general problems of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta

The right area of the driver's side heated seat began to get excessively warm so I discontinued use for a period of time. Subsequent attempt at use resulted in the heating coil burning through the upholstery. Pictures attached. I have discontinued use and learned there is an expired recall for this as a know issue.

Drivers side heated seat burned hole in seat fabric and burned pants and right leg. Local dealership stated "no recall issued for this vehicle".

Both front seats, the bottom right side bolster burned. The heated front seats will over heat, the failure appears to be confined to the right bolster on the bottom section of the seat. The heating elements get hot enough to burn through the seat material. Being the side of the seat I was able to shift my leg away and power off the heated seat. If left on the seats will start to smoke. I consider this a safety issue, I haven't tried , but it seems as though the seat could catch on fire if left on. The local dealer's service rep said just unplug it the option.

After noticing for weeks that my heated seats would only work when turned to 5 (passenger seat doesn't work at all), my leg began burning while driving. I smelled something burning and looked down to see that there was a hole in my seat and there was smoke coming out of it. I immediately turned the seat off and haven't turned it on since. When I contacted vw, they told me that my vehicle was not included in the heated seat recall and that I would be responsible for the cost of diagnosing the problem as well as for the repairs.

I started experiencing a hot spot in the driver's heated seat in the fall of 2012. I have to put a cushion between my right leg and the seat or it will nearly burn. I have also been having an issue with either the O2 sensor or catalytic converter whenever it rains and it's cool weather. The car will lose power, sputter and lurch until it has been running for a while then it acts normally. Finally, for the past two months the rear door locks will not open with the keyless entry or by hitting the lock/unlock button on the the door. I just reached the 100k mark and keep up regular maintenance on my car so I'm a little upset that things like this are happening so early.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. While driving 40 mph, the contact stated that she smelled something burning. After inspection, she noticed a hole in the seat from the seat warmer becoming excessively hot. The dealer advised the contact to notify the manufacturer of the failure. The manufacturer informed the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The current and the failure mileages were 134,000. Bw.

2003 volks Jetta passenger side heated seat stopped working, and the driver side only has two postions. . . Burn your butt or off. Could have been a dangerous situation had I been on a hwy at hwy speeds.

Heated seats melted a hole in the leather and burned my butt. Very very hot. It smelted like burnt rubber and smoke inside the car.

2003 Volkswagen Jetta passenger side heated seat became so hot, that the leather was burned, smoldered and began to catch fire. Since I was sitting on the seat at the time, it also burned my pants and my skin as well.

Overheated driver seat, which burned hole through driver's seat and left a 2" burn mark on sweater that was in contact with that area of the seat. This is a 2003 vw Jetta tdi (turbo diesel).

2003 Jetta seat fails in rear end accident.

The heated seat on the passenger side of our 2003 vw Jetta tdi got very hot on my right leg, I reached down to feel the seat and it burnt my hand. We turned on the lights and the seat had a burned hole with smoke coming out of it. Had I been wearing my coat it could have caught fire before I felt the intense heat.

I use my heated seats almost daily in the winter months. I used it this morning for about 20 minutes as I drove from home to the gym, then another 10 minutes as I drove from the gym to the store. When I got into my car after the store, it was still on the same setting (5), I had driven about 50 yards in the parking lot, when I felt a sharp pain in my left upper leg/butt. I moved slightly, then began to smell smoke. I felt around with my hand and felt the "hot" wire and the hole in my seat. It took me a moment to realize what it was, and then I immediately turned down the heated seat to off, thereby preventing further damage and pain. Luckily there was limited damage to my clothing and I was not seriously injured, but had I been driving on the highway, or not been able to figure out what was causing the pain so quickly, there could have been more severe consequences including injury.

The heated seats im my 2003 vw Jetta started to catch on fire.

While driving driver smelled and could see smoke and realized drivers seat was on fire. Driver managed to pull over and put out fire on seat. Volkswagen of America did nothing - told owner they had nothing to say. Dealer replaced seat.

I was driving my 2003 vw Jetta under normal road conditions. I stopped at a red light in an intersection, continued when it turned green. I hit a small sized pothole at the other end of the intersection at speeds below 15mph, which caused the wrongful deployment of the side curtain and seat airbags as well as locking the seatbelt tensioner making it inoperable. I inspected the vehicle after the incident and found no damage whatsoever to all body panels and wheels/tires. The following morning I had a mechanic inspect the car for any suspension or steering problems and none were found. I took the vehicle to the dealer where I purchased it to have it fixed under warranty and the dealer and vw of America have denied warranty repairs and have not yet done anything to fix the problem. I did research on the internet for similar incidents with this make and model and have found that there have been 500 similar incidents of spontaneous airbag deployment in 2002-2004 vw Jettas, golfs, gti and new beetles around the country.