5PM

I'm sitting in Lexus of Serramonte waiting on my 2013 F Sport's 10K service. I asked for two additional things to be done, based on what I've read here.

1) TSB for weak trunk lid springs - I've now been told there is no bulletin on this.
2) Change seat heaters so they don't turn themselves down automatically - I'm told this isn't possible.

Does anybody have a real reference for either that I can wave in the Service Manager's face?

e39ng

Here's the Trunk TSB: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3P...it?usp=sharing
Check if your VIN is within the range.

5PM

Thanks…this sounds like it's intended to address the exact opposite of the problem I have, which is that the springs are so weak that you can tap the trunk closed from fully open with one finger. Hmmm...

G-SharK

2) Change seat heaters so they don't turn themselves down automatically - I'm told this isn't possible. *There is nothing you can do on this note. only new GS 2014 have that option, not on 2013. I have a 13' and that cannot be done. reason is the 13' heater coils will burn up, 14' use a new style coil for the heater.

Let me know if you find something new.

5PM

I'm curious as to who told you this, not because I know differently but because I'm just amazed at the amount of misinformation that comes out of car dealerships. It's understandable, really; nobody is actually trained on current year cars. Training lags 1-2 model years, so if you buy a first year new model, you hear a lot of stories.

It contradicts this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-this-car.html

Apparently some 2013 GS owners have had dealers change the seat heater thing. Or not!

mrpartsman

one thing I learned that the dealer service guys some of them have no clue abt cars, one guy I know he used to be a cashier now he is a service writer, I was like r u kidding me, so u always have to be prepared, in that situation which there is a TSB , u take the TSB number with u, and u tell them.

GSLEX

I have had it done on my 13GS at the 5k service. Nobody at the dealer said it could not or should not be done for any reason. My dealer is Tustin Lexus in Tustin CA. Right off the 5 fwy at Tustin Ranch rd.

5PM

Thanks…too far away for me, but I'll call them and see if I can get a procedure reference.

I'm coming to the conclusion that Serramonte just doesn't like to do customizations. At the 5K they programmed keys/seat position with no problem (I would imagine that's probably the most popular customization), but claimed not to know how to change the number of lane change flashes; I ended up doing it myself with instructions posted here. This is annoying; the designers should make most of this stuff user-configurable and just take the service guys out of it.

Carista

I don't know about the seat heater setting in particular, but if you want to change all sorts of other settings, you can try Carista, an Android app that can change most settings that you normally have to go to the dealer for.

I'm the developer of that app. We're still in the process of adding more settings, and I don't think we have the seat heater settings yet, but in any case, it's free to try the app and see what settings are available for your particular car. If you want to change something, you have to buy the Pro Package, which is $9.99... way less than 1 visit to the dealer, and it gives you unlimited access to changing as many settings as you want, as many times as you want, from the comfort of your own car. In terms of hardware, you need a standard ELM327 Bluetooth adapter, which you can get for around $10-$25 on amazon, ebay, etc. Again, your total is $20-35... worth it, no?

(we're working on adding more settings and in general our goal is that if the dealer is able to change something, we should be able to change it as well).

5PM

Interesting…I'm an Apple Partisan, but perhaps I'll have to get a Craigslist Android something and give it a try.

JAM

My dealership in Cherry Hill, NJ changed my heater seats so they do not go down from 3 to 1 and then turn off. It can be done with 2013 models no matter when they came out. It has nothing to do with coils in 2013 as opposed to 2014. Same with air cool seats. They are programmed to stay on.

e39ng

Dealer should be able to change the heater seats setting...Here's the factory manual regarding this https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3P...it?usp=sharing
Maybe show it to them so they know how to do it...

5PM

Thanks so much! This is gonna be fun...