On the morning of 12/15/04, before going to work, I started my 2002 volkswagen jetta to warm up. I also turned on the seat warmer to its highest setting (5). About 5 minutes later I got in the car to go to work. I was about 1.5 miles from my house when I smelled something burning. Then I felt a sharp pain in my left leg. When I put my hand in between my leg and the car seat, I got a tar-like substance on my hand. I then realized that the seat warmer malfunctioned and was melting my seat! It melted synthentic onto my wool coat and pants, as well as my skin. I was able to get it off without having to go to the er. I contacted a service manager at metro vw in irving tx. He said he could help me fix the seat, but to call customer service regarding the other damages. He added that c.s. Would act like this was the first time it happened, but he knew it was a regular problem. C.s. Did offer to have my seat fixed as well as replace my coat, but when I mentioned a recall so this wouldn't happen to others, they said it was not financially feasible, and the government was not mandating a recall, so they were not going to do anything about it.
2002 Volkswagen Jetta seats complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 101, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The driver's seat in my 2002 vw jetta gls 1.8t began smoldering this morning. I started my car to warm it up and began to clean the snow from the windshield. When I entered the car I noticed a strong "burning" smell. I quickly got out of the car and noticed the driver's seat was smoking. I was able to stop the burning by turning off the heated seat and putting snow on the area. I was sure it was the heated seat which caused the seat to burn because a portion of the heating element is exposed and it was sparking. I now have a hole the size of a penny on the seat.
While exiting the vehicle noticed that the driver's seat was burned. Also, driver's coat was burned. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The cause has not been determined. *ak ......
I have a 2002 volkswagen jetta tdi. My boy friend was in the driver's seat for a maximum of 5 minutes when the seat heater burnt a hole through the seat, his jeans, and left a smoking black ring in his leather wallet. There were no events leading up to this failure, it just happened. So, now I have an expensive car seat, jeans, and a wallet that are ruined. The seat will cost more than six hundred dollars to fix and the jeans and wallet another couple hundred dollars to replace. Nothing has been done to correct the problem. I have contacted two dealers, one where I purchased the car and another where I currently reside, and both are saying that it will not be fixed because my car is 2,000 miles over its warranty. I have spoken to volkswagen's customer care center and they have offered reimbursement for the jeans and wallet, but nothing for the seat. I feel that this is not a normal "wear and tear" problem and should be fully covered by the manufacturer.
The heater element in the driver's seat of my 2002 vw jetta vr6 burned through the leather and left a quarter size burn hole in the seat of my car and the seat of my pants. Fortunately my wallet formed a barrier between me and the heat source. The car was taken to a vw dealer in massachusetts and I am currently waiting for a new seat cushion and heater element. If anyone should ask what really "burns me up", I tell them the seat of my vw jetta.
I used the heated seat feature on my 2002 vw jetta. 12-11-04, I noticed a burn hole on the left side of the seat. I placed my finger over it and burnt my finger. I also have a good jacket that has a burn mark on it. I will be contacting my vw dealership on 12-13-04 to let them know of this problem and have them replace my seat and coat! I think the fact that the federal safety agency is waiting for a fatality or two before making this a recall is just ridiculous.
Seat heater malfunctioned, burned through the leather seat and burned me while I was driving. I safely pulled the car to the side of the road. The replacement components also malfunctioned, burning the leather seat and once again, burned me. Also, the sunroof has plastic guides that keep breaking, I have had these plastic components replaced three times since I purchased my car in 2002, and I don't use my sunroof that often, probably less than 30 times/year.
Vehicle was equipped with heated seats which malfunctioned. The heat coils burned straight through the driver's seat, causing second degree burns to the driver.
Pulling out of the drive at work. I smelt something, like burning. I put car in park. Felt burning sensation on upper left thigh/ butt. Looked down and there was a growing hole with small flame. I turned off my car, noticed my jeans were burnt, jumped out, and the small flame was still visible in the hole. Once I figured out it was the seat heater I turned off the switch wich was only set at 2 out of 5 levels. Only then, when both my car and seat heater switch off did it die out. Took directly to dealership where they said they fixed it and used "updated part" but would not explain to me what this meant or what they did. They would not give me information or claim that this would not happen again.
