Weak Heated Seats

28176 Views 89 Replies 50 Participants Last post by CityscapeX5, 7 mo ago

sloheim

Discussion Starter · Oct 7, 2018

I seem to remember another thread commenting on the weak heated seats, but I cannot find it.

Anyways, driving home today, I thought "Hey, its kinda chilly... lets see how well the heated seats work."

Well, I was disappointed.

I clicked the button to turn them on, they default to full strength. After a minute or so, I finally started to feel some heat. No biggie... first time I've used them... maybe they need a little extra time to get going. But after a few minutes, the heat seemed barely lukewarm to me. I was surprised at how little heat they put out.

Then I dropped it to the lowest settings, and I'm not sure I could feel anything at that point.

By way of comparison... my Hyundai Tucson was perfect. It only had 2 settings... "low" was warm enough most of the time, and "high" was a great option on super cold nights.

My only other comparison is a friend's Prius.. which, when on "high" is completely too hot for me. I can't see how anyone thinks that is comfortable.

So, I guess my question is this... is the heat setting dealer-adjustable? Can I take it to the dealer, and have them "turn it up" at all? Or am I stuck with it where it is?

I remember reading that the leather seats don't heat up as well as cloth, but mine are cloth seats, so that is not the issue.

Any input appreciated. Thanks.

1 - 20 of 90 Posts

Robert.Mauro

· #2 · Oct 8, 2018

sloheim said:
I remember reading that the leather seats don't heat up as well as cloth, but mine are cloth seats, so that is not the issue.

I don't know about the Limited seats, but the Touring seats take a couple minutes to heat up, but eventually get so hot that you better not have change in your pockets. The heat feels great, but it gets hot enough to heat up metal to the point of it being uncomfortable. That leads me to believe that there's something set differently, meaning, hopefully adjustable.

If you think they are too cold, I'd have it checked out. I rarely used my 2010 Outback Premium's heated seats for more than a couple minutes, because they were too warm.

Reactions: 2

sloheim

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 8, 2018

Robert.Mauro said:
I don't know about the Limited seats, but the Touring seats take a couple minutes to heat up, but eventually get so hot that you better not have change in your pockets. The heat feels great, but it gets hot enough to heat up metal to the point of it being uncomfortable. That leads me to believe that there's something set differently, meaning, hopefully adjustable.

Well, I left the heat on full for probably 10 minutes. That should be more than enough time to get to full heat... so I'll hope you are right about it being adjustable. Thanks for the info!

RbtInMke

· #4 · Oct 8, 2018

I’m also experiencing weak seat heaters on my Limited. I’ll inquire Tuesday during my Encore event.
Robert in Milwaukee
Magnetite Gray w/pkg 23, leather

Reactions: 1

Karpediem

· #5 · Oct 8, 2018

Limited with weak seat heaters checking in.

GaryInMI

· #6 · Oct 8, 2018

Yup. I've only tried the driver's seat, not the passenger or rear seats on my Limited but it seems much weaker than our Accord with leather seats.

On a positive note, the heated steering wheel feels great to my arthritic hands.

Nemesis099

· #7 · Oct 8, 2018

Haven't tried the driver side but the passenger side works fine. My wife didn't realize the seat turns with the car if you leave it on and couldn't figure out why she was so hot and this was on the lowest setting.

I'll check mine later today but I think I tried them at the dealership and confirmed they work. I also know the rear seats work as my kids were using them.

Jigger

· #8 · Oct 8, 2018

Canadian Limited with weak seat heaters. My 06 legacy cloth seat heaters work very well. The Ascent not even close.

sloheim

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 15, 2018

RbtInMke said:
I’m also experiencing weak seat heaters on my Limited. I’ll inquire Tuesday during my Encore event.
Robert in Milwaukee
Magnetite Gray w/pkg 23, leather

@RbtInMke ... what did you find out?

dennis boone

· #10 · Oct 15, 2018

the seat heaters in my touring will run you out of the car!!!!!!!!!!

Reactions: 2

toycarcollector

· #11 · Oct 15, 2018

Heated seats slow to warm

In our Touring I remote start for ten minutes and then about 15 minutes into the drive they finally feel hot. About half as warm as my 07 Touareg which has 5 temperature settings. I agree that they are too slow. The steering wheel heat is ok.

SilverbackRacing

· #12 · Oct 15, 2018

Limited here. Are they working? Fifteen minutes not sure there's much of anything going on.

RichieRich

· #13 · Oct 15, 2018

I can confirm that the limited heated seats are weak. After driving around for about 25 mins it did get a little hotter but they were weak. I have a friend with a touring to compare and the people with the touring are right, the seats get so hot its uncomfortable. Im going to schedule a service when I can to check this out because its really low. The steering wheel is great though. Have no tried the back seat.

pjt

· #14 · Oct 15, 2018

Greetings~ we just purchased an Ascent yesterday~ love this car! The first thing my daughter said this morning when we were out was~ my seat is barely getting arm! We have the premium. I too will ask about the poor heating when we go in for our follow up!

RichieRich

· #15 · Oct 15, 2018

Tonight I turned on all my heated seats. This is my 2nd time having the driver side seat on and 1st time for all other seats. Drivers seat after about 20 mins got just a bit hotter than the 2 days ago, but the the drivers side and rear seats had pretty much no heat at all. Im hoping that maybe turning them on gets them going and that each time will get better and better but i am very doubtful. The rear seats were horrible, they were still cold and i had to apply lots of pressure before i could even feel any type of heat. I work in the hospital and scrubs can be very thin so if i had jeans i probably would not have felt it:crying:

DonSwin

· #16 · Oct 18, 2018

My Touring will get hotter than necessary. I just used them this week and both me and my passenger had to turn them to a lower setting after a few minutes.

Reactions: 1

Stubaru

· #17 · Oct 18, 2018

My Touring seats seem to heat just fine. I don't like they way they are designed to stay on until you turn them off. Even turning off the car and restarting they turn back on at the previous setting. Rear seat heaters do stay off after a restart.

sspect

· #18 · Oct 18, 2018

Heated Seats

They work as they should on my Limited. The same as they did on my last two Outbacks with leather seats. The High setting gets too hot for me for any length of time. Low takes the edge off perfectly.

denissh

· #19 · Oct 18, 2018

Touring seats here - heat just fine..

Reactions: 1

jcn

· #20 · Oct 18, 2018

My Tourings seats are Nice and toasty.

Reactions: 1

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