[Tim52]

My wife's 2016 EX seat heaters have two levels and seem to work good although she's never seen it turn itself off from high because it gets hot quick.
My daughter's 2019 EX seat heaters don't seem to work at all on high. She's only had the car for two weeks so she made an appt and two techs looked at the car for three hours this morning. Turns out the car climate control is too smart for its own good. If the cabin temp is not set high enough, the seat heaters won't turn on. This is not covered in any Honda documentation. Honda should send its software weenies back to Boeing. Either that or the lawyers made them do it so as not to burn your butt.

 

[hikendan]

Honda tries, but there are so many electronics to figure out, and possible scenario's, that occasionally they "stumble" (the smart key is a good example) They are still good cars, we learn itt's behavior eventually

 

[car4sooznd]

I have a 2017 EX and the seat heaters don't turn off automatically until you turn the engine off.
You need to turn them back on again when you re-start the car. The high setting gets too hot for me, so I keep on the low setting. I leave my auto temp at 70 and have never had a problem. If I recall it seems to me the seats heat up whether I have the auto temp on or off.

 

[scott]

The seat heaters work independently of the climate control system, at least in my 2017 EX AWD.

 

[John35g]

I agree... my wife used them as her back was all tight and she said it felt better on a longer drive- and we had the AC on because it was warmer than normal - i dont see any tie-in between the seats and the climate control.

 

[Carbuff2]

Following for 2019... (No complaints so far, but we have EX with cloth seats & heaters, because cloth doesn't 'feel' as cold as leather.)

 

[fishycomics]

learn to ride with clothes on



not sure if it's going to be Piggybacked to the climate because its a separate switch.

 

[Carbuff2]

learn to ride with clothes on

HaHa: The old saying "There is no bad weather; just bad clothing"?

 

[kbalmer]

I just discovered this same thing. My 2019 HR-V EX-L has climate control. Once I pushed the desired temperature up all the way, the seats seemed to also heat up more than a low temp. setting. Thanks for the confirmation. I thought it might have been all in my head.

 

[Tim52]

KBalmer No idea what they were thinking of linking seat heaters to climate temp. They already have a two level seat heater. Does the seat temp vary with the climate temp? Thanks for responding. Apparently this is the first year for this mod.

 

[Ddavejb]

That’s strange. I have a 2019 EX and the seat heaters work well(high gets good and toasty) and seemingly work independant of the climate control settings, though I tend to leave the cc set at 73 degrees auto most of the time. ?

 

[car4sooznd]

I have used my heat seaters with the A/C on when I had a back problem. So for the people who think that the heat seaters are connected to the Climate Control setting, then logically the seats should be nice and cool when your A/C is on. One could only wish! LOL C'mon people!


I can't imagine that Honda would have changed this feature for the 2019 model. It was one item that worked flawlessly on previous year HR-V's.

 

[Glen e]

I am exactly the same. Any long dist trip I'm taking in South Florida, I have the seats on full heat for my back ailment, and consistently run the AC at 68 when it's 95 outside.

I do think the Econ button has something to do with different operation of the HVAC, but I wouldn't know exactly what they are, because I've never run with the Econ button on at all.

 

[Tim52]

I've now had two service mgrs tell me that Honda USA dropped the max seat heater temp about 30F between the 2018 and 2019 HRV because of burn liability issues (the lawyers made us do it). Have not got anything definitive as to whether this change included connecting the seat system to the cabin climate control and/or Econ button. Many people would not even notice the temp change but the original system got hot enough to turn down because it got uncomfortable on high. The new system just barely gets warm. I was told they are making this same change on all models.

 

[Goobers]

That's weird... cause my 2019 feels like it'll burn if I don't turn it down from high.

One condition that I notice is that, I have only my jeans and underwear (TMI?) between me and my heated seat, so it feels really hot to me. Where as my mother has twice as many layers plus a long thick coat, claims she didn't feel any heat in the passenger side. That was with both seats on high (two light indicators).

 

[Tim52]

That's weird... cause my 2019 feels like it'll burn if I don't turn it down from high.

One condition that I notice is that, I have only my jeans and underwear (TMI?) between me and my heated seat, so it feels really hot to me. Where as my mother has twice as many layers plus a long thick coat, claims she didn't feel any heat in the passenger side. That was with both seats on high (two light indicators).

Another possibility is your car was made in Guadalajara and they implemented the change later there. Other trim lines besides the EX were made in Guad. such as the Touring may still have had the original system. I'm told only the EX are made in Celaya, MX.

 

[Fearturtle44]

My 2017 LX was assembled in Celaya.

 

[Goobers]

Another possibility is your car was made in Guadalajara and they implemented the change later there. Other trim lines besides the EX were made in Guad. such as the Touring may still have had the original system. I'm told only the EX are made in Celaya, MX.

Except it was assembled in Celaya. That's what the VIN and my purchase contract says.

 

[deeanjo]

I've now had two service mgrs tell me that Honda USA dropped the max seat heater temp about 30F between the 2018 and 2019 HRV because of burn liability issues (the lawyers made us do it). Have not got anything definitive as to whether this change included connecting the seat system to the cabin climate control and/or Econ button. Many people would not even notice the temp change but the original system got hot enough to turn down because it got uncomfortable on high. The new system just barely gets warm. I was told they are making this same change on all models.

This is interesting. I had my 2019 EX-L to the dealership in Dec 2019 because the driver's side did not heat up. I think it started to, but 20 minutes later felt no heat. They said it was "defective" and ordered a part. A month later they get the part, and replace some kind of heatinf element under the leather in the driver seat. Pick up the car, test it, and now it is evem worse! Return the car to the dealership (when I had a day I could be without it) and this time they find nothjing wrong but the service guy and technician both agree it is not heating higer than 100 degrees. They decide I need to come back on a weekday so they could call American Homda and consult with them. I take it back in (trip #4). American Honda listens to their story and tells them it is fine - working as intended, and suggests they go find the same model on the lot and compare. they found 3 identical models on the lot, and all 3 don not heat up. American Honda says they are fine, so the Service Department can do nothing more for me. I had a 216 Honda HR-V previously and they worked GREAT. So there has def been a change since then.

 

[deeanjo]

Another possibility is your car was made in Guadalajara and they implemented the change later there. Other trim lines besides the EX were made in Guad. such as the Touring may still have had the original system. I'm told only the EX are made in Celaya, MX.

How do you find out where your car was made?