Heated seats

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 2 Dec 2023 10:40
Heated seats - Random

Just the weather for heated seats. If you have them do you use them or does the novelty wear off?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 10:46
Heated seats - primus 1

My first ever car with them , I love them , I’ve only had it since July so just really started using them , probably will use all the time if it’s really cold but will probably just give it a quick burst on not so cold mornings on the lower settings…

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 11:02
Heated seats - nellyjak

I had them in a Volvo V70 some years ago...and they were nice to have when I used to go to work at 5.30 a.m. on cold Winter mornings.

Now retired and the soft (velour-ish) armchair seats I have in the Estima never seem cold and more importantly, I don't have to drive anywhere at those sort of hours anymore.

Can't say I've ever missed them tbh.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 11:20
Heated seats - badbusdriver

Recently taken delivery of a Hyundai Bayon which has both heated seats and steering wheel. I have to say, the latter did figure in the choice I made as I get very cold hands when driving!.

But have used both heated seats and steering wheel regular now and very much enjoy them. My Mother was in the front seat the other day for the first time, it was a cold day and I put the heated seat on for her. She absolutely loved it!.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12:37
Heated seats - Engineer Andy

I test drove a car (CX-3) with heated seats back in early 2017, and they were fine, but having a heated steering wheel is a great idea if done properly.

Having to wear old-fashioned leather driving gloves in very chilly weather is fine for most aspects of driving, except using a satnav/phone or touchscreen!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12:52
Heated seats - RT

I test drove a car (CX-3) with heated seats back in early 2017, and they were fine, but having a heated steering wheel is a great idea if done properly.

Having to wear old-fashioned leather driving gloves in very chilly weather is fine for most aspects of driving, except using a satnav/phone or touchscreen!

"Seal Skinz" gloves usually have finger tips that will work on touchscreens - but too bulky for smartphoe keyboards.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 11:20
Heated seats - elekie&a/c doctor
Got them in my Focus ghia with leather seats . Really nice , except the driver seat doesn’t work any more. Bit disappointed for a 20 year old car.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 11:37
Heated seats - catsdad

I’ve had a few with heated seats but not currently. I can take or leave them but they are handy if you have the time-worn too hot/too cold debate in the car with a partner. My wife used them a lot more than I did, even in (by my standards) mild weather.

It’s the same with right/left heating split that we’ve had a few times but again not in either of our current cars.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12:19
Heated seats - movilogo

Heated seats are no big deal. You can buy heated seat addon from Amazon/supermarkets for £15-£20 which plugs to 12V socket and warms your backside. My previous car didn't have heat seats and I used one such item for years without any problem.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 14:26
Heated seats - Andrew-T

I had them in a Volvo V70 some years ago...and they were nice to have when I used to go to work at 5.30 a.m. on cold Winter mornings.

Back then, Volvos had heated seats because they were designed and built in a country where winter could be seriously cold. In the UK that rarely happens now, so for most of us they are a nice-to-have gizmo like so many others.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 15:28
Heated seats - daveyjp
An essential with leather seats, not so much with cloth.

However best device I had on a car for cold weather was the Webasto heater on my A2. Warm air within seconds.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12:48
Heated seats - RT

Just the weather for heated seats. If you have them do you use them or does the novelty wear off?

They've been part of my "must haves" for decades - I've now added remote control diesel cabin heater and heated windscreen to my "must haves" - since I always wear insulated gloves when it's cold a heated steering wheel would be wasted.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12:55
Heated seats - craig-pd130

We bought a newish facelift Corsa in 2015 that had heated seats & steering wheel as part of the trim package.

At the time, I dismissed them as fripperies, but one of the key reasons we haven't got rid of it yet (despite it being a boring car) is because of the heated seats.

My wife loves them, and now I do too. The only problem is, if anything, the seats are a little too hot (they only have a single setting). #firstworldproblems

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 13:24
Heated seats - De Sisti

I have them in my E46 Touring. Nice to have, but not an essential extra for driving in cold weather, nor a heated steering wheel. A good warm/thick coat/jacket and gloves is all you need (imo).

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 14:13
Heated seats - Maxime.

We bought a newish facelift Corsa in 2015 that had heated seats & steering wheel as part of the trim package.

At the time, I dismissed them as fripperies, but one of the key reasons we haven't got rid of it yet (despite it being a boring car) is because of the heated seats.

My wife loves them, and now I do too. The only problem is, if anything, the seats are a little too hot (they only have a single setting). #firstworldproblems

Ours have 3 settings, VERY nice for backs and bums.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 15:00
Heated seats - FP

I have heated front seats in my Mazda CX-5, which I have owned since 2016. I don't bother with them, but SWMBO loves them. (They have three settings.)

Edited by FP on 02/12/2023 at 15:01

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 16:54
Heated seats - RickyBoy

...our 2-year old Hyundai i10 Premium 1.2 has both heated seats & steering-wheel.

I put the wheel on the other night for the first time just to test (it seemed fine) and have tested the seats once before, but being a hard Northern b@****d, living down south, I obviously require neither! Not sure what my other half does when she uses it alone...

:-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 17:04
Heated seats - skidpan

Just the weather for heated seats. If you have them do you use them or does the novelty wear off?

The Superb has them.

Wife uses hers on the low setting on the coldest days but I have yet to use mine.

