Ventilated seat button
Switches on small fans in the seat that move air through the cushion and backrest to cool you down, and sets how hard they blow.
What pressing it does
Each press steps the fan speed, usually from off to the highest of three levels and then down: Hyundai's 2025 Tucson goes OFF → HIGH → MEDIUM → LOW → OFF and turns off if you hold the button for more than 1.5 seconds; Mazda's 2025 CX-5 goes Off → High → Mid → Low the same way. One, two or three lit bars show the level. Both need the engine running (Hyundai) or the ignition on (Mazda), and neither switches itself back on when you restart the car.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
- What it looks like
- A seat seen from the side with a small fan (a propeller) drawn on or beside it, often with three level lamps above
- Also labelled
- Seat ventilation; Air ventilation seat; Cooled seat; Seat cooling
- Standard
- None — a maker's symbol, described here from 2 makers' manuals: Hyundai, Mazda
What your car's handbook says
The handbook for your exact car is the authority: each row is one named handbook for one model and year, not proof for every model of that make, and the wording in the last column is ours. 3 of the 8 handbooks we checked show this button. The SEAT, Renault, Opel / Vauxhall, Fiat and MINI handbooks do not.
| Make | Handbook's name | What that handbook says pressing it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hyundai | “Air ventilation seat” | With the engine running, push the switch to cool the seat by blowing air through small holes in the cushion and backrest; each push changes the airflow (HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW, OFF), and holding it for more than 1.5 seconds turns it off.Source: Hyundai 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual), web manual page, checked 2026-10-16 |
| Peugeot | “Ventilated seats” | There is no seat button: on the touch screen's Ventilated Seats page, pick the seat and one of three levels, 1 (Low), 2 (Normal) or 3 (High); the setting is remembered when the ignition is switched off.Source: Peugeot 3008 / 5008 handbook (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF), PDF page 52, checked 2026-10-16 |
| Mercedes-Benz | “Seat ventilation” | Press the button on the door repeatedly to raise the ventilation level; up to three lamps show it, and pressing until they all go out switches it off. The symbol in the handbook's picture is too small for us to read, so this row is not counted as confirming the drawing.Source: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan operator's manual (US, edition C1-2017 H, PDF), PDF page 92, checked 2026-10-16 |
What to check in your car's manual
Whether your car has seat ventilation at all (the button is often fitted only on higher trims), how many levels it has, whether it can run together with the seat heater, and whether the rear seats have their own button.
Where makes differ
The fan drawing is the same in Hyundai's and Mazda's manuals, but Mazda's CX-5 cannot ventilate and heat the same seat at once, while Hyundai's Tucson can run the driver's seat ventilation by itself (Auto Comfort Control) from the outside and set climate temperatures. Peugeot's 3008 has no physical button: ventilation is a 'Ventilated Seats' tab on the touch screen. Some makers put a seat with blue arrows instead of a fan on the button; this page covers the fan version that both manuals show.
In the other handbooks' own words:
- Mercedes-Benz (E-Class Sedan operator's manual, 2017): “Depending on the ventilation level, up to three indicator lamps light up.” PDF page 93
No regulation defines it
Neither the UN R121 table nor FMVSS 101 Tables 1 and 2 lists a seat ventilation control, so its symbol is the maker's.
Good to know
- It cools by moving cabin air through holes in the seat, so it works best once the air conditioning has cooled the cabin; it is not a refrigerated seat.
- Hyundai warns against cleaning ventilated seats with solvents, spilling liquids on them, putting plastic bags or newspapers under the seats or changing the seat covers: each can block the air holes or the air intake.
- Mazda warns that running it for a long time with the engine off can flatten the battery.
Other buttons under “Seats, mirrors”
Sources
No regulation defines this control, so it is described from 2 carmakers' own owner's manuals, each read on the date shown.
- Hyundai 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual): Air ventilation seat — Seat-and-fan switch on the climate panel (two panel types pictured); OFF-HIGH-MEDIUM-LOW cycle; hold 1.5 s to turn off; off at every ignition ON; Auto Comfort Control; care warnings.
While the engine is running, push the switch to cool the driver's seat or the front passenger's seat (if equipped).
checked 2026-10-16 - Mazda 2025 CX-5 owner's manual (US, Mazda USA online edition): Seat Ventilation (Some Models) — Seat-and-fan switch with three level lamps, pictured at Off, High, Mid and Low; ignition must be on; not at the same time as the seat warmer; battery caution.
The seat ventilation uses fans installed in the seats to draw air around the seat surface and ventilate them.
checked 2026-10-16
Written in our own words; the manuals cover their own models only.