I see this has happened to someone else. The heater wire in the bolster on the left side of the driver's seat shorted out. At first I could faintly smell something burning, but didn't make the connection on a short drive. And I didn't use the heater that much or at a high setting. But one day I was driving and thought I'd sat on a hornet or wasp because I kept getting a nasty stinging sensation on the back of my leg. Then I smelled burning material. Then I noticed my boyfriend had left the heat adjustment at 5 (I didn't even know it went that high--I never got beyond 3). I turned it off before the seat caught fire or I was electrocuted. A small hole was burned through the upholstery. Not having a bun warmer is no big deal.

This is my first car with such a luxury. I drove heatless VW Beetles (the originals) through 17 Chicago winters, with temps down to 20 below and snow coming up through the holes in the floor. And the repair on the Golf would have been $120 to take apart the seat and replace the wiring. I'm a V-dub driver--tough and cheap. But interesting to see another complaint about this.