But as per RickyBoy's post I am a hard Northern person. Problem with that argument is the Mrs is from further north but she had a Volvo in the 80's with heated seats so probably got used to those.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 17:12
Heated seats - Sparrow

The novelty does not wear off. My E91 3 series touring has them, and they are used on every trip at this time of year Unfortunately it doesn't have a heated steering wheel, but I have got used to that on SWMBOs Hyundai i10. It is on my desirables list when I finally get to swapping the 3 series for something newer.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 17:51
Heated seats - badbusdriver

My first experience of heated seats was working at a Saab dealer from 1990-95. The classic shape 900's (apart from the very last of the line) had thermostatically controlled heated seats. Not sure how they worked, if it was combined with the heater controls or the exterior temperature?

I was speaking to my Dad about heated seats yesterday and he brought up an old truck (1970's probably) having a heated bunk in the sleeper cab!. He thinks it was a Mercedes but wasn't sure. You pulled a lever and hot water was diverted through pipes running under the bunk.

No, heated seats (and steering wheel) are not essential (neither is air con), but nice to have!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 18:05
Heated seats - Xileno

Never had a car with them but my Mum used to like Volvos and had heated leather seats. I think leather would be a bit too cold in winter without. My elderly Focus has few luxuries although the heated front screen has been a great boon during these frosty days.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 18:20
Heated seats - Dave N
My Jimny has them. But theres no temp control, and they stay on until switched off. And if I’m not mistaken, it seems only the cusion is heated, not the back.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 18:51
Heated seats - Ian_SW

The heater seats and heated steering wheel has seen a good bit of use in my car over the last few days.

If I turn them on before I start de-icing the windows, everything is nice and warm when I get in. This means I don't have to set off wearing coat and gloves, and then stop 10 minutes down the road to take my coat off once the heater has got going.

Once the car is up to temperature inside from the heater, I usually turn the heated seats off though as otherwise it gets too hot.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 22:12
Heated seats - Random

Always makes me feel one up when I see the neighbour ice sc***e his BMW's windscreen while I enjoy the benefits of the heated screen in my MK1 Focus. I think there'll always be a Ford here.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 19:42
Heated seats - mcb100
If I’ve got them I’ll use them for the first few minutes after a cold start.
Even the thought of driving wrapped up in a coat, and, worse, wearing gloves makes me feel uncomfortable, restricted and encumbered. In fairness, most of my drives are longer ones, so I’d be stopping after a few minutes to remove a layer or two.
Optimal solution? Preconditioning an EV so it’s warming itself to a nice 22 degrees inside whilst I’m eating breakfast.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 20:04
Heated seats - UCB
I have them in my Octavia with 3 settings ( seats are half leather half alcantara) and I do like it in winter as they heat up much quicker than the cabin. after a while I get too hot and switch off however my other half and kids leave theirs on the highest setting however long the journey!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 22:15
Heated seats - Random

Great feedback - thanks. I expect they're of much greater benefit in a not cloth upholstery car, although still desirable with cloth seats. Never had them but fancy for my next car.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 2 Dec 2023 22:49
Heated seats - bathtub tom

I'm sure I've recounted this tale before, but however:

My BIL was visiting from fifty-odd miles away and arrived complaining his wipers weren't working. After lunch we went and had a look. No handbook, but I found a fuse blown. Probably something like a 10A. Replaced it and it blew. Put an ammeter across it and found it was supplying something like 20A. Without any information, I didn't know what else it was supplying, so I put a 20A fuse in. Wipers and everything else seemed to be working fine, without any burning smells. Off he went with me advising him to get a garage to sort it.

A couple of weeks later he was blaming me for the partial short circuit in the heated driver's seat burning a hole in the seat, trouser and bum as he was driving down a dual carriageway at 70MPH. He couldn't stand up until he stopped!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 10:39
Heated seats - primus 1

I can pre heat my hybrid which I’ve done whilst in the work car park, I can remotely start the engine for a set period and the interior will warm to whatever the temperature was before , and, as long as I remember to leave the heated seats and steering wheel on, it will be nice and warm, with no ice on the screen…

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 10:55
Heated seats - Falkirk Bairn

Heated seats for donkeys years.

Heated steering wheel for 3 months, used on/off for 2/3 weeks - magic.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 11:47
Heated seats - gordonbennet

Got them in both cars.

Prado has leather but drivers seat has sheepskin cover so no need to use them, Forester has cloth seats which really don't need heating.

I don't get the desire for leather, it gets hot in summer sun and freezes your wobblies off in winter, imagine how cold my bum used to get when loading 11 frozen leather upholstered cars this time of year.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 12:04
Heated seats - movilogo

I find heated steering wheel more useful than heated seats. It is where my bare hand touches so feeling of warmth is very comforting.

When I am sitting in car, I am already wearing some winter clothes, enough to shield me from weather (majority time I don't take jacket off when in car), hence extra heat from seat back does not matter much.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 12:27
Heated seats - primus 1

Only thing with my heated wheel is it’s not heated all the way round, just at 10-2 , with residual heat at the 8-4 still ok, until I have to turn the wheel…

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 18:13
Heated seats - groaver

Only thing with my heated wheel is it’s not heated all the way round, just at 10-2 , with residual heat at the 8-4 still ok, until I have to turn the wheel…

Same here. My Superb used to heat all arount he top half (at least).

I didn't like the sensation of the heated wheel on the Skoda, though. It reminded me of the sensation of "warmed" underwear!

No idea why.

Heated seats are good. Helpful for aches and pains in the back too.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 3 Dec 2023 21:51
Heated seats - Will deBeast

I first had heated seats in a Peugeot 406 3.0 v6, back in 1997. I've had them in every car since.

The latest car has a remote control app. I can set it to heat the car, and demist front and rear screens 10 minutes before I want to leave. I wish I'd had it when I was working - I'd often have 5am starts,

Reply | Report as offensive | Link