Hi all, new member and have found this forum super helpful as I prepare to buy a CPO Defender 90 (much more knowledgeable than the team at my dealer!).

Fold flat seat is important to me - I cart around two often wet, muddy dogs every day. Don’t want a 110 as I prefer the compact size and looks of a 90 and will only need the rear seats occasionally. Am in the US so commercial options not available. Would probably leave the seats down 95% of the time and flip them up only when needed. A few questions:

I thought the new factory flip-down fold-flat seats were introduced in the 2023.5 model year. But I saw two 23.5 CPOs yesterday and neither had this option. Was it instead introduced for 24?

Anyone here regularly using the workaround of popping out the regular seat cushion and removing the foam? Any issues? Again, I likely would have the seat bottom popped out 95% of the time so there wouldn’t be a ton of clipping in/out, but still somewhat concerned about long term durability of this solution.

Finally, any answer on whether new seats can be retrofitted and at what cost? I saw this bandied about in other threads but didn’t see a definitive answer.

I don’t think this option is worth paying $15k more to purchase new vs CPO, but it may be worth holding out until there are more 2024s on the CPO market.

 

Only issue I have found pre-2024 is if the vehicle has heated back seats. If so they must be disconnected. In your case you probably never need to reconnect. Back seat area is very good, access isn’t.

 

I have the seat cushion on my 90 popped out almost all the time. It stores easily between the front seats and folded down back seat. Add the load space leveler in the very back, and you're all set.