Bell_1821

Just wondering if anyone else was having issues with their heated seats? When i use remote start and attempt to turn on heated seats after it doesn't work. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've posted a youtube video below to show what's happening.

thanks.

JonfromCB

I have same issue. See two other threads on the issue. There are others with the same issue. There is no consistent answer from Acura. One dealer technician and Acura Client Services told me seats were designed not to come on with remote start for safety reasons which is BS, since Canadian models do. When I asked them why it was safe in Canada but not in the US, the silence was deafening. Amazing the crap corporations will tell customers.


After calls to dealer and Acura, I physically took my car to another dealer. After they tinkered with it for several hours without being able to explain what they did, my seats will now stay on sometimes after the car is turned on remotely, and occasionally after being started normally from behind the wheel. It's almost more frustrating to now have them operate with a "inexplicable mind of their own".


I highly encourage owners with this problem (or any problem) to call Client Relations at 800 382 2238 and demand a fix for this issue. Good luck.

Bell_1821

Jon, thanks for that info... I called Acura today and they gave me a case number, they also contacted my local dealer and I am bringing it back this week. It is BS that it's a safety thing because it works sometimes... We'll see what they tell me Wednesday and i'll let y'all know.

thanks again!

JonfromCB

Very interesting. Perhaps Acura is realizing it has a seat heater problem. At least they gave you a case number. As I said earlier, when I called they said the seats not coming on with the remote was "by design" and wouldn't/couldn't address the issues of having to turn the car off and back on again to get the seat heaters to operate. Acura categorized my call as "a feature I would like added to a future model" even though I thoroughly explained that had nothing to do with my call. Please let us all know how your situation unfolds.

Bell_1821

I picked my car up today(Acura kept it for two days) they reset the computers onboard and everything seems to be working fine now. They just reloaded the software is all he would tell me.

MedX172

I was pretty curious about this, so I did some experimentation today to try to simulate the issue in my V6 Advance.


Tried the remote start with the climate system already on and the seats worked. I then tried the remote start with the climate system off (like Bell_1821) illustrated in his video and experienced no difficulty.


Hopefully, the software reinstallation solves the problem.

Bell_1821

Unfortunately it did it again this morning I called the dealer back to let them know and they are working a fix with Acura. It has to be something with the software because it intermittent. I'll keep ya posted on what the outcome is!

thanks!

JoJoLov3

Ahh---I am having this exact same problem! I'm glad it's not just me. I was planning on calling the dealership, which is annoying since I just had my car in for the software update, but I will also give the Client Relations a call as well. Fingers crossed they address this. Thanks for posting!

JonfromCB

My seat heaters have a mind of their own. Sometimes after remote start they are on, sometimes after remote start they won't function until the car is turned off and restarted. This weekend I had a passenger and we realized that passenger seat would change settings by itself within minutes of being turned on. Now there is another thread on same subject posted to main board.

Bell_1821

Give them a call... try and catch it on video and show your local dealer... the more people that bring up the issue the faster that Acura will resolve the issue.

thanks again!

Randy4

Try keeping the heated seats off before you turn the car off. When I use the remote, and it's cold as it has been in NYC, the seats go on with the remote without any issue, in fact it went to the highest setting, I hope that I am not jinxing myself. These cars have minds of their own. I always turn off all electronics, just old school at 57 years young.

Quandry

Would you please explain how you know that it went to the highest setting, as the display is not enabled until you press start. Also confirm that the car had been remote started for quite a while before you got in so that you could actually feel that the seats had been heated.

JT4

I am wondering if the Econ mode has anything to do with this.. If I recall in Economy mode the climate control is dialed back a little.

Try putting the car in the normal mode and then try starting it with the remote and see if the heated seats work.

I figured it was worth a shot...

Bell_1821

Randy, I always turn everything off before shutting the car off(something my father always told me to do). Acura called me back Friday and asked me to use the Auto mode before turning the car off. I've tried that for 3 days now and it occurred once on Saturday morning. "Anthony" from client relations is going to call me back Tuesday to follow up with me. They are defiantly concerned and want to fix the issue... they call me once a week now asking me to try different things.

JT, i've tried remote start is all IDS modes... it does it in every mode, esp on really cold mornings (when i need it the most!).

JT4

Well like I said I figured it was worth a try, too bad it didn't work.. Hopefully Acura will get it figured out soon and not in time for summer.. LOL

Randy4

Interesting how the previous thread mentioned about economy, mine was set on economy and it always starts with the relevant temperature for the day, cold or hot, with the setting high if its cold and low if it's hot hot. And it does not put the passenger seat on auto for me. I have to try and set the Ids at a different mode.

