heated seats

[prod]

Hey all, Im thinking of buying a black 2013 that is about an hour away from me, but looking at pictures it seems to have heated seats. Seemed odd, so I did a search and found this thread.
From this discussion it might be something I would want to avoid, what do you guys think?

[Brayden_23]

Originally Posted by prod

Hey all, Im thinking of buying a black 2013 that is about an hour away from me, but looking at pictures it seems to have heated seats. Seemed odd, so I did a search and found this thread.
From this discussion it might be something I would want to avoid, what do you guys think?

From the pictures you attached, that is definitely an aftermarket seat heater that has been installed...

[DrifterD]

For a FRS, the heated seats would come standard in the special edition models (Monogram, 10 series, Release Series) and BRZ limited models.

If so it would be located below the shifter in that empty space on the center console like so:

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by prod

Hey all, Im thinking of buying a black 2013 that is about an hour away from me, but looking at pictures it seems to have heated seats. Seemed odd, so I did a search and found this thread.
From this discussion it might be something I would want to avoid, what do you guys think?

Certainly aftermarket. If the car is a good deal and you don't ant them just disconnect the wires and there is no issue.

[MemphisR]

Originally Posted by Mister

I plan to write up a DIY for after-market heated seats when I get to do it. It should be pretty straight-forward except for the unknown on the passenger side. It will be much more affordable then the current OEM DIY (<$100 self installed instead of ~$1,000). I have most of my parts in, but wedding planning/event stuff is consuming most of my weekends lately.
( /)
At the rate I am going I will have it done by July haha.
If someone with a BRZ Limited/Monogram has pulled apart the seats to reupholster or to move the sensors to other seats their feedback on what they observed would be much appreciated. If I have time this weekend I will be digging around the Subaru parts catalogue to see what I can find.

Did you ever make that write up?

Thanks,
MemphisR

[Mister]

Originally Posted by MemphisR

Did you ever make that write up?

Thanks,
MemphisR

Damn this is an old post, I haven’t even owned this car for over 3 years. But since the body has already been dug up I’ll help with that I can...

No unfortunately I did not make a DIY. When I did the work I did not have access to a decent camera. I no longer have the car but I can give you a rough overview. When I did the project I bought a generic kit off Amazon. The center console and seats are fairly easy to remove, there should be some DIY here to get the center console out.

Pulling the covers off the seats is pretty easy. From what I remember only had to remove the covers for the bottoms, and I did not have to separate the bottom from the top. For the back I was able to peel it back enough to get the heating unit in. You will need needle nose pliers to pull out the metal rings, holding the covers in place. If you do not have the proper upholstery tools to install new rings I have found that zip ties work very well as a replacement- I have not had any issues doing this in a few different cars.

As for the passenger seat sensor... I never did figure that out, it was just way too sensitive. I tried working the heating pad under it but I could not find something that would properly insulate from the sensor while still allowing sufficient heat to come through. I have not been active here for a while so I’m not sure if someone here has industry knowledge on how to do this safely. I know some people just override or reprogram but I preferred to keep all darters related equipment as it was from the factory.

I installed the switches in the OEM location, the heaters only need 5v so it is pretty easy to tap an existing wire from the car Aux power under the center console. If you want the switches to look pretty and give you some leeway cutting the holes for them look into getting the same faceplate that people use to dress up their OEM heated seat switches in the BRZ.

I hope this helps. If you need a visual look on YouTube at people installing heated seats. I have done it on 3 cars and every car it has been almost the same. The real challenge is usually installing the switches such that they look as close to factory as possible.