96 850 Heated rear seats?

Thanks Lee, I stole the part #'s from that thread to repost here

9128541-1 Switch
9128542-9 Switch
9148513-6 Harness
3523201-6 Relay
9132197-6 heater element 2 required
9138876-9 heater element 2 required

though I think they are missing the thermostat for the seat as well as per the diagram. I will just use the front seat t-stats I already have, and if that works I will post the part number in here as well. Pics soon

Our 1996 850 sedan has rear seat heaters. There is one switch and one heater for each side (not one big heater for the whole seat). The switches are located in the center above the ashtray. See the photo:(yes, I too am shocked by how dirty the car is).

We ordered this car through TDS (Tourist and Diplomat Sales) and this option was on the TDS option sheet but not on the North American option sheet. We also ordered the Sport Chassis without the rear spoiler (they were bundled for the North American market).

The heaters work great, and the kids love them. They complain that our other cars don't have seat heaters in the back.

The switches differ from those for the front seat heaters in that they turn on and then rest in the off position with the indicator light on--then they time out like the defroster switch. I think it's a 15-minute delay. This is good, because the driver can't see the switches. I can't recommend doing a retrofit with switches that don't time out.

Ours can't be the only 850 in North America to have this option, but I've never seen another one.

Very cool, and a 5 speed to boot as well. Nice!

I think the relay might do the timing, that would probably not be in the switch itself, but I will find out.

Thanks for the great info and picture!

I've got a 96 854T that is prewired for rear heated seats. Don't know if other models are or not. It also has the two pop out holes for the switches and the fuses under the hood. findude - I'm jealous of your car!!! Stick shift AND heated rear seats!

I recall the rear seat heaters being a $300 option when we ordered the car.

Our car sort of has an interesting history. When we decided we were going to buy an 850, we couldn't agree on color (me white, wife red) so we let our 3-year-old choose (black). The car will be his now that he is getting his license.

We're picky buyers and the 850 was a lot of money at the time. We studied the option sheets and decided we wanted a manual transmission, leather, heated seats front and rear, "sport chassis", and "no sunroof". Not surprisingly, there were none of these on the three dealer lots we visited. We expressed an interest in ordering a car, but nobody would order sport suspension without the rear spoiler and nobody would order leather without a sunroof (GLT).

When we discovered we could configure the car the way we wanted it via TDS, we visited a Volvo dealer while vacationing in England and ordered the car there. Apparently most TDS orders are made in the destination country and then picked up in Sweden and driven around Europe, but this worked out for us. It is a US model (Market Code 31). The catch, of course, was that we had to pay for the car in full when we ordered it. I have heard that ordering in Europe and having it shipped home is no longer an option Volvo offers.

I don't blame dealers for trying really hard to sell cars they already have on site, but I remain mystified why they won't order a car for a willing customer who doesn't mind waiting 3 months. Ironically, we had previously bought two used Volvos (a 1985 240 wagon and a 1991 740 Turbo wagon) from one of the dealers--I never understood why they wouldn't work with us. We also have a Honda Odyssey and a MINI Cooper S that we ordered (and waited 3 months for).

We are stuck on ordering cars when we buy them new. We can always wait 2-3 months for a car and it is much more satisfying knowing that you have the car you want rather than just what is on the lot. We have also bought many cars used over the years, that's different because you don't expect to get exactly what you want.

I don't know if we'll ever buy another Volvo unless the right used V70R comes along. The current line up does not excite me much. I like the C30, but we already have a MINI. The shift to the 6-cylinder engine for the V70 was a disappointment for me, and I've never liked the pseudo-SUV genre manifested in the XC cars. We actually had a 2002 S60 AWD for a couple of years, but when we took delivery of the MINI and had to thin the fleet, we chose to keep the 850 instead. We've had no regrets with this car except that once in a while I wish we'd ordered a wagon. At the time we almost ordered it in Midnight Blue (not a USA color for 1996 but available via TDS), but the black has worked out OK, especially with the black leather interior (the dealers were selling black cars with white/tan leather for some reason).

Of the four Volvos we've owned, we like the 850 best (though the 740 Turbo wagon was also an awesome car). The factory sport chassis makes a big difference (stiffer springs and fatter sway bars) and we've never missed the turbo with the manual transmission. Also, we had had problems with the unit on the 740 Turbo and were somewhat hesitant to buy another turbo. Since the 850 T was not available in US spec with a manual transmission when we ordered it, it was not an option for us.

There is now the OSD option through your dealer- Overseas Delivery. You buy or finance the car, Volvo sends you round trip tickets for two to Sweden and a free night stay there. You take a tour of the Volvo facility, drive around Europe, deliver your car to a port which loads it in a ship, fly back to the U.S. and get your car a month or two later (if you're lucky). Cost is slightly less than buying a new Volvo over here (or at least it was a year ago). You can inquire at your dealer if there is interest.

Volvo's OSD plan is hands down the best in the business. Round trip airfare for two, a modest discount on the vehicle, hotel, and insurance for a month while in Europe.

I was going to buy a new Audi 4000 on the Porsche/Audi plan and it actually would have cost me more than buying it on the dealer lot with all of the additional charges. The only thing I would have saved was rental car charges for the two weeks I was in Germany.

Oh - and then I actually drove an Audi 4000 and it was a piece of junk so I bought a used Audi 5000 instead and rented an Opel for the German vacation. That kinda dampened the Autobahn experience but on a good downhill run at red-line I could get the Opel up to about 220 kph which is around 135 mph. I thought it was going to explode at any moment.

My understanding is that Volvo's OSD plan is subsidized by the marketing department. In their eyes if they can get you to buy just one then you are a lifer - "Volvo for life".

...Lee

Overseas delivery is a good deal. The downside is that most people take delivery over the summer during vacation. They are typically picking up an outgoing model year car. After driving it around for a couple weeks, they wait two months for the car to show up stateside. At that point, say late September, October, or even early November, they are picking up a car that is already a model-year old and could be had at a real bargain off the dealer lot. It seems to me the trick is to time a late-summer trip so that you get the first of the new model year.

We ordered ours in late October for mid-January delivery stateside and it worked out well.

Another factor is that while the base price of the car is substantially discounted (I'm thinking about 15%), options are priced at sticker value. If you are buying a stripper this makes for a good deal; if you buy a heavily optioned car you may actually get a better deal by negotiating hard with a dealer who can give quite a bit on options. You just have to do the math and weigh it against the value of a trip in Europe with your new Volvo. (Note: the last time I checked this was when we bought a well-equipped 2002 S60 AWD and it turned out the dealer had a better price.)

Still, I know plenty of people who have had great experiences picking up and driving cars (Volvos and others) in Europe and driving them around.

Oh this all makes perfect sense to me now. I have a 99 V70 GLT with the rear heated seat option.
An earlier post by JRL's states,
"The only older Volvos with heated rear seats in the US were V70's custom ordered for Boston Coach in 1998 and 1999..."all these wagons were ordered one way, All GLT's, with leather, heated seats (of course), NO moonroofs, foglights, trip computer, Euro rails and crossbars (for added luggage) after all these were limos/cabs. No wood trim on the console."

The single switch is above the rear ash tray, to the left of the 12V outlet.
A Car Fax shows my 99 started out as a one year lease in Boston. The only difference is I have no roof rails, and I DO have the 3rd row seats. BTW, it is for Salem, as well as my 86 850 Wagon (non turbo)