SeaNile

Coming from a 2010 Chevy Tahoe where the heated seats would burn your cheeks and the heat would make the entire interior very warm with a strong fan, etc. My 2011 450h heated seats are virtually non-existant and the heat is so very weak. The fan strength is OK but it never really blows hot air. I've tired auto, different modes and nothing seems to work.

Are my expectations too high coming from the Chevy Tahoe? I mean its never really even very warm in the 450h, just not cold. Waking up to 5 degrees tomorrow I am not looking forward to driving around in the 450h.

Mors

If you have it on ECO mode, try turning that off. ECO mode seems to affect the heat quite a bit during harsh winter months. As far as the heated seats go, I'm not sure and hope others will chime in. I have an '11 Camry Hybrid and the heated seats get very hot in it (granted it's not the same car but would be similar I think)

vlad_a

I never keep the seats on 3, as it gets too hot. 2.5 is perfect.
Heat is excellent. About 0F right now. No complaints in that dept.
I also made sure rear vents are open.

Make sure the AC is off, LOL. Sorry, couldn't help myself, with the lack of AC button.

DunWkg

Did you have this car in previous winter(s) and did it perform okay? If so, perhaps something is wrong and needs some attention. If this is the first winter, at five degrees you may need to wait or drive around for 15 minutes before the engine has warmed up enough to start warming the cabin. Check the engine temp gauge, the needle should be up and on the third tick or more. Do as Mors has suggested and turn off ECO mode and set the vents to your feet and set the temperature higher than normal. After a bit, try setting the vents to feet and dash and see how that works. I would find it unusual if you need to set it higher than 76 and after awhile at that temp you would warm up enough to slowly lower the temp.

If you have to keep turning the temperature up higher and higher, I would think the car needs some attention from a mechanic.

The automatic setting works similarly. The ventilation fan may stay off for awhile as the engine warms up and then the fan will begin blowing at your feet and then shifts to the dash vents. When it makes that shift you will feel cool (as you said not cold, but cool). Turn the temp up a couple of degrees and it should warm up a bit.

Cruiter

John, as I understand it you're talking about the seats. Mine is a 2010 but I don't think they've changed the seats in that regard. Once they've been running 5 minutes or so, low is all I can stand (they get pretty warm). Of course there's no ventilation on the heated part of the seats, just toasted buns. It could be a contact isn't grounded properly. Have you checked the passenger side as well?

kitlz

SeaNile, unfortunately you found one of the downsides of owning a hybrid, slow heat. It's especially true if you do city driving and/or make brief trips. The engine still cycles on and off. Most of the possible causes/fixes have been mentioned. I'll add, if you have the climate control on auto, the vents automatically default to floor and windows when the temp is set around 74 and above. You can manually change the vents/fan speed yourself but you're probably better off keeping it on auto so it adjusts both on its own. What I like to call 'roast and toast' is possible. It just takes a little longer. Stay warm!

wa3cuj

Anita, Lexus took care of the slow heat issue. I am not sure what year that happened but I just traded my 2010 for a leftover 2013 and it heats up in less than 2 miles of driving!! On my 2010 I felt like I would have to drive 10-20 miles before it got up to temp. I am now able to leave ECO Mode on at all times.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

My 2011 gets toasty within two minutes.

vlad_a

Actually, the hybrid will warm up faster. It has an exhaust heat recovery system to warm up the engine coolant by warm exhaust gasses.
I put my RXh in Sport mode yesterday to force the engine to be spiked to higher RPMs as I was driving in -8F temp. The seats were keeping up and the hot air was coming out of vents after 10 min of driving on local roads.

kitlz

Bob, that's good to know. But I have no plans on trading in just yet. Plus I like to get next gens instead of refreshes. Can't you tell

That link is for the HS, I found the one for the RX in here. And no sport mode on my RXh.

I was comparing the 450h to the 330 driving my old nine mile, somewhat hilly city commute when I made the comment about slow heat. By the time I got to work, I was roasty toasty in the 330, not so much in the 450h. Now I'm down to a five mile commute, still city driving, about half of it hilly. No doubt the unusually cold weather will make getting warm challenging under any circumstances.

robartin

You can see the difference Eco Mode makes by turning it on and off while the heat is running. When you turn Eco Mode on, your heater fan speed will drop significantly. I'm sure this impacts cabin warm up time.

I usually have Eco Mode on but have turned it off on particularly cold days.

The RX's heated seats don't get too hot, but too hot is not always good. The heated seats on a previous car (a Mazda, don't ever buy one) got so hot one day that smoke started rising from the seat.

Kulharin

I'm coming from a 2008 400h; in my 2010 450h the heating system seems to take longer to warm up the vehicle and overall be not as warm/hot even cranking the settings up to max.

Even the heat warmers at level 3 seem to be a slightly weaker than the 2008. Is something else going on? I ski and surf in the pacific northwest so this is a bit distressing.