Front Seat Heater/cooler problems of the 2003 Volkswagen Passat - part 1

My son was driving (in motion) on hwy 17 in miller county mo with seat heater on Saturday Nov. 28, 2020. Seat caught on fire. I had noticed when I had seat heater on previously it became so hot as to burn legs. This is a serious problem. It could have burned my car completely. Very dangerous.

Heater stopped working and blew cold air. Brought car into vw dealer be serviced. Heating system was flushed with cleaner. A couple of days after "repair," car was driven with the passenger seat heater on and a 1 1/4" hole burnt through seat exposing burnt heating element and burnt foam. Heater stopped working a couple of weeks after above "repair. " returned to dealer to redo repair and requested the seat heater and seat upholstery leather replaced. Told that it would cost $1000. 00 and that it would be the owner's responsibility. Clearly the seat heaters on this car model are defective given all the complaints and prior recalls. Vw replaced the driver's seat heater with a recall. . . Which leads to the obvious question: "why weren't the passenger side seat recalled as well?" was this a calculation on the part of vw corporate. . . . That the cost of replacing the driver seats through a recall was less that the liability due to burns/accidents/loss of life. . . But the cost of replacing the passenger seats through a recall was calculated to be more than the liability there? this does not smell good. Class action suit seems appropriate.

Heated seat coils overheated and burnt seat on driver side. 1 year after recall was done by [xxx] vw brockton MA, they told me the heaters in the seat are no longer under warranty and told me to call vw USA with my problem, information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. While driving approximately 55 mph with the heated seat engaged, the contact felt a burning sensation coming through the seat. The vehicle was pulled over and the contact noticed there was a burned hole through the front driver seat as well as a burn to his pants. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed nor repaired. The failure and current mileage was 54,000.

2003 Volkswagen Passat wagon with cloth heated seats. While using heated seat option, felt burning on right leg. Found seat heater had melted right bolster of seat cushion.

The contact owns 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The buttons used to adjust the heated seats have malfunctioned and feel as if they are shocking the driver when they are engaged. The leather around the coils has melted a hole in the drivers seat. Although, the contact has not turned the heated seats on the coil continued to smoke and become heated while driving. The failure mileage was 79000 and the current mileage was 79200.

The driver's side seat heater in my 2003 vw Passat is a potential fire hazard. I noticed what looked like a cigarette burn on the left seat bolster (I do not smoke). The following day, I smelled something burning in the cabin. When I got out of the car, there was a second burn hole about a half inch from the first hole. I have stopped using the heater, but it is a potential fire hazard.

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. While driving at an unknown speed with the heated seat feature activated, the contact noticed that the heater burned through the seat and through his clothing. His leg was burned. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the heated seat motor needed to be replaced. The current and failure mileages were 102,500.

Turned on driver side heater to level 3. Felt a burning on the left side of the seat and smelled a burning odor aprox 30 seconds after starting car. Stopped car and found a small hole burned through the seat on the left rear side. M2 recall had already been checked at the dealer.

The car seat heater (driver's side) burned through the fabric, leaving 1 inch hole in the seat. There was no injury. This happened with normal use of the heater.

The seat heater in my 2003 Passat GLS burnt my leg on the lowest setting. It also melting a hole in the cloth interior and discolored other spots. At this point it has not been replaced so the seat is available to look at.

Defect with the driver side heating coil in the seat - today during a 5 minute drive I began to smell something burning on the interior of my car and felt a burning sensation on my leg. I immediately stopped the car and turned it off to investigate. Upon existing the vehicle I saw burning embers on the seat and a 1/4" hole. I was forced to smother out the fire. I have since turned off the heaters and refuse to use them until the problem is rectified.

At approximately 9:35 pm, November 29, 2007, I entered my 2003 vw Passat and started the engine. The air temperature showed 39 degreesf so I switched on the control for the heated seat on the driver's side to high. Approximately 10 minutes after starting the car it smelled like something was burning. I am a non-smoker. It became apparent that the smell was from inside the car and I began to evaluate possible sources for a fire since the smell seemed too close to be coming from the engine compartment. I began to feel around the seat since I knew the seat warmer was on and suddenly realized that an area under my left thigh was hot. Further investigation, with my hand, revealed that my coat felt burned or melted and the seat was extremely hot to the touch. I immediately turned off the seat heater. The area seemed to cool off slightly so I continued home - about a 10 minute drive. After arriving home I checked the seat and my coat. The seat was still warm to the touch 25 minutes after the switch had been turned off. There is a hole in the leather seat approximately 0. 5 inches in diameter, with flecks of black soot around the edges, about 4. 75 inches from the back of the seat and 2. 5 inches in from the left side of the seat. My coat has an area approximately 0. 5 inches in diameter that is either melted or the seat is melted onto my coat. The incident will be reported to the local Volkswagen dealer on 30 November 2007.

Normal operation of automobile, drivers side seat heater placed on setting level 2. Fire began within the drivers side seat and burnt a quarter size hole through the fabric of the seat.

I had taken my car to the dealer to replace a fuel pump. When the car was returned to me there was a hole burned into the driver side seat. The rep at the dealer said the seat warmer in the driver side seat had burned completely through the seat. He had seen it happen before. But my seat warmer was not on at the time. I don't need to use it in southern California weather. The problem will need to be fixed but the manufacturer should be made to cover the cost.

The seat heater that comes with this model car, shorted out while I driving the car. It burnt through the leather seat, my trousers and burnt my wallet. At no time was there an open flame. If it wasn't for my wallet, I probably would have been burnt. If my pants were flamable, I would have had a major problem. The Volkswagen dealer will replace the defective, driver side , heated seat at no charge.

