I just can't understand why the American manufacturers now start to "europeanize" their interiors. Front bench seats rock!! They would have been a reason for me to buy an American car. Well not anymore I guess *sigh*. The thing that I find most rediculous about German cars is: The bigger the car, the wider the center console, taking up all the space. Why the F would I buy an S-class Mercedes or sth like that if not for the comfort? If I wanna be squeezed in I can buy a Yaris or sth like that and save my money. Of course I forgot: Every single car has to be "sportive" these days. So bucket seats and rock hard suspension seem to be the only option today.

I am very disappointed in the trend of cars these days. Bench seats are so much more comfortable and roomy. I bought an '06 Buick, for the bench seat. Now I'm in the market for a new car and can't find what I'm looking for. Maybe I should look at the Impala, before the bench seats are completely gone.

Even though modern bench seats are a joke and can only carry 6 in a pinch at least you get more room up front and don't feel claustrophobic. Just compare the 2 pictures and in the 2012 there is so much more room in front then the 2014. Unless the car is a sports car or has mannual transmission there is really no need for a console shifter. People think console shifters are sporty and column shifters aren't but no shifter is sporty. Automakers should give people an option of either a column shift and bench seats or console shift and bucket seats. You should even have the option of bucket seats and column shift. In the 1994-1995 Impala SS it had a column shift with bucket seats and a big area for storage.

Yes I plan on it. my fiance is disabled. having a bench seat is imperative to his travel. otherwise he will have to be humiliated and sit in the back seat

Add me to the list of wanting a bench seat. In a sports car I want buckets but in an every day car, give me a bench seat!!

I am a rural mail carrier...I need a bench seat to deliver the mail!!! This is horrible news! I would like to know who makes these decisions?!?!

MORE BENCH SEATS
~B

We travel extensively with our Cocker Spaniel. She likes to sprawl out in the center of our Towncar bench seat. In a car with bucket seats the dog has to sit in your lap and can't move around much, and is uncomfortable for the passenger. Please keep bench seats an option.

Yes, I will be going to buy a 2013 with a bench seat. My dogs ride in the front seat with me and a bench seat lets them sit beside me. With bucket seats they have to stand in my lap which is not very safe.

Kne room is the issue mainly. the feel of cloth beside you. a flat surface beside the driver that coins and things will not fall into. a non scratch surface beside the driver. a flat surface beside the driver to put things like mcdonalds french fries and things. there are many reasons for a bench seat not to mention the living room type of comfort in your car- a couch.

I miss the bench seat. It just provided so much more room. I am ok with individual seats WITHOUT the full console. The full console in most cars today, just restricts your movement and takes up to much space in cars that are getting smaller all the time. Besides, if I have a passenger where do I put my purse? Please bring back more space upfront!

How about rural mail carriers, what are we going to use now?????

Used rental Impala Limiteds, mt.

I have held off for 3 years buying a new car because of lack bench seats. Today I am buying a used one and hope the car companies pay attention to the needs of the public! I need bench seat for my elderly mother. Much easier to get in and out.

We love our chrysler minivan, this is our third one. Very spacious because there's NO CONSOLE! But we're shopping again and there are no choices. Not everyone wants to feel like they're in the Daytona 500. Aren't there any cars w/o consoles??

Bring back the Bench Seat. The bench seat gives the driver and passenger more room. Contrary to the in-
surance companies claims both driver and passenger are safer in a bench seat than a bucket seat.

Bucket seats cause a condition known as iliotibial band (IB) syndrome syndrome. The sides of the seat stretch the IB, causing much pain, especially on long trips. If I'm driving more than one hour at a time, I use a tush cush so that I won't aggravate my IB.

I own a 2008 Chevy Impala and love it and was thinking about a new model but now won't consider buying an Impala because the bench seat option is just more comfortable and versitile. Hopefully Chevrolet with rethink their decision for future Impalas. -

I would like to buy a new car, but can't stand those ugly, large, stupid console's they put in just everything. We need more intelligent people running car companies.

I HATE CENTER CONSOLES!!!!! If someone is sitting in the passenger seat and you need to have something next to you like a 'clip board' where do you put it? Where is my wife suppose to put her purse? Also, I hate not being able to move my right knee around on long trips. If the car companies are going to be stubborn about putting these nuisances in cars they should at least put the shift back on the column and design a console you can sit something on.

Car companies don't care about customers, they care about the government regs. Why? Because that's where they get their money when the customers abandon them. Bought a truck with a bench seat, best move I ever made. Modern cars suck.

My present car is a '97 LHS Chrysler, which I bought purposely with a bench seat; we have relatives who "fly in" occasionally, and we need the six passenger capacity as well as the large trunk. I also appreciate and prefer the column-mounted shifter. I'm now looking for an auto with those attributes, and do not want a van. Chrysler is out; they no longer produce such a vehicle. Therefore, I'll be shopping for a 2113 Impala or earlier.

Now what the heck am I supposed to do? My Buick Park Avenue is approaching 200,000 miles and I think it's about time I got a new car. The bench seat in the Park Avenue is so comfortable I hate to sell it. I've seen the pictures of your new 2014 Impala and I'm really impressed. I'm an industrial photographer and that car, The Impala, is a real work of art. If you put a bench seat in it, I would buy one tomorrow. Seniors want comfort, bucket seats are for teenagers and racecar drivers. thanks for listening, Ranger Jim