Heated Seats Not Working/working Rarely

[first-time lexus girl]

Hello all, new to this. I just bought a 2001 RX 300 from an Acura dealership in early November of this year. Everything on the car worked perfect including the heated seats. About 3 weeks later I hit a deer and had repairs done by a local body shop. They did front end repairs and also had to replace the radiator and ac condenser. Ever since I got the car back, neither of the heated seats seemed to work. :( Took in and they checked fuse....it was good. Took it to a different shop and they did some testing and all wiring and relays and connections were good and said power was going to the seats so the elements must be shot (all four at once.....fishy <_< ). Was just driving this last weekend for an hour trip and turned both heaters on and both seemed to eventually warm up! On the way back they were also working.....so nice and toasty that we had to turn them off. Have turned on the drivers side the last couple days after that and nothing again. Out of curiosity turned on the passenger (while the driver had been on) and suddenly I started to feel something. Took it to Bergstrom Toyota today and they checked it out and told me the same thing.....wiring and relays are good so it must be the elements. I really don't think it's the elements because they sometimes work. PLEASE IF ANYONE CAN HELP!!!! Half of the reason I got this car was for the heated seats.....a Wisconsin girl needs her bum warm. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[RX in NC]

It's true that the heating elements in the seats are often the culprit. The fact that yours are fading or intermittent now could be a coincidence and not wreck-related. If sufficient power is getting to the elements and they are not heating or barely heating, I would suspect them....

The heating elements in my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD became weak and intermittent by February 2007 with the vehicle still under the factory warranty. The dealership tried some workarounds that my wife deemed to be ineffective, so on a second trip to the service department for the same problem I required them to replace all of the elements under warranty. They did, problem solved. Nearly three years later, her RX330's seats will still cook you in a heartbeat (I hate the damn things)....

Your vehicle is pushing 9 years old. Those seat elements are not the best designed-and-engineered out there. I wouldn't be surprised if yours are indeed in the early stages of giving up the ghost. Your pattern certainly follows the pattern that my wife's seat elements did. The difference, unfortunately for you, is that her vehicle was still under warranty....

[1990LS400]

There is a very detailed diagnostic procedure for your car that will tell you exactly which seat heater component or components are defective. There is for my LS and there has to be for your RX.

Ask your repair shop if they followed the detailed seat heater diagnostic procedure for your car and to show you the results. Specifically, ask for the results of the continuity test on each of the four seat heater elements -- I don't think there is any way that all four elements could fail all at once. Why don't you ask them to tell you exactly how they tested the seat heater elements -- I'll bet they never even tested them.

The seat heaters in my 2000 LS are still working fine at 9 1/2 years -- sure were nice this morning in Sioux City, Iowa when it was 4° F. and the leather seats were rock hard after the car sat outside all night in a hotel parking lot.

[jmcohen23]

yeah, it sounds like your seats are ready to kick the bucket.

I recall when mine got too hot, and i had to turn them off. I did not realize that was the early stages of seat-heater death.

replacing a seat could cost between $800-$1000.

[first-time lexus girl]

It's true that the heating elements in the seats are often the culprit. The fact that yours are fading or intermittent now could be a coincidence and not wreck-related. If sufficient power is getting to the elements and they are not heating or barely heating, I would suspect them....

The heating elements in my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD became weak and intermittent by February 2007 with the vehicle still under the factory warranty. The dealership tried some workarounds that my wife deemed to be ineffective, so on a second trip to the service department for the same problem I required them to replace all of the elements under warranty. They did, problem solved. Nearly three years later, her RX330's seats will still cook you in a heartbeat (I hate the damn things)....

Your vehicle is pushing 9 years old. Those seat elements are not the best designed-and-engineered out there. I wouldn't be surprised if yours are indeed in the early stages of giving up the ghost. Your pattern certainly follows the pattern that my wife's seat elements did. The difference, unfortunately for you, is that her vehicle was still under warranty....

Did all of your wife's seats start acting up at once? That's what gets me......what's the chances ALL of them would start going bad at the same time??

[first-time lexus girl]

There is a very detailed diagnostic procedure for your car that will tell you exactly which seat heater component or components are defective. There is for my LS and there has to be for your RX.

Ask your repair shop if they followed the detailed seat heater diagnostic procedure for your car and to show you the results. Specifically, ask for the results of the continuity test on each of the four seat heater elements -- I don't think there is any way that all four elements could fail all at once. Why don't you ask them to tell you exactly how they tested the seat heater elements -- I'll bet they never even tested them.

The seat heaters in my 2000 LS are still working fine at 9 1/2 years -- sure were nice this morning in Sioux City, Iowa when it was 4° F. and the leather seats were rock hard after the car sat outside all night in a hotel parking lot.

I try to get them to explain things to me but they just talk to me like I'm an idiot because I'm a 26 year old female. I don't think there is any way all four elements could start failing at once either but I have no idea what else could be the problem. I wish I had them working again.....the week I got my car back and found out they werent' working it was about 4° also......damn!!!

[RX in NC]

Both of the heated seats (driver and passenger) began to fail within a couple weeks of each other. I also found that to be somewhat unusual, but I really didn't care after I required Lexus to replace all of the seat elements in both seats, all parts and labor covered by the factory warranty. Problem solved, and we haven't had to deal with it since....

Don't let them treat you like an idiot. Stand up for yourself. Demand that they clearly explain what diagnostic procedures they employed. You deserve no less....