Thanks for that link, Anita. It gives me some good food for thought. My biggest challenges are that I like to run the A/C on Auto, but even more challenging is the fact this is my wife's vehicle, and I only drive it occasionally on weekends. For our longer road trips several times a year, though, something like those deflectors will CERTAINLY be employed.

 

The vents will automatically default to floor in auto mode with the AC on. So once you fashion your own fix, you'll probably notice a difference. Never did it myself. For me, it worked well enough to avoid sticky buns, LOL!

 

The other accommodation I must consider is the significant difference in seat position for my wife and me. I have the seat almost all the way back, and she has it almost all the way up front. She is also sort of hesitant to let me start "modifying" much of anything on her car, though I am pretty certain I can make a sound case for this tweak. She's already heard me "comment" on the lack of cooling with the seat ventilation.

 

FIXED IT!! after buying a used one for $50, I removed the existing one and discovered that the switch plug was did-connected! I plugged it in firmly and it worked! Now if the place I bought the used one will only take it back!!! lol

 

Ours ventilated seats are a joke. I know the fan is working because we can both hear them. I know how to set the ventilation so that the cold A/C air is split between the A/C vents and the floor vents (this is not our only car with ventilated seats). However, the ventilated seats still become warm and become uncomfortable in hot weather. I can feel a little cool air in the bottom seat, but nothing in the seat back. I know central North Carolina is hot and humid, but our other car, a C7, Corvette, has very effective ventilated seats. With the Vette, I have to turn the fan down because it gets uncomfortably cold. With the Lexus it's only a tad better than no ventilation at all.
Is this typical? Do others find their ventilated seats are ineffective? Our RX is a 2014 model.

 

There was a hack described a couple years ago where bent cardboard was placed under the seat at the rear edge to deflect more air up into the seat and reduce flow out the rear of the seat. I think they had a cardboard about the length between the sides that when bent lengthwise stuck up a few inches to seal off the area. A search may find it, or try experimenting building your own with some scrap cardboard.

 

the whole seat mechanism simply blows. If you look carefully under the seat the fan housing isn't even connected to any ducts or baffles designed to draw/channel the air from the seat. It isn't even centered. They took an existing seat, took out about 2 inches depth of foam and placed a fan/motor unit (about 6 inches in diameter for the housing) about 2 inches from the center line to the passenger side. And this whole thing just sits inside where the seat foam was supposed to be. Look underneath a typical Caddy and you will find better designed and separate housing under the seat. (in general American cars have more robust HVAC system)

 

This issue irritates the hell out of me. Ventilated seats were one of the neat features I was looking forward to. The lumbar seat portion might as well not be ventilated because I cannot feel it at all. Rented a Cadillac XTS recently and LOVED the seat adjustments and cooling function. Cadillac integrates seat heating/cooling with the automatic climate control. Imagine that.

 

2017 RX 350 here. My wife says she feels a difference, I don't. Actually only discovered that the "cooling" is from cabin air sucked through the seat. Agree with all of you that it is a joke!
I think they call it "cooling" for marketing purposes only, the only thing I can say is that the electric motors are noisy. Lexus you must do better.

 

Lexus never said the seats are cooling

 

They say so in their ads "Heating & Cooling seats" what they don't say is how

 

in their write up it written heating and ventilating seats, under premium package

 

I know of no car under $100K that's got A/C unit hooked up to the seat bottoms. I think you are splitting atoms here. These seats get cooler by sucking out the sweaty air from bottom area. Nuff said. So, call it whatever you'd like - ventilated or cooled.....

Anyways, I'm in the process of ripping out the whole mechanism and getting new foam down there. The darn motor unit was sticking me in the butt area and it was getting supper annoying.

 

So how does your cooled seats work? Mine are not that effective...not that I need them with a beige interior but I was just wondering.

 

Not as noticeable as I thought at first but on a few of our warmer days and once the AC starts it's job they do feel good but it's not like you feel the air fanning you as more of a general coolness.