Hello! I'm new - but have a question. I had specifically asked for the 2021 Rav4 with climate vents for the rear seats, and was told they're "under the seat." So, I went with the LE instead of the XLE. I feel bamboozled now - the XLE has vents on the rear console, like I wanted. So - are there heat/AC vents to the back seats, under the front seats, or no? Supply was so limited I didn't see my vehicle or any other until it arrived.
Rear seat climate vents under the seats?
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vikingkim5
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Hello! I'm new - but have a question. I had specifically asked for the 2021 Rav4 with climate vents for the rear seats, and was told they're "under the seat." So, I went with the LE instead of the XLE. I feel bamboozled now - the XLE has vents on the rear console, like I wanted. So - are there heat/AC vents to the back seats, under the front seats, or no? Supply was so limited I didn't see my vehicle or any other until it arrived.
On the 2021 I'm 100 % sure the LE gas model has no vents under the seats. I have been following the 5th generation since 2019 and I have never read this on any of the forums or seen it on YouTube. The 2021 Owners Manual and the sales brochure says nothing about this. On the 2021 gas models the XLE trim and up has the vents-as you note-on the back of the center console. I don't know if this has changed in the 2022 models. Here are some items from the Owners manual. You see that the LE manual climate control does not have the S-Flow control button that the XLE automatic dual climate control system has. The S-Flow button controls the vents and airflow to the rear seats. There is a page showing all the air vents and it only shows vents on the back of the center console "if equipped"--it does NOT show any vents underneath the seats.
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I think what the salesman was thinking of when he told you the vents are under the seat in the LE is what is shown in the vent diagram from the owners manual. If you follow the air flow arrows, some go down the front seat passengers' footwells and then go under and come out the back of the seats on the floor. These are NOT vents --the arrows just show the movement of the air from the front to the back.
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Why don't you look? Just slide the drivers seat forward and look under it with a flash light. This is what they look like:
I have an XLE premium hybrid, but I believe all trim levels have them.
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This is what I've found, too, but the sales department was so confident and I bought it. Thanks so much for the information! Now to decide if I want to upgrade.
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This photo will help a great deal tomorrow - I looked under the seats and didn't see anything that looked like vents, but I will check again. Thank you!
These under seat vents in that photo may only be on hybrids-- not gas models. As I understand it hybrids have a different heating system for their climate control than the gassers and their vents may be different too. I really don't think the gas LE has them or they certainly would have been mentioned in the 2021 gas Owners Manual . I would be very interested to see what vikingkim5 finds with a flashlight inspection - I assumed he had a gas model
Looking at your picture of the air flow, if you look at the arrow in the rear seat foot well, just in front of that you will see a grey object; that is the rear seat vents.
I see what you are referring to but its not too clear to me whether its a vent or not and the reference A to "if equipped" also is unclear if its referring to the console vents or an underseat vent on hybrids. Its pretty clear from the direction arrows for airflow under the passenger's seat that that is coming down the footwells from the front of the RAV. That reference A "if equipped" seems to say that NOT all models of 2021 5th generation RAVs are actually equipped with such a vent whatever it is. I look forward to vikingkim5's inspection to resolve this interesting issue.
UPDATE! So the temperature got warm enough that I decided to crawl around in the carport with an LED flashlight. Looking under BOTH the drivers and passengers seats in my 2021 gas XLE there actually are these floor vents like in the photo.These appear to be foot warming vents. They are in addition to the vents in the back of the armrest/console. They seem to go into a bulge in the floor under the seats that connects to the center plastic box that runs up to the transmission shift lever. I wonder if these vents do anything if the S-Flow is turned off? It will be interesting to find out if these vents are only on the dual climate control cars or also on the LE with the simple manual system.
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They're there - exactly as you pictured for me. Thank you for your post and photo. So, yes, there are indeed vents under the seats in the LE. I still wish I had the blowers on the console (sales guy could have made more $ too) but hey, he didn't misspeak, and I know/hope the kids are warm enough or cool enough back there. I won't buy another car without seeing it first and comparing it to the XLE. The dealership didn't even have one for us to check out. Happy with Rav4 overall, though. This is our third.
This has been a very interesting thread. I have learned something I did not know -- and that no one has discussed since the 5th gen forum started in 2019.
I've never ridden in the back seat of our Hybrid LE so I had to go look.
I'm not sure we'll ever drive enough for gas savings to pay for the additional cost of the hybrid powertrain, but the included AWD and alloy wheels are nice, and now I know that any hypothetical back seat passengers will be well-ventilated.
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I'm not sure we'll ever drive enough for gas savings to pay for the additional cost of the hybrid powertrain, but the included AWD and alloy wheels are nice, and now I know that any hypothetical back seat passengers will be well-ventilated.
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Yeah, still wish we had those console vents, but at least the dealer didn't misspeak about vents under the seat.
I think its possible a rear seat passenger could have mud or snow on his shoes and if he extended them under the seat he could kick some muck into those vents so maybe the screen or grill cover is to prevent this.
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I'll keep a look out to see if I can find where I saw them before.
I do see that this might have potential:
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so kind of related to this thread but imagine you were the right side rear passenger. kind of behind your right calf it looks like a large vented area. I tried to find this in the manual but I'm not sure what this is for. the left rear passenger side doesn't have this which I found odd if it's actually ventilation.
I think that's ventilation for the big hybrid battery under the rear seat.
so heat from the battery is dumped into the cabin?
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