Reply #13: Yes,count on buying extra padding like a foam topper

[Gormy Cuss]

or see if you can find folding cardboard bed boards. Once when I had to sleep on a crappy pull out for weeks I used them and it made a huge difference.

Before that though the key is to look carefully at as many sleep sofas as you can before buying and try them out in the stores -- lie on it for five minutes, move around a bit, etc. The metal bar problem is really an issue of the thin mattress and lack of a foundation. These days some sleep sofas are better built with a mind to minimize that issue.

Futon sofas can be a better choice if you're furnishing a spare room but even futons don't guarantee a better sleeping surface if the sofa gets much use as a sofa. I've slept on futons where one side, the upright portion when it was set up as a sofa, was comfy but the other side (seat) was hard as a rock.