Front Seat Heater/cooler Problems of Chrysler Town & Country - part 1

While driving on the highway I detected a burning smell. I saw smoke coming from undr my legs. I lifted my leg and saw a glowing heating coil in the seat. I turned off the heated seat switch and pulled to the curb to further check out the situation. I realized the smoke/fire had stopped and drove to a parking area and checked the seat again. The danger seemed past so I went to dinner. My wife and I returned home with the seat heater off. The next morning the dealer was called and the car taken to the service center.

See all problems of the 2014 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

The contact owns a 2005 Chrysler town and country. The contact stated that the coil that heats the driver seat burned a hole through the seat. The contact sustained a burn on the leg that did not require medical attention. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 127,000.

See all problems of the 2005 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

While parked in our driveway, ignotion/accessory off, with the 3rd row seats stowed, and the second row door switch disabled, my wife and I were attaching and adjusting a child safety seat in the 2nd row right side. Our 2 year old grandaughter was playing in the back, the back door was open. I went in the house for a moment, upon returning I learned that our grandaughter had gotten pinned between a deploying left side third row seat and a small cooler we had in the back of the van. My wife heard her say "help me" and was able to pull her out of the way. If grandma had not been close enough to effect a rescue it may have been catastrophic. The seat jammed itself against the cooler and the second row seat. One leg locked into the floor the other was "pinned" in a folded backward postion. The seat was not safely usable. I immediately called Chrysler, I was told I would hear back, I have not. It was a Saturday and I really needed the seat to be usable. I went to the dealer, my sales rep was able to pull the "pinned" leg back into position (it took significant application of strength), following which, the seat operated normally. Since that occurance there have been two occurrances of accidental 3rd row seat deployment while loading or unloading the van. The controls are easy to bump with ones elbow. The seats deploy under far too great of force to be safe. There is no lockout for the controls. There is no "cancel". The controls are active when the vehicle is in park and the back door is open. While demonstrating the problems to the dealer, the right side 3rd row seat damaged itself beyond simple repair requiring parts to be ordered. It is scheduled for repair. Chrysler maintains that the system is safe.

See all problems of the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

20000 miles front passenger seat stopped operating (no power) under 50000mi both front window regulators needed to be replaced the thing has leaked oil since day one front wheel bearing went at 76000 mi eats through breaks need yearly replacement tires do not last on this vehicle as well and are not easily found anywhere they are special order only Chrysler told me that they would look at the vehicle for 700$ for defects and reimburse for repairs if defects were found (yeah right) the "y" pipe (plastic) heater hose has blown at least five times the radiator needed to be replaced before 90000 miles with the thermostat the egr valve needed to be replaced at 60000 miles and still gets check engine light for bad egr rear dvd screen has never worked driver side sliding door got filled with water from poor assembly and drain that was not operating properly ac refrigerant hose leaking at 98000 miles overall horrible vehicle will never buy Chrysler again and as far as recalls go each recall we get the parts are never available even after hours spent on the phone with Chrysler bad bad vehicle and company !!!!.

See all problems of the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

The contact owns a 1999 Chrysler town and country. The contact stated that the heated passenger side seat caught fire. The vehicle sustained approximately $10,000 worth of damages. The failure began while the contact was driving at an unknown speed, and the seat began smoking. He pulled off the road and the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The fire department arrived at the scene. A police report was filed. Chrysler stated that there were no defects and the failure was due to how the vehicle was driven by the owner. There were no injuries. The current and failure mileages were 178,000.

See all problems of the 1999 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

In 2005 a recall was issued for the front seat heating elements. The car was brought into brandow Chrysler and the elements were supposedly changed. 9/30/07 the replacement elements failed and the driver front seat caught fire. The car was towed to brandow Chrysler and the heating elements were replaced again. Chrysler has denied any responsibility. I will not put anyone back into that car.

