SusanMae said:
The back of the seat falling away is normal. I was rear ended in 1996 in a Geo Prism(same body as the toyota corolla). The back of the drivers seat fell away from me as well. I did ask my brother about it and he said that's what cars are designed to do. My brother is an ASE certified Master Mechanic---he went to school in Nashville. So I hope that eases your mind.
Susan
So I think there is a small misunderstanding here. The seat of a car should NEVER "fall away" in a accident. The seat is there to support your body and keep you in place. If the seat was designed to move, the other saftey systems on the vehicle would not be able to protect you. Infact a "falling away" seat is a leading factor is submarining out from under a seat belt in a multiple impact collision. In this case the "falling away" seat could lead to a decapitation (less than plesent).
More modern vehicles have stronger seats but older less expensive cars are known to have weak seats that could buckle in a crash.
Safe vehicles have seats capable of withstanding impacts up to 60+ mph without seat deformation.
I would never want my child to be in a "falling away" seat.
ASE tech school is for vehicle repair and maintance not for automotive engineering and vehicle colision dynamics.
PS. Saab does have a seat designed to reduce impact forces in a rear impact and it does alow the seat back to move upon impact. This seat however has a hinge that moves and then allows the seat to move both down and back. But this system has designed the other safety systems to allow for such seat movement. No other automakers offer such features.