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Prius C heated seats don't provide consistent heat

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by eastar, Mar 13, 2015.

  1. eastar

    eastar New Member

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    Howdy

    I have a 2014 Prius C Four. It just ticked over 5000 miles on the odo and I really like this car so far. There are a few annoying things, one of which is the way the heated seats work. In my other car, the heated seats had three heat levels. Once you set it, the seats come up to temperature and stays there. The Prius heated seats are just on/off. The annoying part is that when you turn it on, the heat is really inconsistent. For the past few winter months, I pretty much leave the seat heaters on all the time. During my commute, the seat temperature will go up and down about a dozen times. The temperature will rise to an almost uncomfortable level then drop back down to where you can barely tell they are on. The temperature cycles up and down and it's really annoying.

    Anyone else have this problem with their heated seats? I'm bringing my car in for scheduled service next week so I'll ask the dealer as well.
     
    #1 eastar, Mar 13, 2015
  2. kingnba6

    kingnba6 Active Member

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    It has to do with the way the heated element cycles through the levels. The heated seats dont provide a very constant heat source. Rather they keep fluctuating the power from high to low so the seat feels as if it was going super hot to super cold. This is done for a safety reason.
     
    #2 kingnba6, Mar 13, 2015
  3. eastar

    eastar New Member

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    I agree that heated anything cycle up and down, but the Prius seats do it to a ridiculous level. My Dodge Ram heated seats give out a steady heat level. Yes the power does cycle, but it's not noticeable. I don't buy that the Prius seats work the way they do for safety reasons.
     
    #3 eastar, Mar 13, 2015
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It does the same on my 2010. It'll cycle on and off. Only, I don't notice it going off (since the heat will be retained anyway and your body doesn't instantly go cold) but of course I notice it going back on because it'll heat beyond the warmth that you were at when the heaters were off.

    I don't mind that since Toyota has the tendency to keep multi-stage heated seats to their most expensive models (we're talking Cdn$40k-$50k like the Avalon and Sienna Limited) so I don't mind the cycle. It saves on power too. In the Camry, it'll just stay hot and you have to turn it off. In the Prius, I just leave it on and let it do its thing.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Mar 13, 2015
  5. Mr Incredible

    Mr Incredible Chance favors the prepared mind.

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    I don't see it as a problem, only that this is the way they work.

    It's the first set of heated seats I've had, so I wouldn't have anything else to compare them against. I guess I've had enough new and/or different vehicles to have gotten over the thiscar/thatcar thing. Each is an individual and is what it is.
     
    #5 Mr Incredible, Mar 14, 2015
  6. Oldwolf

    Oldwolf Prius Enthusiast

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    I thought the manual says the heat turns off automatically after a period of time, like 10 minutes iirc.
     
    #6 Oldwolf, Mar 27, 2015
  7. SwhitePC

    SwhitePC Active Member

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    I think it's working pretty well for my taste. It seems to go full on to bring my butt up to speed, then when I feel like any longer and I would have to turn it off, it tones itself down (and by then my butt and seat would have reached a nice warm equilibrium where my butt probably wouldn't even need the heat turned on anymore)
     
    #7 SwhitePC, Mar 27, 2015
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