Hi all,

I've just purchased a 2018 L494 and I'm unsure whether I have a fault with my heated seats, or they're just not quite as good as other cars that I've owned! I have a small window of opportunity to get this resolved by the seller (private car dealer) if there's a fault.

It appears that neither seat will heat up unless a person is sat in them.

They also appear to heat up very slowly, around 15 minutes for the drivers seat to feel like it's "heated", and even when on +3 for a long period of time, it doesn't ever feel like it's too hot. Whereas previous cars have required lowering as it's felt too hot!

1) Is it by design that the seats do not get hot unless someone is in them
2) Are they generally this slow, and not that hot, or is there a heating element problem on both seats

Any help/input would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Mike

Does you car have heated and cooled seats? If so I don’t think they have an element like normal heated seats. Mine has and also takes ages to heat up but I’m pretty sure it works on when the engine is warm. Not too sure if they only work when someone is sat in them but makes sense if they do.

Very good point - it only has heated seats, not cooled. I should have mentioned this in my original post!

I will try bringing the car up to temperature and then switching them on, to see what the warm up time is!

Thanks!

If it has the heated seats and not cooled then you will have elements I would imagine so should heat up quicker. Leather seats also take a bit longer to heat up.

I’ve had a 2018 RRS and currently have a 2021 one, both from brand new and both with heated (but not cooled) seats. In both cars the seats only ever get warm, never ‘hot’, and that’s at full setting (+3). They’re nowhere near as hot as on my wife’s Audi A5 or my previous cars, where you often have to turn them down if you don’t want to roast your chestnuts! Yours sound fairly like mine and I guess JLR’s heated seats just aren’t that good. The heated steering wheel though - that’s brilliant!!

I have heated only and never run them on 3.
On the occasional time that I do use them, I can tell they are on within the first minute or so and we only tend to really use them on 1.

HaggisMan wrote:

I’ve had a 2018 RRS and currently have a 2021 one, both from brand new and both with heated (but not cooled) seats. In both cars the seats only ever get warm, never ‘hot’, and that’s at full setting (+3). They’re nowhere near as hot as on my wife’s Audi A5 or my previous cars, where you often have to turn them down if you don’t want to roast your chestnuts! Yours sound fairly like mine and I guess JLR’s heated seats just aren’t that good. The heated steering wheel though - that’s brilliant!!

Interesting! Sounds like maybe mine aren't to fault then, they're just not very good! I've come out of an F-Type where I think I was spoiled as they'd heat up within a couple of minutes and need turning down!

Mine is also originating from Glasgow! How could they not have prepared it for the Scottish winters?!

Turdmon wrote:

I have heated only and never run them on 3.
On the occasional time that I do use them, I can tell they are on within the first minute or so and we only tend to really use them on 1.

Without checking, I'm pretty sure they only work when someone is sat in them. I think the occupancy sensor allows them to be on, much the same as the seatbelt warning.

Mine heat up pretty quickly. I sometimes put the passenger side on full blast when the wife's onboard to see how long it takes for her to realise, & its only a few of minutes  Range Rover Sport: Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe: 992 Porsche Carrera 4S

I have a 21 plate non cooled seats and the heating is luke warm at best. Told landrover who replaced the elements under warranty but still no better ! previous 18 plate was fine as is our 17 plate disco.
We had a 16 plate first which had heated and cooled, so no element but blown warm air. That took an age to warm up but then was way too hot even on setting one and so continuely had to switch them on and off on a long drive and so have avoided cooled seats ever since MY24 Dynamic SE,MY21 HSE Silver, MY20 SQ7, MY 18 RRS HSE Dynamic , MY 16 RRS Autobiography now gone & MY 2005 Discovery 3 HSE that I will be buried in !

Thank you all! Your experience has been helpful in understanding whether there's a fault or not!