Heated Seats Failed, Under Warranty, Dealer Can't Fix

[badadjective]

2015 Impreza Sport Premium, not mods, upgrades, changes whatsoever.

 

The dealer has now had my car for OVER TWO WEEKS and still can't fix the problem. They've replaced every component related to the heated seat function, supposedly, and are now claiming that this is "normal operation." The seat just doesn't get warm. I will drive for 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes and it just slowly reaches around my body temp because my butt is warming the seat, not the other way around! Occasionally and randomly it will click on for a minute but even on HIGH, it won't reach temps previously reached at LOW. Passenger seat has also failed while it was at the dealer. My girlfriend sitting in passenger seat has confirmed I'm not crazy and numb, she also felt the passenger seat fail. She also has a 2017 Crosstrek which has similar if not the exact same seat, and both of her seats get HOT. Please help! Car still under warranty.

[wtdash]

I'd recommend swapping seats w/your GF's but not sure how safe that is to do w/the side-air bags, etc. Shouldn't be an issue...but not my car(s). 

 

And BS on 'normal' operation. You guys in NY have any decent dealers? Seems like the NE has the worst collection from all the posts on forums.

[badadjective]

I'd recommend swapping seats w/your GF's but not sure how safe that is to do w/the side-air bags, etc. Shouldn't be an issue...but not my car(s). 

 

And BS on 'normal' operation. You guys in NY have any decent dealers? Seems like the NE has the worst collection from all the posts on forums.

 

Dealer swapped seats with another car and confirmed the foreign seats got really hot in my car. "Normal operation" is a B.S. excuse because they have no idea what they're doing. There may be some good dealers but it's mostly hustlers out here. It's under warranty so it's in his best interest to fix it, then again he could be milking it for every penny to try a bunch of different repairs and charge Subaru for it, on top of the rental fees to Subaru for the loaner they gave me. I called Subaru customer support directly, they said they'd look into it so I'll see if I have any other options.

 

It would be helpful to get some technical advice from someone so I can come back to the dealer with some info.

[wtdash]

Wait, wait, wait...they swapped seats, they got 'really hot'. Yours don't. What part of this isn't clear to the dealer?

Edited December 29, 2017 by wtdash

[badadjective]

Wait, wait, wait...they swapped seats, they got 'really hot'. Yours don't. What part of this isn't clear to the dealer?

 

That's correct. This is my frustration, and why I called Subaru directly. I'm bringing the car back but I'm going to deal with Subaru directly, and perhaps they will direct me to another dealership. Perhaps I should just go to another one anyway, but I don't want to start the process all over again.

[idosubaru]

did they replace the seats or heating elements?

 

or test the heating elements? just give the heating elements 12 volts power directly and see if they heat up - bypass all the controls. many of us could do this step at home in like 15 minutes.

 

is the seat heated wiring getting power when the heated seats function is turned on?

 

it is odd for both seats to fail. it's one thing for a component to fail, that's what warranties are for, but when multiple things fail then that can get confusing or point to outside causative influences. if every door knob in your house fell off the same day - you'd think someone was playing a joke on you.

Edited December 29, 2017 by idosubaru

[Bushwick]

As far as the temp goes, that used to be controlled in the actual heater element packing (think of a home heating pad). They are auto-set to turn on/off within a certain range. I've found that if I keep my cabin vents blowing hot constantly, it forces the seat heater to remain off as it's beyond the temp "on" range. i.e. if car is cold and stays cold, seat heater will stay on and remain on as it's nominal temp range stays in the "on" range. A trick I've used is to keep the back windows cracked as it allows some colder air to circulate, and seat heater will stay on.

 

If you have the undersides of the seats blocked, that might cause the cabin heat to keep the overall seat temp in a range that's preventing it to remain on. Like say if your home thermostat was mounted to a wall, directly under a heating vent, it'd most likely shut off prematurely before the entire room was actually heated. 

[Fairtax4me]

Another vehicles seats worked fine in the car, seem like a pretty simple solution to me.

 

When I was at the dealership (years ago) replacing seat heaters was a weekly event. They had two techs that all but specialized in them. Seats were removed, disassembled, new heating elements and reinstalled back in the vehicle in an hour. If it can be done on a Mercedes benz 75lb seat with 16 way adjustment, upper and lower heated, massaging, side airbags, seatbelt pretensioner, occupant sensing seat, in an hour... Pretty sure it shouldn't be that difficult to replace in a Subaru seat.

They're not THAT difficult to diagnose (as proven by the dealer already), and they're not THAT difficult to replace. I think you need a new dealer, or bigger boots.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Fairtax4me

[Bushwick]

I notice mine coming on more when cabin temps are lower (enough that the seat back gets HOT and can be felt through several layers of long sleeves + a jacket) vs. barely feeling it when cabin temps are high. Spent an hour in it last night and even double-checked the rear windows cracked (about 1.5") while leaving fronts up, and seat heater stayed on longer.

 

Just throwing it out there that cold seats + cold cabin will allow them to stay on longer. If mechanics hop in a cold car, spend an hour swapping seats, and bam they're hot, that might be why.

[badadjective]

Yes the heating elements were replaced.

 

Interesting regarding the cabin temperature, I will test with cold cabin.

 

I actually do put some things under the seat, not cramped, but there are some items. I will test.

 

Also purchased an infrared thermometer to test against my girlfriend's Crosstrek. Will get back on that.