blair350RX

Anyone else having trouble with weak heated seats? My 2 week old RX seats are not getting even warm - temp in the 80's. Dealer said it might be a problem with all RX models.

thanks!

kitlz

blair350RX, welcome to CL. The statement from your dealer is not true. The only complaints I've read are similar to yours about the heated seats not being warm enough. I had to turn mine back on the past few days when the temps dipped into the 30s and they were nice and toasty. So it might be somewhat subjective. One thing you might want to do is go back to the dealer and test the seats in another RX. If there is a difference, then they're going to have to explore the problem further.

Just curious, any particular reason you're trying out the heated seats in 80 degree weather? Cooled seats might be better.

blair350RX

It was cold and rainy the first week I had the car, so I turned on the heated seat, and couldn't even tell it was on after several hours! The first service appointment was another week later and they tested the seat late afternoon when it was sunny. The temp read in the 80's when outside temp was in the 70s - so it clearly wasn't heating the seat further.

The dealer said they would test other cars in the showroom and get back to me. I'm not sure what I'll do if they tell me this is standard - I'd at least want a refund for this. I paid $1390 for heated seat option, and I SO LOVED this feature on my past VWs. Wouldn't have bought the car if this wasn't an option.

thanks for the feedback on your own cars.

drewcam888

iTrader: (1)

Yes the RX heated seats are very weak compared to most other vehicles. I have used much better heated seats

NateJG

Wow.

My 2013 RXh's seats get uncomfortably warm after a few miles - unless it's below zero out (like it was ten days in a row here this past winter).

Anita's question made me chuckle. During a discussion regarding seat heaters in a Bimmer Forum, a fellow responded to a snarky question relating to just why the owner of a roadster convertible in California would be discussing heated seats.

While a quick search of the forum didn't turn up the post that I wanted to link here - the gist of his clever response was something close to:

"...I don't have much use for the heated seats; but if I want to keep the pretty bikini-clad girl in the seat next to me warm..."

I think he made a good point.

kitlz

Too funny, Nate. I wasn't trying to be snarky in my remark. I just figured blair350RX was testing the heated seats out and it just happened to be warm outside. That in itself makes it hard to appreciate the warmth they bring. They're not meant to get super hot, just enough to take the edge off. Getting a refund probably won't happen. Again, I'd suggest trying out the heated seats in other RXs to figure out if they're worked as designed or need to be repaired. Good luck.

novaman

I have a 2015 RX with heated seats. That being said, I had occasion to use them recently ( don't use RX in winter as I live in Florida and have different car there) in weather that was in mid to high 30's and they did seem a bit weak. The seats got warm that was about it. I can compare them to a 2014 Ford Edge as my buddy and wife picked us up from airport on April 23rd when I flew home from winter in Florida and I used the heated seats in his Edge and couldn't keep them on full as they were too hot.

So bottom line, I would say they are a bit weak.

novaman

NateJG

Whoops!

I had to go look at how I phrased my comment, Anita. In no way was I implying that your question was snarky; and I should have started a new paragraph to delineate my chuckle triggered by your question, and my memory of a snarky remark on another forum.

In my haste to post something that I had found interesting, I'm afraid that my segue was misleading - for which I'm sorry. I do enjoy your posts.

I am still chuckling over keeping the bikini girl warm in California.

kitlz

Nate, I didn't think you were implying I was snarky. It's hard sometimes to get the humor across in words and I felt I made a poor attempt. Your post was perfectly fine and enlightening in a funny way. Sometimes I wonder how even non-bikini clad convertible owners can get away with the top down. And after a week with well below normal temperatures (like winter wasn't bad enough, GRRR!), it's hard for me to understand why heated seats are needed with temps in the 70s and 80s. But who knows, maybe there is something wrong with blair350RX's heated seats. I'd want to test them too. So all is well

NateJG

I have another one:

On my way to work one Michigan Winter day, my seat got especially HOT - to the point that I nearly ran into the car in front of me at the stoplight of a busy intersection as I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt while trying to keep my derrière off of the seat bolster.

I reached my "behind"; and my slacks were really hot. Feeling the leather seat, I put my finger into a hole that had been burned through the leather!

According to the Dealer's diagnostician - when the heating element broke, like the flash of light as a lightbulb makes as it flares-out, the wire created enough energy to burn through the leather as it failed.

It left a slight temporary burn on my hip; and charred a brown spot in the khaki slacks I was wearing (good thing I wasn't wearing a synthetic!).

VW replaced the leather heated seat cover and slacks; and completed a Recall for seat heater switch controls.

NateJG

I find the COOLING function on our car's seats to be somewhere between "Disappointing" and "Useless".

I had the dealer verify that they were, indeed, working - as wifie and I could see/feel no effect.

Still unconvinced, I found a quiet time and did verify that I could hear fans run in both seats.

In 30,000+ miles this past year I have found no use for the cooling function, as I have not been able see any evidence that they do anything.

Perhaps, if I spill a bottle of water in my lap...

kitlz

Nate, we have another thread discussing how to improve the ventilated seats. We don't want to derail this thread. Truth is, they might not heat or cool to everyone's desire. In blair350RX's case, it's a matter of determining whether they're functioning properly.

NateJG

What a hoot!

What a great link. Makes sense that if I want cold air up the seat, there's got to be cold air from somewhere!

I'm pretty sure that the A/C wasn't on during my tests, as we have few opportunities for A/C here in the state shaped like an important item of clothing.

Sorry, Blair350RX, for all the off-topic chatter. I hope yours is as simple a fix with your heater as mine is now with my cooler.

TechNut

I have found the seat heaters to be weak as well. I would call them seat "warmers" instead of seat heaters.

They do work, just not very strong.

Not to pull the thread off topic, but the cooled seats don't really do much either. It seams they just recirculate cabin air into the ventilated seat surfaces. They help keep us from sticking to the seats on hot days and that's about it - and they actually do that quite well.

jfelbab

Another data point. My 2014 RX seat heaters are very warm. Even on the lowest setting it becomes uncomfortably hot in a few minutes.