ElliotB

As the weather has cooled off a bit in South Florida, especially in the evenings, I have been driving without the a/c and ventilated seats on, and I notice quite a difference (I have the ventilation on with the a/c off). The bottom line is the ventilated seats do work, they just don't blow air like a fan, and they are not designed to do that. They are simply designed to keep the seats a bit cooler than without the ventilation system. I have owned many vehicles over the years with leather seats and they were never comfortable during the summer. These are so obviously the ventilation is working as it is designed to do. Good luck with your case!

txes

A problem car's owner can be entitled to a comparable replacement, or a refund of the purchase price (prorated based on the miles driven). Under California lemon law, there are a few qualifications:

The car must still be under warranty
The owner must have taken the car in for repair of the same problem four or more times through an authorized dealer
The car must have been inoperable for a total of 30 days (not necessarily consecutive)
The problem or defect must also substantially impair the use, value, or safety of the vehicle. To qualify, cars must be either purchased or leased in California for personal, family, or business use.

Only word that comes to mind is frivolous.

John

lesz

[QUOTE=txes;8158087

Only word that comes to mind is frivolous.

John[/QUOTE]

I agree 100%. Lemon laws were created to deal with instances where a vehicle has major issues affecting its reliability and usability. They were not created to deal with instances where a vehicle owner does not like the way that the vehicle was designed.

And I have no question that the ventilated seats on the 2013 ES were designed to perform the way that they do. I'm confident that the Lexus engineers could have easily increased air flow from the bottoms of the seats, but, considering the priority that Lexus places an minimizing noise, they came to the conclusion that forcing a higher volume of air through the small ventilation openings with a more powerful fan would create noise levels beyond those that meet Lexus standards. Thus, they decided, instead of increasing overall air flow, to put the bulk of the air flow where it would be most effective, which is coming from the seat backs.

While the level of concern that some have about this issue strikes me as an excellent example of a "first world problem", it is also the case that, when complaints are raised via the legal system about issues that most would consider to be trivial, it makes it less likely that credibility can be established for more significant issues.

Mike728

Might want to add the heated steering wheel to the claim, since you'll be finding soon out that it's only partially heated.

LexBob2

The ventilated seat issue/non-issue does seem to fall into this category. It certainly doesn't seem worthy of a lemon law claim, as I understand them. Can it hurt to file a claim - No. Do I think anything at all will come from it - No,

atoyota

Especially since the claimant's only argument is "I only got to test drive the car for 10 minutes and they just assumed there would be more air flow and that the bottom of the seats were ventilated before purchasing the vehicle"

atoyota

lol Oh Myyyy, yes that will be an interesting thread.

lesz

The reality is that, if I was comparing the ES to comparably priced vehicles from Infiniti, Acura, BMW, and any number of other manufacturers, I know that I would find some features in the vehicles from each of the other manufacturers that I liked better than I do the features of the ES. But, when I finally choose which vehicle to buy, I choose the one whose combination of features best meets my needs and my priorities, and I accept the fact that there will be some features that I like less than I would similar features from another manufacturer. If there is an ES feature that I don't like and that is high on my list of priorities, then, I should be buying a vehicle from another manufacturer. Or, instead of buying a $45,000 vehicle from Lexus, I should be considering a $60,000 vehicle which will require me to make fewer compromises. For me, the combination of features that the ES provides meets my needs quite well, even though I have to accept compromises in some features that I would prefer were different.

While I think that it is appropriate to provide Lexus with feedback about how one feels that their vehicles could be improved, to consider using the legal system because one doesn't like the design implementation of a particular feature that is working the way it was designed to work just leaves me shaking my head.

ElliotB

I wonder if owners of similar class cars from Infiniti, Acura, BMW and using the lemon law claiming that their cars don't get around 40mpg like the 300h?

The bottom line is that Lexus chose to design certain features differently than their competitors, which they are entitled to. And, the bottom line is that the seats are cooler with the ventilation on than off.

Obviously the system could have been designed better. And it does work better in the LS vehicles. But in the end (pardon the pun), it does work.

Brozee

Just used mine for the first time yesterday. I noticed the same thing, it worked great; but only from the upper middle of the back of the seat. Not from the bottom.

Arty101

You end up blocking most of the vents siting on the bottom of the seat; hence minimal air flow. However, you'll feel a draft of air between your thighs where the vents are exposed. There's definitely more vents exposed and more air flow to the seat back. This may not be what I expected, but certainly does not warranty the Lemon Law, IMHO.

Art

SW17LS

This is a complete and total waste of time. Thats not even the purpose of the lemon law.

Idlefree

Funny, I was told the same thing about the ML system at the lexus dealership, that I would have no case in lemon law and Lexus informed me before I put in the claim this is how the ML system was designed. So if I listened to lexus and did not take the chance at the lemon law claim I would not of know. So taking a chance is not a bad thing, like I said before if anything comes out of this we all benefit, if not We know what I have.

Idlefree

This is your opion not mine, you belief it is a waste of time I do not. If by any chance I do win and it gets improved would you not like your changed. It is extremely hilarious how you get no support from individuals complaining about a product and taking a chance to improve it, but if the product improves everyone jumps on the band wagon.

Idlefree

I am good with the steering wheel Mike728 it fuctions as designed, if you have an issue with the steering wheel you have to make your own claim. For me when I turn it to the right it works, and when I turn it to the left it works and when I go straight it works so no concerns. Don't care about a heated steering wheel, it's there but probably will never use it.