Seat Belt Problems of Volkswagen Eurovan

I was driving in town on a city street on my way to church and the drivers side seat heater burned through and melted my coat a little bit. My back felt burned a little bit but went away after awhile so I did not have any lasting pain. But my good church coat was left with a slighty melted area on it. The passenger side did not burn because the heater doesnt work anymore.

See all problems of the 2000 Volkswagen Eurovan 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Eurovan. The contact noticed that the rear, middle seat belt buckle had broken into several pieces. In addition, the rear drivers seat belt would not connect to the base buckle housing. The manufacturer was contacted but would provide no assistance. The current and failure mileages were 150000.

See all problems of the 2003 Volkswagen Eurovan 🔎.

The passenger seat belt locks up and does not extend once locked up. One has to undo and reel it back in and try again to pull it out. If it makes a whirring sound as it is pulled out, it will lock up again. This has happened to two of our vw Eurovans - a 1999 and a 2003 - so I am assuming it might be a common problem.

The owner's manual states that the three-point seat belts are designed to hold a child's safety seat in place. To do this, you extend the belt fully until you hear a click, buckle the belt, then let it retract. You should hear a ratcheting noise. The belt should not extend. This is in fact what happens. However, my complaint is that this design does not comfortably accomodate a car full of adults. I do not have any small children. When any of us, sitting in a passenger seat, lean forward to pick up something off the floor of the car, or off the dashboard, the child safety feature engages, and when you lean back, you are locked to the seat. This child feature is dangerous to adults, because it, because the manual says to do it, makes you undo the seat belt to reset the safety feature. Also, I was not aware of any agency or auto industry advocating the placement of a child safety belt in a front seat, when there are back seats available. I would like vw to put a driver seat type three point belt in the front passenger seat. This would be safer for my family.

See all problems of the 1999 Volkswagen Eurovan 🔎.