Heated Seats

[bluntman]

I looked into this when I picked up my 3 in February (leather seats in the dead of winter :( ). The only place that I found, at the time, in the GTA that installed these was The Auto Trim Shop. Their price for a single heated seat was $299, a pair was $550. Has anyone else found a reputable shop that installs heated seats?

[TM3]

Sorry, can\'t help you there... doesn\'t seem like too many people out there has much info either :(

[sw0rdfish]

You guys see that thread in M3F a while back with the RX-8 style, two colour leather? I wonder how much it would cost to get seats like that... While straight black, in my opinion, isn\'t worth the pain in the ass of hot and cold being extream, I\'d definatley put up with a hot ass for killer leather like that...

any ideas?

[bluntman]

Does anyone want to chime in an suggest a good position for the switches? I\'ve decided to go the practical route and get this done instead of the suspension or any engine mods.

The guy at the Auto Trim Shop suggest that they\'d put the switches on inside, where your knees are, of both foot wells or somewhere on the centre console. I suggested either right below the release lever for the armrest or on the centre console in between the passenger airbag off light and the cigarette lighter. What do you guys think?

[Xenon]

Get him to fill the spots beside the glow control for the Dash lights! There are like 3 empty spaces there begging to be used.

[Newlook]

But then what about the passenger side? Driver controlled heated passenger seat? :p

You can burn somebody\'s ass like that... lol

[bluntman]

Then I\'ll just need a little bell to go \"ding\" when they\'re nice and toasty. :p

[Xenon]

Passenger side.... Hmmm...

lol I usually only have 1 person in the car... ME! so I wasn\'t thinking Passenger.

Instead of heated seats for the passenger, maybe I\'ll get an eject-o-seat :p Pop them right out of the sunroof :sarc

[bluntman]

Like a toaster! :D

[Xenon]

I have to have that finished bell tho when they eject....

DING!!!

[Newlook]

Link it up with the heated seat too.

Toast, eject, DING!

[Xenon]

Originally posted by Newlook


Link it up with the heated seat too.

Toast, eject, DING!

Lol... that\'s too funny... Should the passenger be warm or extra crispy?

[Illmatic]

Hey Bluntman, how did the heated seat installation go anyway?

[bluntman]

I didn\'t install them this time around, I was too distracted buying other things for my car (LED tail lights, HID head lights, winter tires). ;)

[firstmazda]

This is where my seat switches were installed.
I like the location :D

wide shot (http://groups.msn.com/Raysmazda3/timz3gtgfx.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2)

close-up (http://groups.msn.com/Raysmazda3/timz3gtgfx.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3)

(btw. my GF surprised me with the heaters, she had my dealer put it in, so I actually didn\'t decide where the switches would be located.

[bluntman]

Nice!!! Do you know where the dealership had them done?

[Mayhem]

Check out this place.....I don\'t know the prices, but they did my tints and my clear bra on my car. I know they do heated seats though and a lot of dealers used them for their tints. Very reputable

www.protint.ca

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by bluntman


Nice!!! Do you know where the dealership had them done?

No, unfortunately I do not

[Mayhem]

actually.....if you look at the button on firstmazda\'s heated seats and then look at the button for protints heated seats, you\'ll see they\'re exactly the same. I bet ya protint did your seats.

firstmazda....what dealership did you get your car from?

[s_h_a_o_l_i_n]

do uknow how much those seats were?

[firstmazda]

I don\'t know where they were done, but I bought my car at Brampton mazda.
I\'m not sure exactly how much they cost, but I know for a fact they were pricey,
OVERpriced I assume \'cause they were done thru the dealership.

I\'m guessing over $600, closer probably to $700

[HBfan]

I ordered seat heaters from the Internet for $300 and installed myself, which took about 9 hours, including hauling tools out etc.
Two level intensity, power taken from the cigarette lighter (non-smoker), both front seats, switches placed on LHS of the lighter, works like a charm. Installers wanted $900 + tx (no thanks!).

[cyber]

Originally posted by HBfan


I ordered seat heaters from the Internet for $300 and installed myself, which took about 9 hours, including hauling tools out etc.
Two level intensity, power taken from the cigarette lighter (non-smoker), both front seats, switches placed on LHS of the lighter, works like a charm. Installers wanted $900 + tx (no thanks!).

9 Hours to install??? Oh man, I would have just paid for someone to do it... I don\'t have that type of patience... :p

[TheProfessor]

I agree, that\'s a long time. I think I\'d just give up half way:D

Kudos to you for having that kind of patience.

[zRqTz]

Originally posted by bluntman
I looked into this when I picked up my 3 in February (leather seats in the dead of winter :( ). The only place that I found, at the time, in the GTA that installed these was The Auto Trim Shop. Their price for a single heated seat was $299, a pair was $550. Has anyone else found a reputable shop that installs heated seats?

I spoke to Jim from Protint.
He first quoted me $350 per seat (installed).
Later, it was changed to $300.
Concept on Wheels (formerly Auto Trim Shop) is still cheaper by $50 (for 2 seats).

Anybody ever dealt with any of the 2 shops?
Any feedback about their service / quality of work?
Is it even worth getting these?