Driver's side seat heater burned hole through seat cover. Burn through could have resulted in personal burn, however, I stopped prior to any injury. Dealer is considering replacement of all damaged parts.

While pulling out of my garage this morning, I smelled something burning. I exited my vehicle and noticed my front heated seat burned through the fabric and caught fire (small flame). I had to put it out with my hand. Afterwards, I noticed the seat sparking. I called the dealership and they said to bring it in for review by the service manager. It was on the 2nd setting and also burned on my jacket.

- while the contact was driving the vehicle with the seat warmer on, in a 2003 volkswagon Passat, it burned a hole on the front driver seat. The contact had a slight burn on her coat and had to shut the vehicle off completely and kept the seat warmer on zero in order for the seat not to continue to burn. The contact currently has vehicle at dealership. The current and failure mileage were both 60543 miles.

Drivers side seat heater shorted out and burned a hole in seat cover. Seat was dry and tempeture set at low.

Was using the heated drivers seat as I was driving down the highway in cold weather. The seat began to overheat, caught on fire, burned a hole in my pants, and burned through the padding and seat fabric in my 2003 vw Passat. I quickly turned off the seat and pulled off the highway as soon as possible, and put out the smoldering seat. The seat, padding, heating elements, and my pants are completely ruined.

: the contact stated while driving 35 mph, a burning smell was noticed and the driver seat was hot. The contact noticed two holes were burned in the seat. The dealer was notified.

My driver seat started on fire while driving. I was lucky to have had a can of soda on hand to pour on it because the flames were coming from deep inside the interior of the foam padding inside the seat. I was not injured, but based on the size of the flames, could have easily lost my entire car if I had not been on a slow road (able to stop quickly) and douse it with something wet. I noticed that the seat warmer was on so immediately shut it off. Several days later I turned the warmer back on to see what would happen - within 60 seconds smoke and sparks were visible from the hole caused by the original fire. There were real flames and my car was full of smoke. Had I not been able to put them out quickly and had my children strapped into their car seats at the time this complaint would probably be a death notice.

2003 Volkswagen Passat v6 (heated seats)- heating element burned hole in leather seats while driving vehicle! had to pull over to side of road as the seat became very hot and started to scorch my pants. Despite a number of recalls (and complaints filed by others- many listed on the NHTSA site) for both Passats and jettas, Volkswagen of north America refuses to pick up the cost of the $1100. Repair (or any of the cost for that matter) because they insist my VIN is outside of the range of vehicles affected and my vehicle is out of warranty. There is clearly a safety problem here and vw knows it. They say a different heating element was used in my car so it isn't part of the recall. Who cares which element was used? it still resulted in the same problem- a burned seat.

Driver's side car seat started smoldering then flames appeared. Turned off car seat heater and extinguished with water.

: the contact stated after 15 minutes with the driver side seat heater on, the seat began to smoke and then smoldered. The vehicle was driven home and was turned off. The driver sustained minor injuries. The vehicle had not been seen by a mechanic.

I had just began leaving a supermarket parking lot when I felt a burning sensation on my left upper thigh. I reached down to determine why and then smelled something burning. Looking down, I saw a burn hole in the driver seat, left side, toward the back of the seat. It looked like a cigarette burn. I immediately turned the seat heater off, which was on 3, pulled over and extinguished the smoldering with my hand. The dealers initial response was that my car was out of warranty but they would see if it could still be covered at no charge. I'm waiting on a response. This seems to be a relatively common failure based on the complaints that have been filed and is definitely a safety issue.

: the contact stated the front driver seat's heater element burned through the seat and caught the contacts clothes on fire. The contact sustained burns to the legs. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer. Updated 12/01/06.

The heated drivers leather seat element burned through the leather and burned a hole in my pants. I felt the burn and got out of the car, and turned off the seat heater. I was parked in my driveway waiting for the windows to defrost. The car is a 2003 vw Passat 1. 8t. I called a vw dealer, and they said to bring it in for inspection.

2003 vw Passat heated seat burnt through the leather. I had burnt sensations while driving and smelled burning. . Very scary and dangerous. Good thing I was quick thinking and turned off the heated seat immediately.

While my husband was driving our 2003 awd Passat wagon with myself and two children in the car, the driver seat caught on fire. At the time it caught fire, the heated seat was on setting 3 for no more than 5 minutes. Luckily, my husband was able to pull off the road, exit the vehicle, and turn off the heated seat before he was burned and/or a large fire erupted.

I turned on the driver's heated seats when I felt them hotter than usual, seconds later I smelled something burning and then I saw smoke coming up from the left side by my seat. I jumped out of the car and found flames visible coming from inside the seat. I put the fire out. I called the dealership and they are supposed to fix it.

Use of driver's side seat heater created burning sensation in the region of my left hip and scent of singed/burning material arose from the seat. The seat heater was immediately turned off, however a burning smell persisted for 3-5 minutes. I have use this feature in the same vehicle without incident for 2. 5 years prior to this occurrence.

My 2003 Volkswagen Passat has a seat warmer. One morning, it began to burn on my leg; I noticed the leather in one corner was melting. One of the wires for the seat heater was malfunctioning and pressing against the seat. I notified my local dealer and vw of America. They were unwilling to fix the problem because the car was no longer under warranty, even though it was only three years old. It seems to me that this is not only a defect, but also a safety hazard.

: the contact stated while driving at 20mph, the seat warmer started smoking although, no flames were visible. The vehicle was pulled to the side of the road and the ignition was turned off. The contact noticed a hole in the seat from where the smoke was coming from. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where proper repairs were made.