[WCH966]

2012 Sorento SX, purchased brand new around end of February, beginning of March of this year.

Just now getting fairly cold here in Atlanta. Turned on the driver side seat heater tonight. Seat bottom heats up great, gets very warm as expected. But, nothing but a cold seat back!

Had passenger riding as well, and turned the heater on for that seat...it heated up both seat bottom and the seat back...both warmed up as expected.

Shouldnt the back of the driver seat be heated as well? I would think so...all other previous vehicles I have owned heated the seat back as well as seat bottom, however this is the first vehicle with both a air cooled as well as a heated seat

 

[awq134]

yes it should... if it's under warranty take it in, or you could check to see if there is a loose electrical connection between the seat bottom and back... might save some time at the dealership if it's something easy.

 

[WCH966]

yes it should... if it's under warranty take it in, or you could check to see if there is a loose electrical connection between the seat bottom and back... might save some time at the dealership if it's something easy.

Thanks for the reply. I thought it should be heated as well. It has to go in for oil change on Tuesday so will have it checked out then.

 

[greatauror28]

I have mine hot when I turn on the driver seat heater.
Though the bottom gets very warm than the backside.

 

[gilmour233]

Switch gave me a little light show before I lost all heat in driver's seat. When ignition turned back on, seat itself had heat but nothing on back side. Brought in to dealer. Said element in back side will have to be replaced. Lenghty procedure. Under warranty...but a pain to have to get done regardless. Hope it doesn't happen again after repair.

 

[WCH966]

Switch gave me a little light show before I lost all heat in driver's seat. When ignition turned back on, seat itself had heat but nothing on back side. Brought in to dealer. Said element in back side will have to be replaced. Lenghty procedure. Under warranty...but a pain to have to get done regardless. Hope it doesn't happen again after repair.

The dealer ordered the seat back heater a week before Thanksgiving. However, it's apparently on national back order with no ETA. So...may be a long winter with a cold back!

I'm going to follow up with them towards end of this week and see if there is any update. Sounds a bit fishy to me, especially since they are still producing vehicles with the same exact part.

 

[gilmour233]

Dealer (Canada) said they received element for back of seat. Brought vehicle in. After a couple of hours they said they were having problems with lower seat heater as well. So they replaced entire seat...brand new...to my surprise. Ok, I was disappointed with the failure, and inconvenienced...but Kia Canada (or this particular dealer) came through...with flying colors.

 

[WCH966]

The dealer ordered the seat back heater a week before Thanksgiving. However, it's apparently on national back order with no ETA. So...may be a long winter with a cold back!

I'm going to follow up with them towards end of this week and see if there is any update. Sounds a bit fishy to me, especially since they are still producing vehicles with the same exact part.

Received call back from my dealer (Ed Voyles Kia here in ATL), said seat back heater part had arrived. I will be taking it and dropping it off the day after Christmas. They said it would be an all day thing, as they basically have to dismantle the entire seat.

Not looking forward to this...fingers crossed it till look ok and work when it's fixed and back together. Would have preferred the entire seat be replaced personally.

 

[tccris72]

2012 Sorento SX, purchased brand new around end of February, beginning of March of this year.

Just now getting fairly cold here in Atlanta. Turned on the driver side seat heater tonight. Seat bottom heats up great, gets very warm as expected. But, nothing but a cold seat back!

Had passenger riding as well, and turned the heater on for that seat...it heated up both seat bottom and the seat back...both warmed up as expected.

Shouldnt the back of the driver seat be heated as well? I would think so...all other previous vehicles I have owned heated the seat back as well as seat bottom, however this is the first vehicle with both a air cooled as well as a heated seat

had the same problem in my forte as well and now is working fine ,i think there is an adjustement on seat and rear as they are separate heat elements,an termostat maybe?

 

[WCH966]

Received call back from my dealer (Ed Voyles Kia here in ATL), said seat back heater part had arrived. I will be taking it and dropping it off the day after Christmas. They said it would be an all day thing, as they basically have to dismantle the entire seat.

Not looking forward to this...fingers crossed it till look ok and work when it's fixed and back together. Would have preferred the entire seat be replaced personally.

Update...

The Sorento has been in the shop since 8am yesterday! They called TODAY at 4pm to say that it seems (after 32hrs in the shop) that apparently the incorrect part was ordered/sent/received!! Due to a discrepancy in their parts catalog they received a cooling pad with attached fan instead of the heater pad!

So...my car is sitting in the shop with the driver seat dismantled and the wrong part! Cannot locate the correct part or part number...so they say. Dealer no help at all...does not know what to do to get correct part.

I told them to keep it till they figured it out because i dont want the seat reassembled only to be taken apart again. They should have confirmed the correct part had arrived prior to dismantling the entire seat in the first place! Dealer did give me a loaner Sorento (its brand new LX with 40 miles on it) from their lot, after quite a bit of back and forth arguing.

I have demanded the entire seat be replaced at this point. Awaiting a call back from Kia Consumer Affairs and the regional manager. Hell, I live in Atlanta, they could drive down to West Point to the factory and bring me a seat within a half day and be done with it

The saga continues...

