Mid/rear Seats Assembly problems of the 1999 Volkswagen Passat

Was driving my 1999 vw Passat. While in motion the driver seat steel bracket that holds the seat in place sheared off. I was then flipped 180 degress back into the rear seat. Lost control of stearing wheel and brakes since it flipped me. Contacted vw to see if there was a recall on this since the part is not exposed to weather conditions and the steel should not shear off like that. Vw stated no recall and they would not pay for repair due the age of car and no warranty. I had it repaired at vw service center ($860) since needed a car for transportation. I have the defected part and pictures. Sent up complaint to vw America and they said they will look into it but not able to keep me posted, leaving me to feel that they might not see the urgency to this terrible incident that happened to me. If my toddler kids were in the car I could have crushed their legs when the driver chair flipped. My husband and I really could have died in a car accident.

When getting in to my 1999 Volkswagen Passat the seat base came loose and tipped me and the seat back against the back seat. There had been no previous warning with the seat shifting while driving or any creaking noises. Luckily I wasn't driving when this happened because I could have easily crashed with the severe recline of the seat. The vehicle was taken to a local vw dealership who looked at the problem and asked if I'd ever been in an accident because of the seat breakage. "no" was my response. Their bill for a replacement was for over $800 so I called vwoa and spoke with one of their customer care personnel about the high price and if they'd help with any of the cost even though the car was out of warranty. Their response was "no". The car was repaired out of my own pocket and a newer model seat base was installed that was of an obvious redesign. (I guess they thought the old one was inferior but didn't feel like it was a safety issue to let anyone know about. ).

1. ) normal usage 2. ) failure of latch that secures the rear, fold down passenger seat in an upright position. Possible consequences include personal injury due to object in cargo area impacting the seat during deceleration causing seat latch to fail and the seat to collapse into seated passenger. Particularly vulnerable in wagon models where larger cargo items can be stored. 3. ) we had seat latch release mechanism replaced. (failed part is not available).