This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2002 volkwagen Jetta. While operating the vehicle with the front seat warmers activated, the front passenger was burned when the seat warmer malfunctioned. Medical attention was not needed. The failure burned a hole through the front passenger seat. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 160,000.
The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the seat heater burned his body through his pants. The manufacturer stated that they would send an agent to inspect the vehicle and call him back. The failure mileage was 73,000.
While driving with the seat heater on in 2002 VW Jetta the seat heater overheated and burned through the leather seat and burned the driver. Smoke was present in the vehicle.
On my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta tdi, the driver side seat heater has burned a hole through the seat padding, seat cover and the jacket I was wearing. I have seen reports of similar issues with the Jettas on various website forums.
The seat heater in the driver's side of my 2002 Jetta burnt through the seat and my pants. I was still in the parking lot, so no other damage occurred. This could have been very dangerous if my wife or I was driving, or if the seat heater was on while the car warmed up without us in it. I'm pursuing my options with volkwagen at the moment...this is the last straw, never buy a VW, especially a Jetta. It has given us problems from the moment we bought it new.
: the contact stated while driving 35 mph under normal road conditions, the seat heater burned a couple of holes on the seat. The vehicle was not taken to the service dealer. The vehicle was taken to the service dealer on 11/29/06. Updated 12/15/06
Turned on the seat heater. Seat started to feel quite warm, then I smelled smoke. Promptly turned off seat heater and looked at the seat. When I looked down I saw a small burn hole in the seat. Received a minor burn on my butt. Glad I was not yet on the highway.
2002 Volkswagen Jetta gls - drivers side heated seat began to burn and smolder. Volkswagen stated there is an 'open campaign' on this issue and the dealership should correct.
My husband was driving to work one morning in our 2002 VW Jetta, with the seat warmers on. When suddenly he felt a burning sensation on his bottom. Turned off the seat warmer only to find out there was a burn hole in the seat from the seat warmers. Since then we have refused to turn it back on again.
Within two blocks of leaving my home and turning on my car seat warmer to a level 2 (of 5) my car seat was on fire and burned my rear. I had to jump out of my car in the middle of an intersection to figure out what was going on. This happened over a weekend and I have not received any communication back from VW.
Driver's side seat warmer burned through leather and to consumer's jeans. And felt a burn mark which was about a quarter of an inch wide in a circle shape.
1. while driving home from work late on March 2, 2005, I turned my drivers side seat heater on. I smelled something burning. The seat heater burned a hole completely through my seat, burning a ciggerette-burn size hole through my pants and scalding my buttock. 2. I was driving about 55 mph at the time, and am lucky that the fire in my seat did not cause me to crash, and injure myself or someone else. 3. I have waited to get it repaired by VW in case the investigators / lawyers need to see the damage.
My wife was driving in the middle lane of the freeway in our 2002 Jetta wagon. She suddenly felt her left leg becoming hot and thought there was something hot in her pocket. She reached down to find that the seat was on fire. Due to the shock of her hand and leg being burned she swerved across two lanes of traffic to the shoulder. She jumped out of the car and saw flames coming out of the seat bottom. There was a water bottle nearby in the car which she threw on the seat and doused the flames. At this point she called me frantic over the situation because the seat was still smoking. I told her to turn the seat heater off which stopped the smoke. The only reason I knew about the seat fire problem was because of websites like "www.vwvortex.com" and "www.passatworld.com/forums". on those two websites you can find numerous accounts of VW seat fires due to heated seats. I have never received anything from the NHTSA or Volkswagen of America regarding this problem. My wife now has a burn on her hand and leg due to this issue, not to mention the fact that this seat fire could have caused a severe car accident due to distraction.
I have heated seats in my 2002 Jetta. My wife was driving last week and noticed a pain in her left leg. She realized that it was a burning sensation. She quickly turned off the seat heater and pulled over and got out of the car. The seat had melted and the cover was melting and beginning to burn. Fortunately she turned off the heater right away and got off the seat. I read other complaints of fire and burn injuries. Now I have a deformed seat cushion (due to melting) and a hole in the cover. I am in the process of contacting VW to see if they will replace this seat and heater. I just exceeded the mileage on my warranty.
I was driving home in my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta and I smelled something burning. Then I felt a burning sensation on my thigh. I stopped the car and looked at my seat to find out that my heated seats had caught on fire from the inside out. I poured water in the burning hole and it sizzled out. It burnt a hole in my seat, my skirt and left a red mark in my leg. Fortunately, I pulled over and put the fire out before any serious damages were incurred. I called the Volkswagen dealership and told him about the incident. The person I spoke to acted as if it was no big deal. He told me to bring my car in and if it was under warranty, the warmer and seats would be replaced at my 2 day inconvenience. To date, I haven't taken it in because I am determining what/if any legal action, I should take.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lakewood, CO, USA