Front Seat Heater/cooler problems of the 2002 Volkswagen Jetta - part 2

Front passenger's seat caught on fire through the nylon fabric, burning the passenger. New seat will be replaced by manufacturer.

My wife and I own a 2002 Jetta GLS 1. 8t with heated seats. While driving I felt my leg getting extremely hot and I smelled something burning. I pulled over and found a hole in my pants and a hole in my driver's seat. The seat was still smoking when I pulled over. My wife turned off the heated seats and the seat stopped smoking. I contacted two Volkswagen dealerships and they stated they were aware of something like this happening tovolkswagens before. This resulted in damage to the car, my pants, a minor burn to my leg, and caused me to question the safety of this vehicle.

I turned on my drivers side seat warmer. After about 2 minutes, there was a noticable smoke in the car and extreme heat coming from the left side of the drivers seat. I immediately turned off the seat warmer. After pulling in the garage, there was a small burn on my pants and a 1/4" hole burned through the fabric on the seat. Volkswagon states that the heater element shorted out, has not done anything to resolve the issue.

I have a 2002 Jetta 1. 8t. I started driving my car and turned on my seat warmer to 3 and within 30 seconds saw a stream of smoke coming from my seat. I quickly turned off the seat warmer and stopped the car and go out. A hole was burned throught my seat and my jeans that I was wearing were burned as well. I turned it back on for a second and saw a small flame ignited.

Approximately 2 minutes after turning on driver's side seat heater, noticed burning smell, followed shortly thereafter by heat sensation on my left thigh. Immediately turned heater off, pulled car off road, and got out. Found dime sized burn pattern in leather seat. Searched NHTSA website the next day and found that this is a common problem on 2002 Jettas. Called dealer to schedule a repair appointment.

Seat heater malfunctioned, burned through the leather seat and burned me while I was driving. I safely pulled the car to the side of the road. The replacement components also malfunctioned, burning the leather seat and once again, burned me. Also, the sunroof has plastic guides that keep breaking, I have had these plastic components replaced three times since I purchased my car in 2002, and I don't use my sunroof that often, probably less than 30 times/year.

My car, a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta was parked and running and the driver seat caught on fire for no apparent reason due to most likely the heating element in the seat. I am filing this complaint because if I was in the car I may have been injured or killed due to the defect. I just want someone to know so that other people are safe in the future.

Heater in the driver's seat burned through the seat and driver's coat while driving.

Seat heater on 2002 Jetta 1. 8t overheated creating hole in driver's seat. Hile driving normally the witht he seat heater in position 1 ( lowest - highest is 5) seat got too hot to the point felt as though would burn. There was no fire or smoke but little burning smell. Car was sent to ardmore vw for service and they tested seat heater. Got call from sa that the seat heater was gone and that it burnt through the seat cover.

Vehicle was equipped with heated seats which malfunctioned. The heat coils burned straight through the driver's seat, causing second degree burns to the driver.

Upon turning on the seat heater, the driver's side seat caught fire, burning through the seat cloth, foam, and driver's clothing.

Volkswagen 2002 Jetta faulty seat warmers. On the morning of oct 11, 2004 I turned the seat warmer on to setting number 2. Roughly 1-2 minutes later while driving down the road it began to smell like something was burning. I felt a burning on my leg and began to see smoke. I immediately pulled over and got out of the car. There was a dime size hole in the seat where the seat had burned through. There was also a burn on my pants from where the seat had melted to my pants. There was also a red mark on my skin. I have contacted the company and they have agreed to see the car and possibly replace the parts. My biggest concern was that could have caused large fire or a serious burn to myself.

Our 2002 Volkswagen Jetta tdi had sparks coming from the drivers side seat heater that burned two holes in the seat.

1 & 2. My 2002 vw Jetta's driver side heated seat started on fire. I noticed the fire when I felt a burning sensation as my pants were catching fire. I immediately turned the seat off & pulled over. The seat had a dime to quarter size burn hole in it and if I turned the heated seat back on I could see the wire arcing. 3. The Volkswagen dealer replaced the seat 5 days later.

The front passenger side seat heater burned a hole in the seat. . The driver's side heated seat caught on fire while driving.

