I turned on my seat warmer on the driver side and after a while a burnt smell was notice. I could not find the origin until I went to a store and tried to paid. I took my wallet out and it was stuck to my pants. The wallet had the mysterious smell. I went back to the car and the seat had a big burnt hole on the leather seat. If I had not had my coat and wallet on the left side I could have been electrocuted or caught fire.
2002 Volkswagen Jetta seats complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 101, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Passenger leather seat caught fire while heated seat was on. Burned a hole in the seat and electrical smoke was pluming out of the hole. This has only occurred once because it has not been used since. The failure has not been corrected.
Tl*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.
I was riding down the road coming from work when I noticed a burning smell. I didn't see any smoke,so I thought it might be coming from outside. After a while, the smell got stronger. That's when I looked over and noticed flames coming from the passenger seat. I pulled over immediately and smothered it. It turned out that the heated seat on the passenger side had been on from where my mother was riding the night before. This is not the first issue that I've had with my 2002 volkswagen jetta,but it's the first that made me feel that it was unsafe to drive. I have a four year old son and I am now in fear that something could possibly happen again. I've done some research and apparently this is a common occurrence in this model. I've reported the incident to vwoa, but have not heard back from them. Fortunately no one was injured. But someone else might not be so lucky. I hope this issue can be resolved. Thank you.
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.
Drivers side seat warmer caught on fire while driver and drivers coat was burned.
While driving home from work, I heard a very large "crack" sound and felt my seat shudder. The sound and impact made me think that something had struck the car under my seat. However, when I returned home, I discovered that a spring attached to my seat had dislodge. Further inspection revealed that one of the places where the spring connected had broken off - apparently metal fatigue. This struck me odd because while cleaning my car earlier in the summer, I had noticed that a spring was loose under the passenger side front seat and also found the nub of where it attached. I have kept both pieces and the springs. I think there is a structural defect with the part. I am not a very heavy person - 180 lbs - so I doubt I put that much stress on the seat. I think this is a potentially dangerous issue and that is why I am reporting it. When the system failed I swerved while driving on the highway as the sound was incredibly unnerving. I also now wonder about the seats structural integrity if it were involved in a collision.
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.
Dt*: 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 - front seat heaters much much too hot ...within 2 minutes of turning them on I could feel a dime size burn on my skin.
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.
2002 vw jetta with leather seats - seat heater burned daughter's leg and made burn mark on the seat, smoke, but no fire. Is this a recall?
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.
Dt: 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.
The front passenger side seat heater burned a hole in the seat. . The driver's side heated seat caught on fire while driving. *ak *jb
Seat warmer had burned a 2" hole through the drivers seat on the left side. Was taken to dealership and seat was replaced.
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 federal safety agency 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.
Seat warmer burned a hole in the seat and my pants. The hole was smoking and I had to pour pop in the hole to put it out.
The drivers side heated seat on my 2002 jetta 1.8t started smoldering and burnt a hole through the farbic and burned my leg.
While driving, noticed the seat heater was unusually hot and felt burning on my leg. I turned the seat heater off, and when I exited the vehicle, noticed two quarter-sized burn holes in the seat and a burn hole in my wool coat. Vw dealer will be replacing the seat, and I have been told that they will compensate me for my coat.
The heated seat on the drivers side of my 2002 vw jetta began to smolder at the "3" setting while I was warming the car up. It eventually burnt a hole in the left seat bolster approximately" by " in size. Usually I turn the seat heater on while I am defrosting the windshield in the driveway. Without someone in the car it could have caught on fire and either destroyed the car or caused major damage to the interior.
2002 vw jetta tdi with heated cloth seats. Driver side seat heater overheats in a small spot, causing burning (brown coloration) of the seat and the start of a burnt leg on the wife (just what I need...one more thing to hear about...). Passenger seat works fine. Driver seat heater no longer used as problem is repeatable.
2002 vw jetta tdi with leather heated seats. Got so hot in left hip corner that I almost was burned through my clothes. Burning smell also noted. Immediately shut seat heater to off.
Drivers side seat heater caught seat cushion on fire. Burned my pants and buttocks. Driving in traffic at time of incidence. Have not contacted dealer yet. Will do so tomorrow.
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