Steering Column problems of the 1996 Volkswagen Jetta

I own a 1996 vw Jetta GLS and my car smokes from my steering wheel column. I will be driving and out of no where white smoke pours out of the column. I thought it was because of my headlights being on but then noticed it doing it without them on. It even does it when the car is off! this I feel and my friend who has the same problem is a fire hazard and could be very dangerous to drive. I called a vw dealership and spoke to the mechanic and he told me he feared for my life and it sounds like a fire hazard or it could cause my breaks and other things on my car to fail. I could be driving down a highway at 65 and my car can just die. I have brought my car to 3 different mechanics for this problem and they all said they have no clue what it could be . In my case nothing leads up to this happening it just happens randomly at anytime with or without my lights on or blinkers being on. This is still an unknown cause but very scary, even scarier knowing its not just my car.

Smoke from the steering column. After the vehicle was started, a puff of smoke arose from the steering column and I lost use of my windshield wipers. I have been online and have seen numerous similar complaints to the same affect. Shouldn't this be a recall item ? Ave had quite a few others problems in the 6 months since we have owned our 1996 Jetta.