See all problems of the 2000 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

Our 1999 Chrysler Town & Country's heated driver's seat developed a hot spot last winter. I took it to the dealership 6/23/04 to have a number of problems addressed, including the heated seat. They told us it checked out ok and that they couldn't find a hot spot, even though we knew there was. They said it was safe and that anyway the seat wasn't a warranted part. Because they said it would cost approx. $900 to replace, we decided not to do it. Also, because they said it was safe, I started using the heater again when the weather turned cold, although I had to keep turning it off when it got too hot. On January 18, 2005, I drove about 20 miles on the freeway, and when I got out of the car I noticed a burn hole in the seat--about 3/8" across--just in the location that had always felt too hot. I felt lucky that it hadn't burst into flames while I was on the freeway! I was really upset and took it into the dealership. They told me that there was no problem with these seats, but they offered to "share" the cost of replacement. The cost of the seat has now gone up to $1100, and they want us to pay $700 of that. I'm going to get the seat replaced because it's a safety issue, but I don't think we should have to pay for a faulty part. After the most recent incident, we started to do some research and discovered that quite a few other complaints have been made to NHTSA. I downloaded report #pe00-034 which was quite informative. I contacted Chrysler's recall department today and was told that the "situation is under investigation. " then I spoke to customer assistance, where I was told that they couldn't do any better that the $700 "CO-pay. " Chrysler should not get away with not addressing this problem, just because there haven't been major injuries yet. Also, it does not seem right that customers should have to pay to replace what is quite obviously a defective component. I will ask the dealership to give me the burned seat when they replace it.

Complaint received via e-mail. "the driver side front heater seat malfunctioned and burned a 3/8 diameter hole in the center of the bottom cushion. Never been smoked in. " the consumer was told by the dealer a notice had been received from the manufacturer but a recall was never issued.

: the contact stated while using the driver's heated seat for 30 minutes it became hot and branded coil marks in a leather jacket. The contact received a satisfaction notification from the manufacturer stating the heater coil in the seat would be replaced.

See all problems of the 2001 Chrysler Town & Country 🔎.

The heat from the seat caused passenger's seat to catch on fire. Consumer will take the vehicle to dealer for repairs.

After the vehicle started up driver's automatic seat heater overheated, causing driver to sustain minor burns. Consumer was able to drive vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic could not determine the cause of the problem.

9/4/02 Chrysler replaced heated seat element due to not functioning properly. 12/17/04 heated seat burnt hole in seat cushion Chrysler first refused to cover due to vehicle being over warranty period, I called Chrysler and they have offered to pay 50%.

The second row passenger side seat has a box under it that gets hot when turning the rear heater on. Consumer has a child that sits in that seat, and the seat overheats. This was discovered when the child dropped an article and the consumer reached to pick it up .

1) use of heated seat. 2) twice, heated seat overheated. Each time it burnt a hole through the leather, and the last time it was smoldering. 3) contacted Chrysler, but safety from possible fire was not their concern. They were not interested in dealing with this problem because of the the age and milage of the vechile. They responded that my concern, especially in light of the expense and inconvience involved in this issue, was understnadable, but that my request for considerationin this matter must be declined. Imagine that . . . Expense and inconvience (their's of course) outweighs in their minds the issue of safety. As I review other complaints to the NHTSA I recognize a common thread with there heated seats. It obviously takes more than burning someone, or even burning a hole in the seat and then smoldering to address the issue of this fire hazard. I certainly hope that someone doesn't have to die from a car fire before action is taken.

Vehicle was equipped with seat heater and it burned through the fabric, burning the passenger. Manufacturer was contacted, but they will not repair the seat.

Driver seat warmer shocking driver then burn hole 11/2-2 inches into leather seat.

Heating system on passenger seat caused fire that burned seat.

The vehicle has a seat heater. While the consumer was driving, the passenger's seat heater caught on fire, burning a hole in the seat. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, who said they would repair it. However, the consumer wanted to inform NHTSA that this defect occurred, and wanted to know if the manufacturer had reported this defect.

My heated seats were not working. I took my vehicle to the dealer, and was told that the element needed replaced. I paid $154 to fix this. The heat still did not work, and I was told that the element in the back of seat also needed replaced which would cost $600. I was showed by the mechanic that the wires come loose and burn. Needless to say I was not going to pay another 600, I already threw away $154. I'm told even though there is a warranty, this is not covered.

The driver and passenger heated seat malfunctioned and started melting and smoking.

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While driving 15 mph driver's heated seat burned the driver, causing minor injuries. Consumer will contact the dealer in the near future.

I have a 1999 Chrysler town and country van. It has all the options and I puchased this vehicle brand new. I have taken excellent care of it. The problem is that the drivers seat, leather with heat, is overheating in one area. It gets so hot that it burns the back of my leg. If I leave the heat on for more than 1 minute, I can smell burning leather. I know that if I left it on, it would probably catch fire. I can see a small spot on the seat where the leather has actually burned. Unfortunately, I cannot use this feature anymore. It is too dangerous. I am courious as to other incedents of this same thing hppening.

