Front Seat Heater/cooler problems of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta - part 2

At approximately 5:15 am this morning I started my car and turned on the driver's side heated seat. After waiting approximately 2 minutes for the rpms to drop below 1000, I placed the vehicle in drive and began heading for work. I immediately smelled something burning. I traveled less than an 1/8 of a mile to a stop sign. After stopping the vehicle and placing it in park, I opened the driver's side door, pulled the hood latch, and quickly stepped out of the vehicle. I left the car running and the driver's side door open while I opened the hood to inspect for the source of the burning smell. After approximately 2 minutes of inspection I determined that there was nothing burning in the engine compartment. I closed the hood and while standing at the front of the vehicle I noticed smoke coming from the driver's seat. I immediately ran to the driver's side door and discovered a small fire in the front seat. I turned the vehicle off, turned the driver's side heated seat off, and managed to extinguish the fire. This has been a very traumatic event. Reflecting on the typical usage of the heated seats by myself, or worse yet my wife, the outcome could have been catastrophic. The seat was literally on fire in less than five minutes. I can not imagine what the outcome might have been if this had occurred during rush hour traffic. If I had not exited the vehicle to inspect the engine compartment, I would have suffered burns. After talking to customer service I was informed that there was a recall on the seats. I have had my vehicle serviced at the Volkswagen dealer that I purchase the vehicle from since day one and they never did any recall work on the seats. I searched your sight for recall information on my vehicle and there was no data. I wanted you to be informed. I would hate to find out that someone was burned in there vehicle during normal operation.

I own a 2003 Jetta tdi wagon and my front seat heater has burned through the seat.

This morning, 4/5/05, I turned on my heated leather seats in my 2003 Jetta GLS and in a matter of about a minute, I felt something extremely hot on my leg. I immediately lifted myself up from the seat but it was too late. I looked down and there was a hole burnt into my leather seat, smoke coming from the seat and a burn in my pants. . . Not to mention my skin. What I find disturbing is not that it happened but the fact that I took my car in last Thursday and was not told about the problem even though a recall had already been issued. If vw had been proactive, I would not have had this injury and property damage.

While driving/parking driver's seat heater burned a hole in the seat when in use. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

While driving consumer had the heater seat on and it burned through consumer's coat and burned her pants. Consumer did not sustain any injury. Manufacturer was contacted, and the part for repair was on order.

On March 24,I turned my seat warmer to level 2,all of a sudden I felt a burning sensation. I kept driving thinking maybe I was bit by a bug or something. About a minute later,I saw and smelled alot of smoke. I had to pull over and when I looked down at my seat,it was dark and rainy so I turned on my dome light,there was a dime size hole in my seat. I had turned off the seat warmer when I realized what had happened. I got home and there was a burn on the back of my left leg. We contacted the dealership and they fixed our car in about 10 days. There had been an electrical short and they replalced the seat and fixed the electrical.

2003 vw Jetta wagon heated seats malfunction. Driver received a strong shock from the seat followed by a strong burning odor.

Failure in the driver side heated seat element resulted in a smoking hole burnt through the seat leather. The incident resulted in a small burn to the passenger.

Seat heater on driver's side became very hot in one spot, started to smell and smoke and burned through the seat material, my jacket and to my leg (no burn to skin noted).

Noticed the seat wsa hotter than normal a few days before incident. I was on my way to work and I smelled burning, then noticed my leg was hurting, then noticed smoke. I pulled over and jumped out of the car. I patted out the fire/smoke with my hand. There was a burned hole through the leather in the side of my seat. There was also a small burn in my pants and on my upper leg. I immediatly called the dealer. They could take my car that day, they kept it for a day and a half and replaced the heater and cover. I was not pleased with the look of the seat, it is not tight and does not look like the passenger side. I took the car back and they said I needed to wait for the leather to get tighter. It has been two months and it is not any tighter. I am happy they fixed the seat but I would like it to look like it used to.

On early morning start-up, the seat heater was turned on. Within about 1 minute it began to smolder, melting the seat foam cushion and burning a hole in the upholstery fabric and my trousers. Had I not quickly turned off the heater, it may have started a fire. I contacted vw of America. They took my information and repaired it at their expense through my local vw dealership.

On Monday morning I noticed that my seat warmer was burning the left side of my butt. I didn't notice anything at that time. On Tuesday morning, my seat was smoking and it burned a whole in my leather. When I called the dealership, they told me they had seen a couple of these incidents. Said I would need to bring my car in and leave it or wait 45+ minutes for them to take a look at it. I complained that I can't miss work, and I need a car that I can rely on to get me back and forth. I asked for a loaner for the day, to which they responded no. At this time, nothing has been done, and I am still driving with a defective seat warmer.

Drivers side seat heater malfunctioned wile set to level (2) two. Results were burn hole to seat, smoke erupting form seat, burn to driver?s jeans, pain and discomfort to driver this was during normal vehicle operation on public streets.

Passenger side seat heater malfunctioned. Seat heater turned on to level 3. Passenger and driver noticed smell of something burning, then passenger felt pain under left thigh. Turned seat heater off. When stopped, examined seat to discover brown hole in seat where heater had burned through. No repairs have been made yet.

While driving the seat caught on fire. Consumer smelled a burnt odor. The seat became very hot; burning completely through the leather. Also, burning through consumer's jeans. The seat burned consumer's legs and her backside. It wasn't until she got out of the vehicle she could see the smoke coming from under the seat.

(1) driving on ih-35, seat started burning and smoke filled the car, seat heater had burned through the seat.

The consumer stated the seat warmer caused the seat to catch on fire when the vehicle was being warmed up.

