NeilB25

I get very annoyed that it's not the entire steering wheel.. The sales person said well you should hold your hands between 10 and 2.

MattRX

I only hold the wheel in the position it’s heated anyway so it doesn’t bother me, but it’s slightly annoying when you’re turning or doing a u-turn as it’ll be a little cold around those parts. You could get the wheel reupholstered and add more coils around the rest of the wheel, or just live with it.

I retrofit a 2015 RX wood steering wheel into my Highlander and 2020 RX steering wheel into my 2RX. They both function exactly the same and I’m fine with that. Toyota, Lexus and Subaru (Denso) wheels only heat 10 & 2 and 9 & 3. I don’t see this changing either so the only option is to reupholster wheel w/ more surface area of heating. I do think they get adequately hot, like the heated seats, but take a little while to get there.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut back on the heating to make the wires going into the clockspring smaller. They’re tiny at like 22 gauge.

Vlad6525

Our 22 RX hybrid heats up the seats like a charm. We leave them in Auto mode and let the climate control figure out what heat level to apply. I wish the steering wheel had the auto heat button, like on some other Lexus models (on our 21 LX570 it's tied up with the climate concierge and turns on automatically when seat heaters are required), but I actually have no issues with it being heated only at certain hold positions. maybe because I'm in TX and I've used it so far for 3 days only and I just keep my hands on the leather part of the wheel and it's totally sufficient. During turns your hands won't get frostbites if you briefly touch the non-heated wood surface. I like that the steering wheel is not hot to the touch, but rather pleasantly warm. My small gripe with the steering wheel heater is with its button location. It's totally in a different place compared with seat climate buttons and it's small and tucked between other buttons and not easy to locate in the dark.

ROSCOGX470

Same like warm seats and wheel here. I’m not too sure it’s a malfunction or if it’s intended to be only slightly warm. My 16 RX def doesn’t get as hot as the 22 RX loaner I had a few weeks back. I’m in the process of having my 8” display replaced due to internal scrapes on the screen. They claim it’s just superficial and not affecting its function. So degree of heat would never be covered under my CPO warranty.

golferjack

This is a non issue for me. Here in the Colorado mountains, it is often below zero, and I can start up the vehicle and in no time the seats and wheel are warm. The wheel heats up fast and the few times I have to move my hands off the 9 and 3 positions does not pose an issue. Mother Toyota would be happy I can keep my hands at the correct position.

ewkid

I got a quote today from a dealer to fix my heated seat. Symptom is the seat gets super hot even when on low setting. $950+tax to replace the heating element in the seat.

Lexypoo25

Is the amount of heating element fixed?

jcg0324

Is that for the drivers seat? Passenger seat? 1 seat or 2 seats?

Lexspeed

Boy, RX owners are a tough crowd to please. So many complaints about the heated seats and steering wheeler heater puzzle me. My 2022 heated front seats get very hot and very quickly. My steering wheel gets adequately warm quickly. 9 and 3 hand positon is not a problem for me. I guess everyone's needs and expectations are different. I just wanted to chime in and state my satisfaction.

eddie420

As someone who has torn Lexus apart vehicles (quite literally), the different models and years have varying heating element configurations. The GS and ES are more compactly packed and they get very toasty, very quick:





However, this does not seem to be the case with the earlier year RX's. I own a 2017 RX350 F-Sport and in comparison to my 2015 GS350 F-Sport, the RX heater is very weak. On colder days, I have to point the heating ducts towards the steering wheel to get warmed up. However, the seats warm up fine, although as I mentioned earlier, I had a faulty wiring and the dealer had to replace the heated seat cushion under warranty.

I will test a 2022 RX350 loaner next time I'm at the dealer and see if they've since upgraded the heating elements.

Thanks for your feedback!

MattRX

This is good info to know. Now that you mention it - I believe my 2015 RX steering wheel gets hotter faster than my 2020 RX one. The 2015 RX steering wheel looks very similar to one from the GS350, it has the same looking wood trim, shape and size. I even used a 2015 GS airbag and steering controls on it as the RX wheel I bought didn't come with them. Clipped in perfectly.

Quantum501

In my 2020, both the steering wheel and the seats are plenty hot.

I set the seats to middle heater most of the time, and only use the steering wheel heat if it is crazy cold.

jcg0324

This sounds like an assembly line screw up. I have a 2017 RX350 base and the drivers seat gets hot but the passenger seat gets nothing. Others have complained the same. Each seat heater has its own electronic circuit and I tested both fuses under the hood. Both fuses were intact. Something at the factory assembly got messed up. There is a bad connection somewhere or a faulty part. A heating element is not a work of genius. Albert Leroy Marsh invented the first heating element in 1905. That was a long time ago. What's the deal Toyota?

Rollerdog

On our 2016 RX the heated seats do not heat up nearly as fast and warm as my GMC Sierra. Same for the steering wheel which only the sides with leather warm up (not the entire steering wheel)

So my question is do the newer RX models warm up faster and get warmer or same as the older models?

Thanks!

KennyFSU

Coming from BMW's heated seats/wheel, the Lexus is CRAP; I've heard similar complaints in the RC group.