Dealgirl19

I have had my TLX for one month and have had the same issue twice. Was going to take it in to dealership but after reading this I'm thinking that's a waste of my time. Has anyone got this successfully fixed? I called Acura and they noted my concern but said there was no fix.

Thanks!

Bell_1821

Dealgirl, there is still no fix for it. Acura has noted it on file and they said as soon as they can come up with a software update they will let me know. The issue is software.

Dealgirl19

Thanks for the info! I wanted to let everyone know also when it happened I tried doing it with voice command "driver heated seat medium" and it wouldn't work as well so that verifies it's not a touch screen issue. I hope the software is updated sooner rather than later. You think we would be notified?

Bell_1821

Yes I would hope so. If I hear anything i will let everyone know. Mine hasn't done it in quite some time now, but it's hit or miss with mine.

JonfromCB

Took my car in today based on multiple calls to Acura, purchase dealership technician, and a previous trip to service dept with the multiple seat heater issues being "unable to replicate"

Acura had clearly discussed the issue with the dealership prior to my appointment today and had a "TLX savy" salesman go over the seat controls with me. As I suspected, the visit focused on not using the "auto" button on the seat popup menu.
....Which we all figured out by now, but there is no straight forward answer to "why is the auto button there and what does it do other then turn the seats off?....which makes absolutely no sense since there is already an off button and the "HVAV auto setting" already has override priority. It's just poor functionality and programming at it's worst.

I was told the dealer would "write-up" the issue of having to restart after using the remote start in order to get the heated seats controls to work....but as I expected there is still no fix for an issue Acura has known about for months now. As for why the seat "auto" button even exists is still somewhere between a mystery and a bad joke... it's getting warmer, and now when I want warm seats, the car decides to turn the setting to a lower setting or turn the heat off and the cooling on.

What I've learned the hard way; There is no way to set the seats to automatically come on to the setting that I desire when using the remote start feature. There is no way to set the seats to automatically return to a preset temperature that I desire each time I use the car. The HVAC auto setting actually interferes with and will not allow me to set the features I want to come on automatically every time I use the car.


All of the personnel at the dealership were extremely professional. I feel bad that Acura put them and myself through even more time to not be able to duplicate and "write up" multiple seat/HVAC issues they already know exist. Can you say Catch 22?

Dealgirl19

Very frustrating indeed. It keeps happening to me. I'm not sure what else to do to get it fixed

Dealgirl19

My dealer has had my car for a week to do a couple of other fixes and I mentioned the heated seat issue when I went in. The tech checked and there was a software update for the dash board control areas. (I don't have receipt yet so not sure of exact name of update). Anyways he called today and said he has been starting the car with remote start off and on all day and it hasn't done it in two days (since the update). So let's hope that fixes it.

Chrissy630

I have a 2015 Acura RDX. I have only had it for 2 weeks. I have had my car in the service department 3 times. My heated seats sometimes work and sometimes it does not work.
I am getting no answer, except that it works when it is in the shop and they can do nothing because it is working when it is in there.
This is not an acceptable answer to me.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I sent an e-mail to Acura on Friday, but have not heard back from them.
Is anything else having this issue?

Dealgirl19

My issues were in the TLX and it was a software issue. The heated seats in the TLX are controlled by the touch screen. I think the RDX is an actual switch so I'm not sure they would work the same. Maybe post in the RDX side of the forum and someone else might have this issue? I did drive a RDX for two weeks while my TLX was in for some issues and the seats on it worked great.

Quandry

First this is posted in the wrong section and should be in the RDX forum.

You need to help the dealership help you by trying to identify the conditions when it works and does not work. Best if you can replicate the conditions. Then be prepared to leave it with them for 2 or 3 days to replicate the problem and then fix.

Jafferyk

I just bought a new 2015 TLX elite model at the end of September, and my car has the heated seat issue as described where when you remote start it randomly you can't turn on the heated seats until you shut off and restart the car. I have an appt on dec. 6th, and have shown this to the service manager already. He acknowledged it is a known issue, and will help me open a case with Acura Canada. Has anyone's been fixed yet? Some of you have had the car for almost a year now. It would be sad if you haven't been able to resolve.

youngTL

I can't speak to the issue of them not coming on when you restart the car, since that's obviously a problem Acura needs to fix (probably software).


