Floor heat not sufficient

2012 Passat TDI. When the heat is directed to the floor heat still comes out of the dash vents nearest the windows. I end up roasting before my legs ever get warm. The vent for the floor is just about a one inch diameter tube. It doesn't fan out at all. My legs and my knees ache from being so cold while the dash vent continues to run so my upper body is hot and my lower is freezing. Anyone else have this issue? Any recommendations?

I'm having the opposite issue. Ambient 32f, temp set on 72, on AUTO, fan shows 3 lights, and ALL the air is coming out the floor vents, and NONE is coming out the dash.
No time to take it in for a week or so...

There is an adjustment wheel on the dash vents in dotted increments. My solution to this is to adjust (restrict) the dash air and force it more elsewhere rather than leave them wide open. It has worked for me so far

the side vents work that way in my jetta as well, it helps keep the windows clear, dial the flow back and aim them to the windows.

skinnyb said:

There is an adjustment wheel on the dash vents in dotted increments. My solution to this is to adjust (restrict) the dash air and force it more elsewhere rather than leave them wide open. It has worked for me so far

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if that was someone's problem, they need their head examined. every car in the world is like that. some use a valve inside whereas others use the fins to block the air.

Thanks. I closed the dash vents today and i still have limited air flow from the floor. My daughter even commented today and asked if it even works. I will run it like that for awhile and see if I notice a difference. Appreciate the suggestions.

what's been your outside temps while driving? is this on the highway? When I drove into work today, it was 14F, when I saw the temp needle hit it's normal 190 mark I turned on the fan to 1 then heat to max, vents set for defrost and the floor. I drove 40 miles at 65mph before I dialed the temp back to 72 not because I was roasting hot but more of the car was comfortable. These engines create very little heat as a byproduct.

Some here block off their front grill area to reduce the heat loss to increase the heat going into the cabin.

Gold stars to you for waiting until 190° without heat. How long was the wait?

About 7-8 miles 15 min, traveling 35-40 MPH, the heated steats take about 2 min to take the chill off. I've also noticed my warm up times dropped since the dealer installed the TSB cold weather IC kit.