Front Seat Heater/cooler Problems of Volvo S60

Driver's side seat started smoking within a few seconds of starting the vehicle while backing out of parking place. Seat heater was on. Immediately stopped and turned off seat heater and smoking stopped. Quarter size hole was burned into the leather seat bottom on the driver's side outside panel. Took it to darrell waltrip Volvo/Subaru in franklin, TN, and they said it was the seat heater and took the fuse out. Said it wasn’t covered under warrantee and no recall out. Hope no one has this problem driving down the interstate. Best regards and thanks for all your hard work, john worrell.

See all problems of the 2004 Volvo S60 🔎.

My wife drove the 2001 Volvo S60 and noticed a noxious burning smell and immediately drove it home. She thought it was something extremely wrong with the heater. I drove the car 3 days later and after 3 minutes noticed the burning smell as well. I turned off the heater, and the smell continued. I saw some smoke to my left side and noticed the seat had a hole that was melting and burning. I turned off the heated seat and ensured the seat did not burn further.

See all problems of the 2001 Volvo S60 🔎.

The contact owns a 2004 Volvo S60. The contact stated that he activated the heated seats and after a matter of minutes, smoke bellowed from the side of the driver's seat. The seat warmer was deactivated and the contact noticed that a one inch hole had been burned into the seat. The vehicle had not been diagnosed by a mechanic. The manufacturer had not been notified. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileage was 300,000. Updated 2/12/13.

Like many others who are on Volvo websites have reported I too had a fire on the drivers seat left side due to my seat heater. I now have a half dollar sized hole in the side of my seat. The first sign of this was a smell and then a lot of smoke. Luckily I was able to pull over quickly and had a towel handy to snuff it out, otherwise I would have burned hands or other parts. I've been a lifelong Volvo owner, I have to say I'm surprised Volvo hasn't at least warned their dealers about this problem. I did see another drivers seat totally blackened and burnt out last time I took my car in, was amazed that it could even happen let alone be a common occurrence. Now after searching online this is a prevalent problem.

Started the car on a very cold morning (around 0f) started to drive and noticed a hot burning smell but couldn't see anything burning. Next day a little warmer started the car and noticed the same smell and the looking at the seat noticed a small burn hole on the side of the seat. Seat heaters were on both days. Immediatly turned them off and the smell went away. Now I am afraid to use the seat heaters for fear of fire. One of the turn's of the car was the seat warmers as I live in a fairly cold climate. And I also have an unsightly burn on the leather seats.

See all problems of the 2003 Volvo S60 🔎.

I activated the driver seat heater component on my 2001 Volvo S60 during a cold morning. Approximately 15 to 20 minutes later, I smelled something burning and felt a burning sensation to my left outer thigh area. I turned the driver seat heater off and the burning stopped. On stopping my vehicle, I examined the seat and found a small hole burned in the seat where I felt the burning sensation. I photographed the burned hole in the leather seat. I researched the internet and found this to have occurred in other Volvo vehicles. I have not used the seat heater for fear that it may cause a fire.

The vehicle is a 2003 Volvo model s-60 t-5, purchased may 6, 2006. At the time of purchase, the vehicle was under the warranty of 50,000 miles and was serviced for warranty items by rickenbaugh Volvo. The vehicle currently has 60,500 miles. Upon using the seat warmers for the first time December 27, 2006, a small hole burned in the driver's seat from the seat heating element. Smoke was coming out of the hole when I discovered the issue and I immediately turned off the seat warmer. I took the vehicle immediately (December 27, 2006) to Volvo parts, inc. For inspection. There is a short in the heating element that makes this vehicle unsafe to drive. I called the Volvo corporation customer service that same day and was told that the vehicle would not be repaired by the Volvo corporation because it was no longer under warranty. I phoned rickenbaugh Volvo that same day and was told the heating element and pad would need to be replaced at a cost of approximately $630. 00. I am concerned that the heating element was improperly installed causing a short, or the element is defective. In any case, the product was defective when it was still under a warranty or improperly installed at the time of manufacture, but instead of addressing the safety issue, the Volvo corporation is following its standard procedure of hiding behind its warranty terms. This is what concerns me the most. There was no injury to a person, however, the leather seat now has a hole from the small fire caused by the heating element. I have not repaired the defective element because of cost. Please advise me as to what danger this may present, or what other options I have in this complaint process. I welcome a dot assigned engineer to inspect this vehicle for the cause of the fire. Volvo parts, inc. , only indicates that they checked connections and fuses and that they are "ok". I was charged $75. 00 in labor.

While driving in my Volvo S60 this past week I had the seat heater on. I noticed it got extremely hot, the seat seemed much hotter than it usually got when I do put it on, at first I didn't think anything of it since it has been so cold I just figured "wow this is working great!" but the next morning when going out to work I noticed a burnt mark circle in shape on the side of the seat when getting into my Volvo. I was upset since I don't smoke and I am the only one who drives my car. When I went to put on the heater for the seat the seat never got hot. I was wondering if their is anyone else who has had this problem and if this car has a recall due to a safety issue. To me it is obvious that something was burning in the heating element and burnt out the seat heater. If there was a recall on this I never received any information about it. What made me wonder if there was recall on this I remember reading in the paper about a women who had a fire in heated seat this past year. Please get back to me regarding this information. Thank you, ellen m. Benson.

See all problems of the 2002 Volvo S60 🔎.