I just picked up my CTS on Saturday and tonight tried my heated seat for the first time. It felt like only the bottom cushion was heated and not the backrest. Is this correct?

I think that it takes a while for the heat to move up to the back. I have the feature on mine and I think it takes about 15 minutes to really warm up. If the back doesn't warm up I would take it back to the dealer and have them check it out.

My seat warms up real quick. So much so that I find myself turning it off after 15 minutes because it's too hot. I remember someone else on the forum stating the same thing awhile back.

I'm in the camp that is dissatisfied with the amount of time it takes
for the seat to warm up. And yes, it often feels as if the cushion is
the only part heating up.

The seats in my 08 seem to take longer to heat up than my 04. But then again, there were many complaints including mine that the 04 seats made me feel like the guest of honor at a barbeque. Defensive overkill....?

Mine work great and go up the lower back. They are much better than my 2006 STS. On both cars I can't keep them on the warmest setting, they cook me once they get completely hot (5-10 minutes).

Welcome & Congrats on your purchase.

It was a little chilly this morning so I purposely took the opportunity
to take a second look at the performance of the heated seats.

Compared to my last vehicle, these heated seats have a lot to desire.

The good news is that it does heat the "tush" and the back. Both
seem to be working fine.

The bad news is that it takes forever for the seats to heat. In my
last vehicle they heated within seconds.

Furthermore, the heat is delegated to just the bucket portion of
the seat. This means if you are not seated just right, you will
experience cold from the outer seat. I wish GM had heated the
entire seat instead of a smaller area.

My seats don't heat up as fast as my C6. The CTS probably takes 8 to 10 minutes. BUt it may have to do with the fact that they are cooled also. Having the cooling passages in the seats is probably the cause for them to take longer. Once they heat up, even the lowest setting is too hot for me.

Anyone able to compare the 05 heated seats to the 08? I have the 05 and they seemed great. Heated up well, although sometimes they would get too hot after about 15 minutes and I had to lower the setting.

Having the cooling passages in the seats is probably the cause for them to take longer. Once they heat up, even the lowest setting is too hot for me.

That may be true. Every vehicle I've owned with perforated heated/cooled seats has taken longer to heat up than the ones with heated-only seats.

Mine get hot pretty fast. The problem is they get TOO HOT, even on the lowest setting. And it gets pretty cold here in the winter too. It makes we wonder why they even have three level settings.

Seemed to take 5 minutes this morning until I actually sensed
the seat was warm at highest setting.

I did not check the time but my CTS is Heating/Cooling seats pretty good.