Babnik

I think my seat heater is too slow and I'm wondering if it's just my car or every TL? I've never driven another car with heated seats (at least not in winter) so I have no basis for comparison, but I don't see any reason why the heat shouldn't be almost instant.

When I sit in my car in the morning (I park outside) or after work, the seat is really cold. I turn on my engine and immediately turn on the heater to high, but it takes about 10 minutes for my seat to heat up. By that time, it's not really that important anyways because it would've heated up in that time even without the heater due to my assheat. I turn off the seat heater after 15 minutes, from then on my ass keeps it warm enough.

Also does anyone think the heated seatback is a completely useless feature? If it's cold then you're wearing a thick coat, so you can't feel whether the back is hot or cold. The only way I can see it being useful is if you don't wear a coat, but why would anyone not wear a coat if it's cold? I'd be satisfied if only the seat bottom was heated, because most pants are not that thick so if you sit on something cold it is uncomfortable.

I don't fully understand the mechanics of how the seat heater works, are there parts that wear out over time?

crxb

I have sat in the pass seat (not heated seat back) and definitely missed the driver's seat heated back.

I think the 4G's seat heats up much faster than my 3G's did

TL|GTX

It must be your battery?

Babnik

Why battery? Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I thought a car didn't draw any power at all from the battery when the engine is running.

chairguru22

I would say it's conduction, the heater has to go through the heating mechanism, insulation, leather, your clothing, your skin. It's not instant that's for sure.

mglax13

iTrader: (3)

assheat....haha

Maybe it's the layers of clothes you're wearing too. The other day, I ran out to the store real quick. It was 30 degrees out and all I was wearing was sweat pants. The heater on high got my ass hot real quick and I had to put it on low. On my way to work in the morning, it usually has to go through underwear, jeans, pea coat that I'm sitting, etc, so I don't really feel it for a while...still I'd say I feel it within 7-10 minutes.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

eh? The passenger side only has bottom warmers and not back? I just learned something.

nut854

Babnik - I completely agree. By the time my seat heats up, I don't really need the heat anymore.
The seat backs are heated too? I can only really feel it on the seat bottom.

Babnik

Well I wear a leather jacket fonzi-style so that's probably why I don't feel the back.

I don't think it's a problem of conduction, because even if I feel the seat under me with my hand it still takes several minutes to get hot.

By the way the reason the passenger side doesn't have a heater in the seatback is due to that sensor that detects whether a person is sitting there so it knows whether or not to deploy the passenger side airbag.

crxb

the pass side seat back is not heated - something to do w/ the sensor for the side air bag for smaller passengers -

xen-cuts

^ x2

tl_rox

x2 on "assheat" (rofl) hilarious!

Hey Babnik, right when you get in the car, do you put the setting on high or low right away? According to the manual, you're suppose to put it on high until it's warmed up, then put it on low right after. My seat heats up within 3-6 mins. by doing this.

Hope this helps bro!

Red Voodoo

Not to drive this into a wall, but the '04 doesn't have the same sensor in the passenger seat, correct? I thought this was a new feature for the '05 model. In any event, I guess my best bet is to sit in that seat with the car running and the seat heater on to find out for myself.

tl_rox

Dang it...you did have it on "high" woops, my fault!

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

You know I felt the same thing as well, but I just thought it was me being anal, glad someone else noticed it too.

crxb

My 04 I'm pretty sure only heated the seat bottom and not the back. My car didn't have the airbag off light in the center dash that was added on the 05? maybe I just have the reason why the back wasn't heated wrong

phossotronic

Yeah I've noticed this too. I feel that my '04 seat warmer takes much longer to heat up when compared to some other cars I've sat in. No idea why though *shrugs*

Jesstzn

I came from an 03 VW Passat GLX and the seat heaters were way faster and way better than the 06 TL I have .. they also had 5 positions for heat not just Hi & Lo. And I wear the same type of clothing with both. The Passat on the coldest days radiated heat within a city block where the TL takes 10 times that long. This is one of the dissapointments I have with the TL. The seat back on the VW pass. side also heated.

RonJonTL757

I wish the heated seats would stay a constant temp. Im 99% positive that once it gets to its hottest point it cools off and gets hot again.
I recall from my salesperson when i bought my car that he said something about to make it constant heat at its hottest point you switch it to low and then high again.
Can anyone confirm this??

roushracin

I am so glad I'm not the only one. I'm getting ready to due my 5k service and I was gonna tell Acura to look at it because mine takes about 5-10 minutes to warm up too.

aquariussuperman

It's supposed to do what you are describing. If you want a hot seat fast, throw it on high for a few minutes until she's almost burning and then flip it to low and it will keep the seat nice and toasty. If you leave it on high it will eventually cool off as a safety measure. Hope that helped.

BTW, it's also is the user manual.

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Also does anyone notice that the LCD brightness on your NAV Screen starts off dim and takes a while to get bright in the cold. Like its almost like the Liquid Crystal needs its own warm up time. Or is it just my car ... LOL?

BEAR-AvHistory

My Expedition seats warm up much faster. That being said they are still nice to have on a cold day.

Just wish they were also cooled like the Ford.

crxb

funny part is the leather is much colder than say a cloth seat in the winter.

TeknoKing

Mine warms up very quickly. I use it on almost every drive. My back gets very warm too. And yes I wear heavy layers and a jacket. After 20 mins of driving I must turn it off as I start to broil.

08 TL-S

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I have noticed that Elegant. I always do the voice command to brighten up the screen, but nothing happens.

05AcTL

iTrader: (15)

mine take forever too im glad to see im not the only one i guess that means they just suck! the ones in my f350 heat up real fast and they get hot as shit!!