So I stared to notice recently that the ventilated seats in my car haven't been working. Even when it's extremely hot, I cannot feel them at all. I it on for the passenger seat too and cannot feel any air blowing at all. Anyone have an idea for what could be causing this problem?

 

Both my seats have been like this since the car was new. I can hear the fans running, but the airflow is negligible.

 

The fans are under the the seats. Lift up the seat by using the switch to the max tilt up position . See if you can feel the fans working. If they don't could be they are dirty or maybe an electrical problem. The fans don't really push too much air to begin with.

 

I can definitely hear them running. I'll try that out that and see if I can find a problem.

 

Try removing the seats and blasting the fan with an air hose. Like many of my old gaming PCs, the fans over time get covered in dust and even the nicest BB fans start slowing down.

 

Thanks for the idea! I will try it out!

 

Honestly, I always thought that the cooled seats was a gimmick. Never really did much to keep me cool. Maybe it's the black seats?? I'll try out your suggestion akoster!

 

Yeah black seat may not help. I have grey seat and they work great on hot days or right after I went to the gym

 

Maybe all those small pores in the seat cushion are plugged up. Try blowing them out from underneath.

 

As the seat cushion compresses with age the air from the small ventilation fans can no longer pass through it. The LS has a small round filter under the seat which can get plugged. The IS may have this too.

 

New owner here as of Saturday...

Just picked up my IS350 F Sport (2015, 13k miles). Was super particular to get the heated and ventilated seats. Today was literally my 3rd day driving the car and I have left the ventilated seats on max cool the past two days; but today on the way home my back started to cook! When I got home I checked and currently the ventilated seats (both sides) is turning on the heated seats! WT.... Thoughts? I get not working but actually activating the heaters? Seems really odd to me. I left a message for the dealership already (starting to regret skipping the certified used at the moment) so we'll see where that goes. Sadly I bought the car in NJ but live 2.5hrs away in CT. Hopefully I can take to the local dealer. Additionally I did see a YouTube video talking about an issue about Lexus cooled seats. It was a one off out of China though (subtitled). Is this common?

-Mike

 

Another member told me to place a piece of cardboard under the seat to direct the air up. Never got around to doing it.

 

Take it to any Lexus dealer. The car is still under basic warranty, so Lexus will fix it.

 

I get the fact that the ventilation seats are not super cooled to begin with. There is a nice YouTube video of a guy with the seat stripped explaining the different parts (sorry don't have the link in front of me). My major concern was that the seats unquestionably were heating up on the upper bolsters. That is odd because 1) why would it get hot and 2) I don't think, although am unsure, that is was the heated seats that were on as these are in the middle of the bottom and back support.

In any case this morning all was fine. The only thing I changed was turned off and on the dual button on the climate control. I will still bring to Lexus as it's still within warranty. An uncomfortable first experience though. I think this is my first Toyota.

 

Did you try the 3rd gen forum?