Burty, my seats heat up really quickly but could be a little hotter, not as warm as the ones I had on my last Alfa. I agree though that I would rather have a heated gear knob, I have been complaining about it bitterly to my friends, so much so that one of them knitted a little bobble hat for it! Living where I do in the Welsh mountains it it regularly below freezing in the winter months. I have to say that the thing I miss most about my last car (Mondeo) is the heated front windscreen, it was a godsend! Now I have to join the ranks of my neighbours filling the kettle in the morning to get defrosted!