2009 Hyundai Genesis: Seat Hotters

I think this might be a different post if these seats were being used in Minneapolis in January rather then LA in June.

The seat heaters in the E30 3ers were also very powerful- I'd prefer the Genesis or the old 3er heaters to the ones that were fitted to my 1993 Pathfinder SE; you could barely tell that they were on...

Something about that silver colored plastic that just screams cheap to me. Maybe because I remember that same silver colored plastic in many Japanese and Chrysler cars in the 1980's. Looked cheap then, and looks cheap today. What is wrong with black plastic? It's probably black under that silver coating anyway.

Wonder why only 3 levels of heats though. Azera has 5 levels & gives you a lot of fine control over the heat.

How do the seat coolers work though? Are they cool enough?

@stingray454,

The plastic feels very textured in real life. Doesn't look anywhere like the Chrysler specials. (Texture feels more metallic-like the original Ipod Nanos)

Hmmm... heaters and coolers? This car is getting harder and harder to not buy.

@ stingray454 - That's not plastic. It's real brushed aluminum. I think you'd have to see and feel it in person to really appreciate it. It has a really solid, classy look and shine to it. And I agree with your statement about Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler plastic dash pieces. My cousin owns a $35,000 Dodge Magnum and the interior is all plastic, and it really annoys me. But some people love it, so i guess it's a person thing. Anyways, GO HYUNDAI!!!

@kandeemann2001,

I could be wrong, but I don't think it is brushed aluminum. But it is a high quality plastic & has a very nice textured surface. Felt 100 times better than the one in my Azera.

Yeah, the Mopar plastics are ugly. Our company had a leased Grand Caravan & boy was it cheap!

Scott, aren't you in CA? Isn't it the summer? Heated seats, really?

Where I live, winter gets down around -30F. I'm not sure there's a setting hot enough. :)

"That's not plastic. It's real brushed aluminum. I think you'd have to see and feel it in person to really appreciate it. It has a really solid, classy look and shine to it. "

I did see and feel it in person, and it looked even worse to me than in pictures. My bigger beef is with the silver colored switches and buttons, which are definitely not real aluminum. Black switches and buttons with silver trim isn't bad. But silver buttons with silver trim looks cheesy and 1980's retro to me. I know a lot of electronic home components (receivers, etc.) are going with this look now too, and I don't like the look there, either. JMO.

@ stingray454,

Fair enough. But you'd have to agree that the plastics are far far better than the Mopar specials.

I'm going to agree with stingray here:

I was overall sort of disappointed with the interior materials of the Genesis. I had the same criticism of the centre console area. To me, it seemed not all that different from an Elantra or something like that. Those large areas of plastic (even if its textured plastic, or whatever) look and feel cheap to me. But thats just my opinion.

For those inquiring about the seat coolers -- it's actually seat cooler. Singular. Yes, Hyundai made the bizarre decision to not cool the passenger seat, not for any price.

I did try the ventilated seats and I thought they did a good job. From what I remember they worked just as good as the seats in a MKZ that I drove.

Once I drove a car with the seats I was sold that I need that feature on any new car I get.

Oh, and agree that the silver panels definitely aren't brushed aluminum. Hyundai also doesn't try to claim brushed aluminum in their marketing literature.

My wife is the same way Scott. In the middle of summer, in southern California, she'll wrap herself up in a sweater and blanket. I have a feeling she'll require me to get seat heaters on my next car, even though we live in a place that never sees temps cooler than 40 degrees.

I have a feeling I'd find anything more than level 1 scorching hot as well.

Seat heaters in June?

In my old 2002 Jetta, I had 5-level seat heaters, and seat heaters weren't nearly as ubiquitous back then. Anyhow, I got a kick out of cranking them up to 5 whenever I had a passenger in the car and seeing how long it took for them to say something. Got some pretty interesting reactions... :)

@ stingray454,
who cares if its plastic.
it looks fine in everybody's eyes except for yours.

If that is ur only beef, follow these instructions.

1) Buy Genesis
2) Tear off that button
3) Chrome Plate it or gold plate it like they do in DUBAI.

How bout it !

I fart too much for seat heaters. It's dangerous.

The information console in the tech package is looks excellent and feels refined. There is nothing cheap about it. Another nice simple touch is the opening and closing of the A/C vents. I'm impressed with a automobiles when they do simple things better than they need to.

I test drove the V-8 version w/ tech package ($41,250 before freight fee) yesterday while I was having my 08 Amanti maintance done. The dealer near my home is also a Kia dealer, though all work is done in the Hyundai building. I found the ventilated "cooled" seat a little gimmicky, it never got that cool, but it does blow fairly well, no pun intended. But I gotta say, the car as a whole is leaps and bounds ahead of mine in terms of refinement, execution and just over all goodness. Though I point out my Amanti has five seat heat selections and all four windows are auto up/down (though everyone that uses them justs holds them down anyway-to my annoyance). But seriously, this car feels barely a step behind my mother's 2009 Lexus LS w/o options (about 60K) and about two steps behind my step father's 2008 MB E-class. Awesome when u consider the price difference. But I realized something afterwards while I was still waiting for my car in the lounge. People who have the money to drop on a 40K car are most likely not going to want to sit next to people who would/could only buy a 10K Accent or even a 20K Sonota. Not to even mention the overall atmospere of the above mentioned lounge. For this reason alone, I believe this car is doomed to failure, just as the the Phaeton was from VW. Dont get me wrong, I would take the 41K Genesis over the the 61K LS any day, just because to me its impractical to spend that much more money for a car thats not that more evolved. But then again this world is not full of practical people. If only Hyundai had invested in the seperate luxury brand, or at least in a seperate, maybe VIP lunge for their "monied" customers. What a waste.