2002 vw Jetta tdi with heated cloth seats. Driver side seat heater overheats in a small spot, causing burning (brown coloration) of the seat and the start of a burnt leg on the wife (just what I need. . . One more thing to hear about. . . ). Passenger seat works fine. Driver seat heater no longer used as problem is repeatable.

Driver's seat heater was overheating and burning through the seat cover. Dealer was contacted.

Vehicle was equipped with an asr light and when driving on a smooth road the asr light will come on ,and the vehicle will down shift. Took vehicle to the dealer, and was told that after examining the vehicle there was nothing they could do. They were completely baffled, cleared out the codes, and replaced the brake light modules, but were unable to solve the transmission problem. Also, heated seats overheated. Consumer wa s furious.

A fire started under the driver side of the vehicle while driving at 40 mph. Vehicle was taken to the dealer.

The drivers side heated seat on my 2002 Jetta 1. 8t started smoldering and burnt a hole through the farbic and burned my leg.

The seat material on the driver's seat, burned through, melting the seats material and creating a 1-inch x â½ inch wide hole. The hole left exposed the electrical wires under the material that caused the driver to feel a sudden electrical shock. Furthermore, the electrical shock combined with the hot melting material felt through the jeans, caused the driver to suddenly and unsafely veers off the road. The hot melted material also caused some minor burning on the hand (finger) of the driver. The vw built in seat-heater was on position 4.

While driving 60 mph driver's seat caught on fire from the seat heater core. No injuries reported.

Heated seat malfunction oned a 2002. 5 vw Jetta. Heating element burned a hole through the fabric on the seat. Also. Burning the pants that I was wearing. Nothing has been done to fix the problem I was told that the parts are on backorder. This also happened March 15, 2003.

While driving our 2002 volkwagen Jetta, my wife set the seat warmer to "5" (the highest level). She said that she "smelled something funny," and then received a minor burn on her left leg. Corrective action was to turn the seat heater to "0" (off). No parts have been replaced pending a response for service from Volkswagen of America, inc.

Driver seat burned by malfunction of the seat heating system on my vw Jetta 2002.

Heated seats malfunction. This is the second time the seats malfunctioned causing melting of fabric and smoke, destroying seats. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. Vw replaced seats just 10 months ago for the same problem.

The consumer smelled a burning chemical scent in the vehicle. The consumer then felt a burning sensation in her hand and the a sharp pain. The consumer then discovered a hole in the seats from the seat warmer. The consumer stated this is third electrical failure she has had with the vehicle.

On my 2002 volkwagen Jetta 1. 8t, my seatwarmer ignited and burned through both my seat and the coat I was wearing at the time, leaving holes in both. Ncident date is approximate. I immediately called the dealership after it happened and thus, they may have the exact date on record.

I was driving and noticed my hip had an itch. I itched it and it sort of went away. The next day the same thing happened, but I touched the seat in my car, and that it was really, really hot. I stopped and looked, and the leather was a bit defromed, and I noticed a burning smell. The heating elements in my 2002 vw Jetta tdi were overheating, and could have caught me or the car on fire. I am gong to the dealer to have it looked at in 2 days.

I turned my heated seat on and 5-7 minutes into the drive I noticed a burning smell and realized my seat was realy hot. I turned the heated seat off and burning stopped. Upon visual inspection I noticed a hole burnt into seat and a singed dime sized mark on my coat. I have been without my car now for 24 days and I am still waiting for the part to get in the country.

My electronically heater driver seat of my 2002 vw Jetta overheated and burned my seat cushion.

The consumer turned on the seat heater and it burned a hole in the consumer's pants with proper temperature adjustment.

The front drivers seat of my 2002 vw Jetta sedan got extremely hot while I was sitting on it causing the leather seat to start to burn and my buttocks to burn slightly as well.

Volkswagen Jetta GLS 2002 the heated seat on the driver's side started to smoke due to faulty wiring.

The seat warmer of my 2002 volkswagon Jetta malfunctioned and started a fire within the seat. There was smoke and a flame inside the seat. It burned the pants I was wearing. And burned my leg slightly. ***when I called the service center to schedule an appointment to fix this problem, they said "yeah, that's been happening, we're calling the cars 'hot pants'" they also told me that the seats are on back order, and that they have had a car there for over a week that had the same problem.