However, the "Auto" setting for the seats replicates automatic climate control and NOT your last setting. If the whole car is cold and you have the temperature set to something warm, the heated seats will automatically come on. Let's say it was a frosty morning but a really hot afternoon, and you were driving from the top of a mountain to the hot desert below. If you left the temperature setting alone with the seat and HVAC both on "Auto", the seat would eventually start blowing the fan for the ventilated seat on its own. I'm not clear if you already understood that from the beginning, but that's how it works.

reddogTL

My vehicle is having the same issue. I noticed it last friday after my office Christmas party. I remote started my car before leaving the restaurant the party was at. Upon coming to the car, my wife and I got in. Immediately noticed that the heated seats would not turn on. When you open the seat controls, we were able to turn both driver & passenger cooled seats but the heated seats would flash red(1,2, or 3 bars) depending on which temperature we wanted and then immediately turned back off. This is exactly what is happening in the first youtube video posted above.
I hit the off button, auto, etc. played with all the hvac settings for 2 minutes and couldnt figure it out. I got home, went to bed, and remote started the car the next morning, low and behold, the issue has gone away.

I really hate that there are no physical separate heated/cooled seat buttons like there were in the older TL models. I feel that Acura deliberately did this to ensure more vehicles will fill their dealer repair bays after warranty expiration.

Another thing I've noticed, is that sometimes when I'm in the seat controls, both the OFF and AUTO buttons turn/stay green at the same time. Wtf is up with that?

csmeance

off and auto means that the car's fan system is off but the car is dictating wether you get fresh air in the cabin or recirculated air based off outside and inside temp

99CL

I just experienced the heated seat problem today. Used the remote start and the heated seats weren't on and can't change it.

youngTL

If OFF and AUTO are both green at the same time, it means that there's nobody detected in that seat and the seat controls will cancel. At least that's how it works for the passenger's seat. It's not supposed to do that for the driver's seat as far as I know.

However, that's exactly what I experienced this morning. Got in the car after a remote start, and the seat was already warm from the auto setting (I have an Elite). However, once started right up, the software bugged out and both OFF and AUTO went green, and the heated seat wouldn't work (strangely, the ventilated did). I just shut the car off and restarted it, and there was no problem after that. I use remote start for ~2 min every morning and evening, and haven't yet had an issue. This was the first time, and it didn't repeat itself this evening either.

I need to call the dealer tomorrow to see if they know if the software update for the 2015 dash controls applies to the 2016 (it very well could if the dash controls were built in batches and there was some overlap with 2016, even though the transmissions are definitely different).

rgpolson

I've seen this problem twice now on my 2016 Adv. Never saw it in 10 months I had my 2015 tech.

Sean S Thuok

I have had the same issue, brought it in and even showed them the video. They could not replicate. I did get a new transmission though, and so far I am loving it!

Momyc

I got that twice or 3 times since I got the car 10 months ago.
After I stop the car and re-start is all good. It happened only when I start it remote starter. Last time was a week or so ago when it was very cold outside but not sure if it's a relation.


I'll mentioned to the dealer at next oil change.

Jafferyk

My dealership says they are waiting for a software fix. I finally wrote a letter to Acura / Honda Canada, they phoned me today and said they have opened a case file for me, and that they are past the regular technical support and now a senior Honda engineer will take on the issue. They also said that this is the first time they are hearing about it at the head office level, so are you guys just not complaining loud enough? Send them a written letter (once you have engaged your dealership) show them the videos of the heated seats not turning on. Thanks

cullal

I have the same issue with the heated seats and remote start on my adv V6. Visited my dealer and after a day of them tinkering, contacting Acura Tech Line, the SM told me that Acura is aware of this issue and are working on it and a software fix is expected..

edmua6

I noticed this problem when I had a 2015 TLX Elite (Canada) as a loaner. Just like what the OP did, I used the remote start and noticed the heated seats did not turn on. I had the settings to 'Auto'. I tried to override it but had no luck either. I thought it was because it is warm outside and the computer has its own setting that you cannot turn it on if it is warm outside. Interesting enough, I tried the vented seats and it did turn on. I thought it was odd but it never really bothered me. I have to pay attention to my 2016 now and see if it does the same thing. As far as I remember, my 2016's seats are always warm when I get in after I started the car remotely.

youngTL

My seats always go on with the remote start, but sometimes when I get in (VERY rarely, only happened twice since I owned the car, it's a 2016), it has that issue where they won't turn on after the car is turned on. I had to shut off the car and restart it. But it hasn't happened for almost a month now and I use remote start a lot. Not really concerned about it since it's not really affecting me much, but it'll be good if they can get a software fix in.

Mr Hyde

I've had the same issue a couple of times as well. I can never replicate it, and its only appeared a handful of times. I've had my share of german cars, so the red light ecu reboot (turn car off, and on) is nothing new for me. With the push button tranny, its actually easier on the TLX