 

[Izzy]

Wow! What are you going to demand when you have a really serious problem? Yes, the dealer, not unusual, did not check the part before you brought the car in for the warranty repairs. Maybe a mistake, definitely inconvenienced you, but if incorrect in their parts catologue, then, s+++ happens.
Warranty does not require complete replacement except when absolutely needed. The warrranty agreemnt is an interesting read. But, then again, KIA Hdqtrs seems to try to do their best to make their owners happy.

 

[2011AWDV6]

Wow! What are you going to demand when you have a really serious problem? Yes, the dealer, not unusual, did not check the part before you brought the car in for the warranty repairs. Maybe a mistake, definitely inconvenienced you, but if incorrect in their parts catologue, then, s+++ happens.
Warranty does not require complete replacement except when absolutely needed. The warrranty agreemnt is an interesting read. But, then again, KIA Hdqtrs seems to try to do their best to make their owners happy.

The op it totally right he should not have to deal with all this BS on a new vehicle. When Kia starts to get there quality control issues taken car of then they will be a force to be reckoned with but until then you should not have to expect failures on a new $30000+ vehicle. Also the dealers seems quite incompetent, common sense would dictate checking parts number on arrival and before repair. I would be quite pissed myself.
Good Luck
If it was me I would voice my complaints and let them know they have one chance to make it right or I would just go somewhere else.

 

[RentoEX]

I gave up on my dealer when my Service Advisor told me my injectors were what was making the clatter on coldstart. Sorry bud, this isn't a diesel or Direct injected engine.

 

[Izzy]

Let's see, how about $55K jags that had to have a new transmissions in 5K miles, Jeep same same, toyota recalls nissan recalls, don't even start with GMCs and their heater blower problems. See, when you buy a vehicle it does not mean that you get perfection regardless of the price you paid.. or Lambos and Ferraris would never break down. It appears that there might be a problem with the back heaters since they said KIA was backlogged, but they are coverning it under full warranty and not arguing with you about the repair. Seems a mistake was made, that's life. Take a breath. But be careful what you wish for if you plan to switch dealers. You probably have about 8-10 in your area, a decent selection though some miles between them. If you plan to switch, may want to first look into their service department. Many KIA dealers were originally used car dealers before KIA became popular in the last 3 years, when buyers were only interested and bought for their cheap price, so beware of small, service department with tec support reliant on division support than with experience.

 

[WCH966]

The op it totally right he should not have to deal with all this BS on a new vehicle. When Kia starts to get there quality control issues taken car of then they will be a force to be reckoned with but until then you should not have to expect failures on a new $30000+ vehicle. Also the dealers seems quite incompetent, common sense would dictate checking parts number on arrival and before repair. I would be quite pissed myself.
Good Luck
If it was me I would voice my complaints and let them know they have one chance to make it right or I would just go somewhere else.

Received a call back from dealer yesterday. They have ordered an entire new seat back. Should be in sometime this week or next week. Will post more once it has been installed.

 

[socaboy]

The seats don't heat the back just where your bum is. The a close look at the heated seat button and you'll see that it shows the bottom of the seat. The sucks but, better then nothing.

 

[WCH966]

The seats don't heat the back just where your bum is. The a close look at the heated seat button and you'll see that it shows the bottom of the seat. The sucks but, better then nothing.

Actually, both front seats have a heater in the seat cushion as well as one in the seat back cushion. I have seen this in person, at the dealer, with my driver front seat sitting completely dismanteled on a cart. Not a pretty site when the cover is off, and the guts (air cooler, heater, airbag, etc) of the seat are all torn apart! The heater element is about 8''x 8'' square...and about the thickness of a paper napkin.

So, therefore they are ordering me a new seat back since they cannot seem to locate nor get the correct part to fix the defective seat back heater.

 

[WCH966]

Received a call back from dealer yesterday. They have ordered an entire new seat back. Should be in sometime this week or next week. Will post more once it has been installed.

The new seat back finally arrived and was installed, so I picked up the Sorento this afternoon after 10 days in the shop.

Both the seat bottom heater and the seat back heater are both working properly now.

My dealer came through after some back and forth. But I do have to say though, Kia's (not the dealer) parts support service leaves a lot to be desired. Their lack of documentation, incorrect parts numbers, inability to locate parts, etc. makes me wonder how they may handle a really serious problem.

 

[Piaggio2012]

My 2012 Sorento has a failed drivers seat heater and I have been waiting over 2 months for a replacement part to be shipped from Korea. Apparently in Ontario there is a back order of 60+ but no parts have left Korea as of this date. No wonder they give you a 5 year warrenty on these cars, the parts have to hand delivered from Korea. The dealership seems totally useless in getting these parts rushed in and by the time the replacement parts arrive, summer will be back. Then I will not need the butt heater.

 

[Clint Connolly]

My 2012 Sorento has a failed drivers seat heater and I have been waiting over 2 months for a replacement part to be shipped from Korea. Apparently in Ontario there is a back order of 60+ but no parts have left Korea as of this date. No wonder they give you a 5 year warrenty on these cars, the parts have to hand delivered from Korea. The dealership seems totally useless in getting these parts rushed in and by the time the replacement parts arrive, summer will be back. Then I will not need the butt heater.

I've had the same problem with the failing driver's seat. I ended up going back and fourth to the dealer 9 times before they agreed to replace the driver's seat.

The replacement seat lasted 6 months before the problem arose again.

I'm so fed up!!