heated seats

[jlf]

haven't been on the site in quite some time.....but I do recall that the lousy heated seats on the 04 xc70 are well known to volvo owners...now that winter has arrived again, I'm reminded that they don't get very warm. When we purchased the car last winter, I had complained and asked the local dealer to turn up the heat through the computer system, but they wanted to charge me $70 to do it...so I refused.

Has anything changed in the meantime, ie, is Volvo admitting they stink and are now doing for free some sort of upgrade?

thanks all....>JF

[John@CdnRockies]

In our case, our dealer handled this and several other Vadis updates free of charge at our first servicing. We had the seats turned up to the maximum setting and they are toasty warm. No complaints whatsoever.

Recognize you are peeved, but their warming capacity is just fine (gets to -30 C regularly out here). I'd suggest you try again and, if necessary, fork out the $70, since the seats are exceptionally comfortable. Might as well have it the way you want it.

John

[MLPVT]

I purchased a 2005 XC70 two weeks ago and have used my heated seats almost everyday (I'm in northern Vermont). If anything, they got a little to WARM. The coldest day so far was in the low 20's but tonight it's dropping to the single digits so tomorrow morning should be a good test.

I'll let you know how it works.

[Raynald]

I purchased a 2005 XC70 two weeks ago and have used my heated seats almost everyday (I'm in northern Vermont). If anything, they got a little to WARM. The coldest day so far was in the low 20's but tonight it's dropping to the single digits

Not very far from you, in Sherbrooke Québec, and it was already -20ºC at 10pm yesterday when I came back home! And my seats are cookin' ! I'm always surprised to hear from other members about the inefficiency of heated seats... Something wrong here . Maybe Volvo seats are not all created equal...

[MLPVT]

WOW, you are VERY close. I'm in Burlington and would guess that you have been at least once before? Maybe to the lake here ?

I'm learning a LOT on this forum, especially about being able to adjust things via software updates that I thought were set in concrete when the car was manufactured, like the heated seats?. Have you checked with your dealer to see if they can be adjusted more to your liking ? Let me know cuz winter is just getting started and the coldest is yet to come.

[Raynald]

I can almost cross the border to Vermont on foot ! But not tonight!

Seat temp can be set via VADIS to 43ºC (109ºF). Mine are still at factory spec, and they work just fine for me even at -40º. Less than two minutes is all it takes to warm the seat to the comfort level, then I usually turn it off. More then that, and it becomes too warm, even hot and quite frankly uncomfortable IMO.

[Lipper22]

I have an '01...the seats seem to heat up hot enough for me. Is this a problem with the newer models?

[littlewaywelt]

I have an '01...the seats seem to heat up hot enough for me. Is this a problem with the newer models?

There have been several ppl with 04s that have complained the heaters weren't hot enough. My 01 seems perfect.

[John@CdnRockies]

Well dang nab it, ten years ago I used to live right between Sherbrooke and Burlington. Had a place on Lake Champlain right on the border of Quebec and Vermont. Oh those were the good old days (15 years of them)!

The '04 heated seats on late model cars work just fine folks. I think some members may have received their cars with the settings at the lowest threshold. These can be changed with a Vadis upgrade (free in my case). The difference was really remarkable - nice and toasty warm at this point.

Cheers to both you guys. Beautiful part of the country you both live in ...

John

[Palisandr]

I am mostly running mine on a lower setting - maximum is too hot for me.