Heated Seats -- Or Are They?

[Bowhunt24]

In my 03 IS300 Sport Design, both front seats are "heated" Ever since I've had the car, the seats have never really seemed to warm up all that much. Sometimes you have to turn the switch on and off, and sit just right to even feel some heat come through. Its been a couple times under warranty for various things, and both times I have asked about the seats. They give me some answer that to me, sounds like a load of crap. They tell me that because the IS300 is a sport model, the seats dont' heat up very much, and that is normal......WHAT?????

Can you guys please tell me your opinion of the heated seats. I want to make sure they aren't working like they should before I unleash hell on the idiot dealer.

Thanks guys!

Evan

[bartkat]

I had them and they heated up pretty good and then cycled on and off so they didn't overheat. You could easily feel the heat.

[smooth1]

Just curious, are you just testing the seats right now? cause I thought we were in the middle of this heat wave thing. I wasn't trying to be a smart a$$, I brought that up becasue if it's warm, and you are warm also, you may feel less of a difference from the ambient temp to what the car thinks is warmed, as opposed to the winter when it's cold outside and warmed seats will seem much more. What I mean is if the seats heat up to 85 degrees, and it's 90 outside, then it won't seem as warm as if it was 30 degrees outside.

Anyway, I have the heated seats also. I'll check tommarrow and see how hot they get or feel.

[300owner02]

In my 03 IS300 Sport Design, both front seats are "heated" Ever since I've had the car, the seats have never really seemed to warm up all that much. Sometimes you have to turn the switch on and off, and sit just right to even feel some heat come through. Its been a couple times under warranty for various things, and both times I have asked about the seats. They give me some answer that to me, sounds like a load of crap. They tell me that because the IS300 is a sport model, the seats dont' heat up very much, and that is normal......WHAT?????

Can you guys please tell me your opinion of the heated seats. I want to make sure they aren't working like they should before I unleash hell on the idiot dealer.

Thanks guys!

Evan

Mine have always heated up pretty good. It does take a little bit for them to heat up and after that, as said previously, they turn off and turn back on to keep the temp regulated as not to overheat. Also, obviously, if you turn them on being already extremely cold it will also seem as though it takes longer for them to start heating up. Overall very pleased with them.

[SKperformance]

I notice people in colder climates find the heats to not work properly. I find my ES and LS the exact same but also the alternator is not providing enough voltage as they age and the seats do not heat up unless it is at 14 volts. One remedy is to replace the alternator but also changing the grounds and alternator wire helps a good deal also.

[Bowhunt24]

Thats a good tip on the alternator. Its an 03, and still under warranty so maybe I can talk the dealer into replacing the alternator just to make me happy.

The weather is a good response, but this problem has been going on since winter, so we've noticed it in cold climates, moderate climates, and now in the summer time as well. (my girl friend is a freak, and always uses the heated seats, even when its a nice day....don't ask) Plus we like to turn them on when we drive to soccer, to help warm up our lower backs, butts, etc. It works pretty good!!

In the winter, when it's cold, and the seats should heat up nice and toasty, is when they don't and thats when we noticed the problem. So maybe we're just being too picky, but it really seems like they don't heat up as warm as they should. And for something to compare it to, we had a loaner RX330 and those seats would get so hot you had to turn them off!!!!

evan

[smooth1]

I tested mine for ya today. Outside the temp. was 78 degrees this morning. I turned on the heaters and hit toasty warm in 4 minutes, and hit sweaty hot in 7 minutes. I could feel the warming cycles after that. But SKperformance brought up a great point in that I have a Hyper ground kit and a Hyper MR Voltage system on my car as well. I run a solid 14 volts constant.

[Bowhunt24]

I tested mine for ya today. Outside the temp. was 78 degrees this morning. I turned on the heaters and hit toasty warm in 4 minutes, and hit sweaty hot in 7 minutes. I could feel the warming cycles after that. But SKperformance brought up a great point in that I have a Hyper ground kit and a Hyper MR Voltage system on my car as well. I run a solid 14 volts constant.

hey smooth, thanks a bunch for doing that. It sounds to me like we need to upgrade the ground kit, etc to get a solid 14 volts. The seats def do not get up to full heat in 7 min!! Where is a good place to check what kind of voltage i'm putting out? I have a voltometer, (is that what its called?) just don't know where to check it at. Thanks again

E

[smooth1]

I would check it at the fuse panel. Easy access and you can check most every system to make sure they are all the same or if you have a specific electrical issue. Maybe you are running 14 V to everything accept a few items which would indicate a ground wire issue and not neccassarily an alternator.