[bluntman]

I\'m going with ConceptsOnWheels simply because of the scope of work that they do, anywhere from tints, to audio installations all the way up to interior restorations.

[S.F.W.]

I spoke with concepts on wheels this morning. They quoted me $288 per seat, plus tax. Warranty is 1 year parts and labour.
Now I jsut have to decide if I am just goin to do the seats now, or do the seats and the starter/alarm all at once.

[tennight]

hey u guys think we can do a GB for getting the heater install??

[Whos ur dadd]

Originally posted by tennight


hey u guys think we can do a GB for getting the heater install??


It\'s almost summer. Stop talkin this nonsense silly boy!

[TheProfessor]

I\'d be in for a GB in Fall of 2005, but no point doing it now unless they give us an amazing deal.

[S.F.W.]

Agreed, if the price was right, I would do it now.

[tennight]

Originally posted by S.F.W.


Agreed, if the price was right, I would do it now.

i am rdy to do a GB heated seats
anytime u guys are rdy..=)
wouldnt be cheaper to do it now
instead of the winter..!????

[alezone]

Originally posted by tennight
Originally posted by S.F.W. Agreed, if the price was right, I would do it now. i am rdy to do a GB heated seats anytime u guys are rdy..=) wouldnt be cheaper to do it now instead of the winter..!????

I\'m in for a GB, concept on wheels is good. Protint is too far...

[Devin98]

Originally posted by alezone



Originally posted by tennight
Originally posted by S.F.W. Agreed, if the price was right, I would do it now. i am rdy to do a GB heated seats anytime u guys are rdy..=) wouldnt be cheaper to do it now instead of the winter..!????

I\'m in for a GB, concept on wheels is good. Protint is too far...

Hey if you guys want to do a group buy I can get a really good deal on them, though the same place I got my leather out of Vancover??

let me know I think it was $100 per seat? I would have to double check

-Devin

[S.F.W.]

I\'d be interested for sure..

[Devin98]

Originally posted by S.F.W.


I\'d be interested for sure..

ok I will find out for sure, once I know I will make a post in the gb section

[McGuyver_3]

hmm if this fails then i could probably jump in and help you all out. You guys would have to provide your own seat heater kits and i would be able to compete with the 100$/seat install. Let me know what happens

[kaZoomm]

hmm if this fails then i could probably jump in and help you all out. You guys would have to provide your own seat heater kits and i would be able to compete with the 100$/seat install. Let me know what happens

I bought one heated seat kit for my leather seats (2005 GT) from heatedseatkits:
http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/index.html
I installed it during the winter, and wired it up temporarily to the cigarette lighter (since nobody's smoking in my car). Cost US$80 (free shipping)plus the install kit (about US$30 - highly recommended if you DIY).

It's a 2-level heater, and was much easier to install than I expected. It works just great - warm or HOT - takes only about 2 minutes to warm up.

So I bought a second one for the passenger seat, this time thru eBay, from the same guys for US$75. I'll install it when the weather gets warmer, and I manage to find the wiring diagram to hook these up properly to the fused heated seat circuit (Anybody know if the heated seat wiring is already in place? I never ran across it during install...)

The eBay confirmation that I got then offered this even better deal:


If paying by VISA, MASTERCARD, or AMEX please call our customer service reps at 1-800-975-1764! Additional kits are only $60.00 each! Thank you for your business... Regards, HeatedSeatKits.com

Please email me at datashared@gmail.com if you have any questions.

I figure you guys could buy them at this price with this reference - so that works out to 2 x (US$60 + CDN$100) with mystic 3's install offer - a good deal!

[Wild Weasel]

Sounds like there's some pretty mixed reviews on the products from that company.

http://www.twistermc.com/blog/2006/01/19/heated-car-seat-covers

Does anyone know of any local distributers for W.E.T. Automotive Systems heaters? Those seem to be the best, though I expect they might cost 3 times as much.

I paid $300 a pop for my heaters, but that's over 6 years ago now. I hope the price has come down a bit since then for the good stuff.

[kaZoomm]

Sounds like there's some pretty mixed reviews on the products from that company.

http://www.twistermc.com/blog/2006/01/19/heated-car-seat-covers



Thanks, yeah, I read that stuff - that's why I only bought one seat kit to start with. The quality of the components and the fabric looks real good, and I've had zero problems over the past few months that I've used it, so I sprang for the second seat unit, but time will tell, I guess.

[Walrus]

I have these in my 2006 Xterra:

http://www.cobraheat.com/warmseats.html

Installed them myself a year ago. Took an afternoon. I just found them a few weeks ago on ebay for $100US, so I ordered them for my 3. I'll let everyone know how the install goes. I looked at the seats and they look about the same to take apart as my X was.

Just checked, now he has them listed for $75:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Seat-Heater-Car-Truck-SUV_W0QQitemZ220097166856QQihZ012QQcategoryZ33701Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ebay wouldn't let me order them, because he didn't have shipping specified to Canada. Looks like he has that fixed now.

[Walrus]

I installed them this past Sunday in my 3. Took about 4 hours, with many beer/washroom breaks. I put the switches on the panel between the airbag light and cig. lighter. I'll post a pic of the switch location later.