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Just the other day, a customer came to my Toyota franchise dealership and narrated how, on date nights, he and his wife often relive their youthful days by doing some hanky-panky in the back-seat of their 2016 Toyota Tundra.
Apparently, whenever they do, the wife always complains that the rear seats are too cold.
“I must say, she is right-the seats are cold-especially on a wintry night”, he sadly reported.
For that reason, he continued, when he had heard that Toyota had just released its 2022 Toyota Tundra, he had come straight-away to check whether its rear seats are heated.
So, he again turned to me and urgently enquired,
“Well, are the rear seats in a Toyota Tundra heated?”
The Rear Seats in the Toyota Tundra can and should be heated
“Yes, the 2022 Toyota Tundra CrewMax can and should have heated rear seats!”.
I guess that, desperate to make a sale -I found my lips unbelievably and voluntarily replying in the affirmative. Unfortunately, by the time I had come to my senses and was about to explain, events had overtaken me (pun intended).
The excited man whipped out his checkbook and was frantically scribbling away, simultaneously talking about trading in his current for the one with heated rear seats.
Without me pitching to the client or explaining its specs, within five minutes, I had made my first sell and commission of the week!
Handing me the check and, Terminator-like assuring me “I will be back, Valentine’s”, the man shook my hand and disappeared before I could remonstrate. My head spun. What to do now?!
Dear reader, I am generally an honest guy and rarely lie. But the real truth of the matter is that the rear seats in the new 2022 Toyota Tundra ARE NOT HEATED. Though the front ones are!
However, had the gentleman been listening, in response to his enquiry, I had said, and I quote:
“Yes, the 2022 Toyota Tundra can and should have heated rear seats!”.
Although I am not an English language major, I think the two operative words in my sentence had been “can and should“. According to dictionary.com, “can” means “to be able to; have the ability, power or skill to”.
On the other hand, the word “should” means “must or ought to”. When, therefore, I had answered in the affirmative, what I had actually meant was that the Toyota Tundra is able to have heated rear seats.
My argument clear, I set about preparing my pitch for the rear-heated-seats gentleman’s Valentine’s Day return.
Customize to Heat the Rear Seats in the Toyota Tundra’s Interior
On Valentine’s Day, the Toyota Tundra man, who I had since discovered from the check he had handed me, was actually called Mr. Shenanigans, arrived together with his two teenage children and smiling blindfolded wife, in tow.
After the blindfold was removed and Mrs. Shenanigans had seen the new 2022 CrewMax Toyota Tundra, with a glint of excitement and a sultry smile, she naughtily exclaimed to her husband, “Tundra!…. But are the rear seats heated?
As if to give me my cue, Mr. Shenanigans turned to face me-I sprung into salesman mode.
Opening the Toyota Tundra’s doors, I invited the Shenanigans to come and see the car’s impressive interior. I opened my presentation with, this “latest generation Toyota (Tundra) can match its rivals with its updated interior design and build.”
Drawing their attention to the dashboard in the front of the interior, I highlighted how “The interiors have seen a significant update over the outgoing model right down to the dashboard materials and design.”
Coos of appreciation came from both mother and children at the sight of the car’s infotainment system and the “leather-trimmed steering with power adjustability and heating”. Mr. Shenanigans, who still had a frown on his face, quizzically eyed me.
To answer Mrs. Shenanigans earlier and the couple’s most pertinent question, I finally and frankly informed the excited family that, while one of the 2022 Toyota Tundra CrewMax’s several luxurious improvements and creature comforts were leather upholstery and heated and ventilated front seats, unfortunately, the rear seats were not heated.
Though, hastened to add, they could be ventilated via the single-zone or dual-zone climate control cooling-heating system.
Opening the rear doors, I invited both Mr. and Mrs. Shenanigans to try out the back seats. “With the CrewMax models, the Tundra gets a spacious bench seat.” Just right for those family road trips (or date nights-I soliloquized).
Seeing Mr. Shenanigans becoming agitated, I quickly added, “Depending on the trim level, the Tundra can be equipped (my italics) with either single-zone or dual-zone automatic climate control providing plenty of cooling (or heating) through the chunky front air vents”.
A look of enlightenment came over Mr. Shenanigans’ face.
Proceeding, I also informed the Shenanigans that if the climate control cooling-heating system failed to warm the rear, they could always approach Toyota to customize their new Toyota Tundra CrewMax by extending the heating from the front to the rear.
For, as I highlighted, if Toyota had the option for clients to virtually build their model Toyotas, then it could easily attend to a request for heated rear seat heating. With that, my pitch ended.
As we walked back to the office to iron out the finer details and complete the necessary paperwork, I thought I distinctly heard Mrs. Shenanigans say,
” Well, we could always try the front seats, there is definitely more room and heating,” she winked.
Suffice to say the Shenanigans drove off in their 2022 Toyota Tundra CrewMax with rear seat heat capabilities that very day!
So there you’ve it folks, are the rear seats of the Toyota Tundra heated? The answer is no, only the front ones are. However, the rear ones can be warmed using the onboard climate control cooling-heating system.
Alternatively, you can always approach the most capable Toyota and have them customize it by adding rear seat heating.