2003 vw Jetta front passenger heating element (heated seats) failure; fire burned through seat fabric.

The heater on driver seat overheated and burned a hole through driver's seat, and it also caught on fire. Consumer was able to extinguish the fire with his hand. Dealer and manufacturer were not notified.

While driving consumer turned on the seat heater and seat burned through completely; burning consumers buttocks and hand. Contacted the dealer.

Consumer was driving to work when suddenly the passenger felt heat coming from the driver's seat. The seat started to burn. Conumer exited the vehicle, and it was towed.

This car is equipped with electric seat heaters. After driving this vehicle for approximately 25 miles, the driver seat heater burnt through the seat, burning my butt. The seat quit burning after turning the heater off. I have spoke to two vw dealers and vw directly and it sounds like this is not an isolated incident by any means.

I was driving down the road and had just cut on my heated seats in my 2003 volkswagon Jetta and noticed that my seat was getting very hot on the left hand side. I could not figure it out and could not see b/c it was dark. I started filling around in my seat and felt a whole and it burned my finger. I had no idea what it was. I started smelling smoke and so I turned on my light in my car and pulled over immediately. My seat started smoking out of the whole. I tried to see closer what was going on and noticed sparks coming out of the whole. The only thing I could think of at that moment was my heated seats. I turned them off and the sparks went away. I now have a whole in my seat the size of a nickel. It is still under warranty and I am taking it in on Monday, however after reading many websites about this particular problem in 2002/2003 Jetta's I am not so sure that Volkswagen will stand behind this problem and that they try and blame it on the driver messing around with the grid which is next to impossible. I am writing in advance and calling as well so it is on file that this happened. I found the coil in the seat that was not protected by anything and looks to be what was causing the sparks in my seat.

Seat heater in 2003 Volkswagen Jetta shorted out causing small hole to burn in leather seat and inflicting minor pinpointed burn to driver while vehicle was in operation. Seat heat turned off returned vehicle to dealer for repair. To date the parts for repair are not available. Condition is still active if switch is turned on.

While driving the consumer's seat caught fire. The consumer contacted the dealer and took the vehicle in for repair.

While driving 10 mph heater in the driver seat caught on fire and burned through the driver's seat. Consumer extinguished the fire with her hand. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, who ordered a new seat.

While driving seat heater started to burn. Consumer felt the heat through her coat. Pulled over and exited the vehicle. The leather seat was melted. Consumer contacted the manufacturer.

We purchased a brand new 2003 vw Jetta in June of 2003. I have had no problems with the vehicle until yesterday, 11/28/04. We could smell something "hot" and burning. The drivers seat caught on fire from the heated seats, there is a hole in the seat and my boyfriend burnt his hand. Within minutes of that happening, the passenger side door window just fell down. I've never seen anything like this before. Somehow, the window is no longer in it's track. I have been doing some research online and finding many more instances with the windows falling and the seats catching on fire? what is the deal? this is very unsafe. I have my appointment tomorrow with our local vw dealer in erie PA to see what they will do to correct this. I want both seats looked at. . . . I do not feel safe in my car any longer!!!.

I currently own a 2003 volkwagen Jetta and have been driving it for 2 years. I live in michigan and as a result use the seat warmers regularly during the cold winter months. I have never had a problem or any complaints until yesterday. I drove about 1 mile and had the seat warmer on 3, which isn't the highest setting, and my seat caught fire. I had to pull over to the side of the road, get out, and proceed to stomp out the small ember burning. I know have a dime to nickel size hole in my driver side seat.

A hole was burnt into my velour driver seat from the seat heater on my 2003 diesel Jetta. I cannot use the seat heater as it continues to produce a burning smell when the heat is turned on.

Consumer noticed that driver's side seat heater became extremely hot, burning the plastic of the seat. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the seat needed to be replaced.

Sunday evening I left my house to run out to the local convenient store when the driver seat of my 2003 vw Jetta caught on fire. The heat settings run as high as five, my setting at the time was on two. I felt heat generating beneath my rear-end and when I lifted my leg to look below me, I saw and felt the flames beneath me. Trying to put the fire out, which by the time I'd got pulled over to the side of road had burned through my jacket and pants, I'd burnt my hand in an attempt to squoosh the fire between the seat and the cushioning. Not a pleasant experience. The seats are 'velour'. This is my third and last Jetta. My previous Jetta had the heated 'leather' seats package and I'd never had this experience. The dealer was kind enough to replace the heating components, cushioning and seat cover. (sarcastically speaking) however, I do not feel confident in my vehicle, much less Volkswagen. Very disappointed.

2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS with cold weather package had seat heating element burn hole in seat.

2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS velour heated seat malfunction. Burned a hole in car seat, through my coat and scorched my pants. Also burned finger. Volkswagen is fixing the problem and has offered to reimburse for coat and pants. All is done at no charge.

In December of 04 the drivers seat caught on fire in my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta glx. I had the heated seat on when I noticed the seat was getting extremly hot and started smoking. I was on a busy four lane road and unable to pull over at the time. Once I did pull over I jumped out of the car to survey the damage. I had managed to burn the tips of my fingers and my "rear end". Vw replaced the seat under warranty after I waited almost a month for the seat to come in. Needless to say I was very irate at the dealership and was told by the service advisor that "I was over reacting". I called vwoa and reported the problem but they too did not seem concerned. I did my own little research and was able to come up with a couple hundred other cases of seats catching on fire in Volkswagens. This is a serious problem and volkwagen doesnt seem to care, someone can get seriously injured if not killed by this problem.