While driving and turning on the seat warmer within fifteen seconds consumer's skin burned. It didn't matter if it was on high or low. Consumer was concerned with electrical problems or a possible fire.

On two separate occasions driver's seat heater burned through the seat. Dealer replaced the seat on the first occasion. Currently, the problem has recurred. The dealer was notified again. Dealer informed consumer that the seat will be replaced at consumer's expense.

While using the heated driver's seat, some spots became very hot. Then, the heater did not work anymore.

Drivers heater seat to hot to use. May start a fire if left on.

While driving with the seat heater on consumer saw that the seat heater had burned a hole through the bottom of the passenger seat. When the consumer touched the seat it was very hot and smelled of noxious fumes.

Driver side heated seat would become very hot after 3 to 4 min. I would often have to suddenly locate the switch while driving to prevent being burned. On 1/25/04 I had just started driving with the seat heater on but got out of the car to talk to my sister. After about ten minutes I returned to my car (still running) to find it full of smoke. I also noticed a hole burned through the leather seat and a smoking wire showing through. This area is at a seam near the middle of the seat. I feel that this is a major safety hazard. The heat switch is located on the side of the seat and is often knocked on without my knowledge. I fear the passenger seat may also burn up since it is often not occupied but in the on position. I noticed in my 2003 version of the same van, the seat heat switches are on the dash instead. The Chrysler parts dept. Tells me it will be over $800 each just for the seat cover/heater unit. I have read about similar seat fires in other 1999 Town & Country vans.

While driving my car with the seat heater on, it suddenly got very hot, so I turned the heater off. When I got to my destination I saw a hole about the size of a pencil eraser had burned through the leather. I later realized that there was a hole in my pants and the back of my leg was burnt. When I contacted Chrysler, I was told that I would have to pay for all repairs since my 3 year warranty was up. By the way, the heater no longer functions, although the light on the switch still activates when depressed, meaning any fuse in the system never blew.

Driver's side seat warmer overheated and burnt through the seat's leather and driver's clothing. This resulted in the driver's back being burnt.

The heated seats continue to get hot after turning the temperature down. Consumer stated it made it hard to drive when the seat continued to get hot. Consumer could turn them off altogether, but could not use the seat heater. . . . .

1999 Chrysler minivan seat heater overheat failure. VIN: 1c4gp64l3xb808505. On 11/28/03, the subject passenger seat heater overheated, producing smoke and significant odor. As soon as it was evident that the seat heater was the cause, the heater was manually switched off before the heater failure had an opportunity to reach its' natural conclusion. Afterwards, a burn hole was visibly evident in the top center portion of the seat cushion, approx. 10mm in size. Damage internal to the seat was not examined by myself. Upon contacting service at siemens car service and purchase point for the vehicle 11/28/03 and 12/1/03 (bridgman, michigan), I was referred to Chrysler corp. Upon contacting Chrysler corp 12/1/03 (ph. 800-992-1997, spoke with emelia, complaint no. 11862265) I was told that, because the vehicle was beyond its' warranty period, there is nothing Chrysler would do regarding the overheat failure; they simply documented my concern. My family (wife nancy and three children), present during the overheat failure, were signficantly concerned by the smoke and odor.

I have a year 2000 Chrysler Town & Country van the seat heater set fire to the leather on the seat. The dealer would not fix the seat due to the van being under extended warranty not the factory warranty. From the information on the net Chrysler knew about this problem in 1999 and it looks like they didn't bother to fix it in the vans built for the year 2000. Having to put out a fire while driving is not something I bargained for when I bought the van. What would have happened if no one saw the fire and left the van next to the house?.

On September 30, 2003,while my wife was driving around town on errands with our four children, she noticed smoke coming from the front passenger seat. Ultimately, a hole burned through the leather seat as a result of a malfunction/failure in the heated seat system. Luckily, my wife had the presence of mind to shut off the seat and get everyone out of the car in time to avoid a full blown fire. However, this situation was extremely dangerous and a tragedy was averted only by her quick reaction. A seat heating system that does not have a mechanism to shut itself off before it gets this hot is unreasonably dangerous and should be recalled immediately at the manufacturer's expense.