Heated Seats

[custardpie]

Hi all,

I have a 2011 Executive with the 4 heated seats.

Initially I thought they weren’t working but after further checking it turns out they do work but none of them get very warm at all!

My last car could melt the flesh off your back, so these are a little disappointing to say the least.

Is this normal or is there an issue?

Thanks.

[Moose Test]

I believe that's normal, especially so if the performance of all four is about equal.

When I first went into Volvo ownership nearly 15 years ago after testing a number of other manufacturer's offerings the exact same thing struck me. However once you get used to it, you start to see it as the benefit that it is. You can leave the seat on for an entire journey and the heat quite quickly builds up to a comfortable level, without having to continually turn them on/off/up/down. I now find the max setting in a friend's BMW to be way too hot for my comfort.

That said, it is possible (using VIDA) to increase the thermostat thresholds (at least for the front - I don't have the rear option so I don't know about those) if you want a couple of extra degrees of heat (and assuming that this hasn't already been done).

[Moose Test]

I should add that if you don't access to VIDA, your local main dealer will do this for you. I did exactly that for my first Volvo and I recall that they charged me around £30 for it.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by custardpie

Hi all,

I have a 2011 Executive with the 4 heated seats.

Initially I thought they weren’t working but after further checking it turns out they do work but none of them get very warm at all!

My last car could melt the flesh off your back, so these are a little disappointing to say the least.

Is this normal or is there an issue?

Thanks.

Initially way back in 1974 when all Volvos had heated seats what ever the specification , the idea was to take the chill off , that is get them up to body temperature quickly . so you never actually felt a lot of heat , just never felt cold . Wear a thick coat and you would never know you had heated seats .
These days on the later models they do get noticeably warm , but after about 10 minutes it is too warm as the heater has warmed up strongly by then .

[60041]

I queried this with the dealer when I bought my Executive and asked if they could adjust the temperature with VIDA, but they said that their experience showed that higher temperatures caused the leather to dry out and become brittle.
My wife’s V40 has cloth seats and they are toasty warm.

[custardpie]

Thanks guys much appreciated for all your help.

I kinda see where they are coming from and makes sense that you can leave them on all the time instead of keep playing with the buttons.

That said in the winter when you want them most, you are wrapped up with jumpers and coats so don’t really feel any benefit.

Thanks again.

M.

[oragex]

You can also adjust in Vida how much these heat up actually. There is a temperature level for each setting, worth checking. I think at the highest level, if Vida is set to the highest temperature one won't be able to stay seated with a light coat.