I tried to turn on the rear heated seats today on our 2011 Jaguar XJL, but none of the lights on the rear panel behind the center console lit up. Then used the main instrument touchscreen and was able to turn them on there. No indication of their function reflected in the lights. Is that a common problem in the cold temperatures?

Also, the massage function has intermittently been available, and seems only to work once the car warms up. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Have you checked on the front screen if the rear climate controls are disabled?

 

Yes, checked the rear climate lock. Locked and unlocked it several times and checked. Still the indicator lights on the rear are not working.

 

The manual says the following about the massage function.

SEAT MASSAGE
Note: Seat massage will only operate when the engine is running.
Seat massage may not operate when the vehicle interior temperature is below 32°F or above 122°F (0°c or 122°c respectively).

It also says this.

Note: If the system is in Defrost mode, all rear controls are disabled and no airflow is available to the rear occupants.

 

That's definitely an interesting note. It has been very cold here in upstate NY, however the temperature on my garage door opener control panels has indicated just over freezing temperatures in the garage at 33°F.

Two things to note though–

1. Sometimes only one seat is available for the massage function, where the passenger seat will have the function enabled but the driver is greyed out. Perhaps each seat has its own temperature sensor? Confusing, I'd love an answer on that so I know whether or not to get the correct service for the system.

2. The car isn't in defrost mode when the controls are disabled in the rear. The lights on the rear control panel behind the central console only are functional for the air temperature. The entire display for the rear seat controls doesn't operate, but when I make adjustments on it, the changes are reflected on the main center console screen. Therefore I'm assuming the display itself is broken?

 

Took in into the dealer as it's covered under warranty. They played with the rear controls a bit and found it to be causing all sorts of problems, looks like there was some sort of electrical fault in the actual rear controls themselves that was the problem, they replaced it and finally it's all working.