My wife and I own a 2002 jetta gls 1.8t with heated seats. While driving I felt my leg getting extremely hot and I smelled something burning. I pulled over and found a hole in my pants and a hole in my driver's seat. The seat was still smoking when I pulled over. My wife turned off the heated seats and the seat stopped smoking. I contacted two volkswagen dealerships and they stated they were aware of something like this happening tovolkswagens before. This resulted in damage to the car, my pants, a minor burn to my leg, and caused me to question the safety of this vehicle.
Driver's seat heater wiring caught on fire, burning the fabric. Vehicle will be taken to dealer for repairs.
Front passenger's seat caught on fire through the nylon fabric, burning the passenger. New seat will be replaced by manufacturer.
I turned on my drivers side seat warmer. After about 2 minutes, there was a noticable smoke in the car and extreme heat coming from the left side of the drivers seat. I immediately turned off the seat warmer. After pulling in the garage, there was a small burn on my pants and a 1/4" hole burned through the fabric on the seat. Volkswagon states that the heater element shorted out, has not done anything to resolve the issue.
I have a 2002 jetta 1.8t. I started driving my car and turned on my seat warmer to 3 and within 30 seconds saw a stream of smoke coming from my seat. I quickly turned off the seat warmer and stopped the car and go out. A hole was burned throught my seat and my jeans that I was wearing were burned as well. I turned it back on for a second and saw a small flame ignited.
Approximately 2 minutes after turning on driver's side seat heater, noticed burning smell, followed shortly thereafter by heat sensation on my left thigh. Immediately turned heater off, pulled car off road, and got out. Found dime sized burn pattern in leather seat. Searched the federal safety agency website the next day and found that this is a common problem on 2002 jettas. Called dealer to schedule a repair appointment.
Seat heater on 2002 jetta 1.8t overheated creating hole in driver's seat. Hile driving normally the witht he seat heater in position 1 ( lowest - highest is 5) seat got too hot to the point felt as though would burn. There was no fire or smoke but little burning smell. Car was sent to ardmore vw for service and they tested seat heater. Got call from sa that the seat heater was gone and that it burnt through the seat cover.
Heater in the driver's seat burned through the seat and driver's coat while driving.
My car, a 2002 volkswagen jetta was parked and running and the driver seat caught on fire for no apparent reason due to most likely the heating element in the seat. I am filing this complaint because if I was in the car I may have been injured or killed due to the defect. I just want someone to know so that other people are safe in the future.
Our 2002 volkswagen jetta tdi had sparks coming from the drivers side seat heater that burned two holes in the seat.
Upon turning on the seat heater, the driver's side seat caught fire, burning through the seat cloth, foam, and driver's clothing.
1 & 2. My 2002 vw jetta's driver side heated seat started on fire. I noticed the fire when I felt a burning sensation as my pants were catching fire. I immediately turned the seat off & pulled over. The seat had a dime to quarter size burn hole in it and if I turned the heated seat back on I could see the wire arcing.3. The volkswagen dealer replaced the seat 5 days later.
Volkswagen 2002 jetta faulty seat warmers. On the morning of oct 11, 2004 I turned the seat warmer on to setting number 2. Roughly 1-2 minutes later while driving down the road it began to smell like something was burning. I felt a burning on my leg and began to see smoke. I immediately pulled over and got out of the car. There was a dime size hole in the seat where the seat had burned through. There was also a burn on my pants from where the seat had melted to my pants. There was also a red mark on my skin. I have contacted the company and they have agreed to see the car and possibly replace the parts. My biggest concern was that could have caused large fire or a serious burn to myself.
Driver's seat heater was overheating and burning through the seat cover. Dealer was contacted.
Vehicle was equipped with an asr light and when driving on a smooth road the asr light will come on ,and the vehicle will down shift. Took vehicle to the dealer, and was told that after examining the vehicle there was nothing they could do. They were completely baffled, cleared out the codes, and replaced the brake light modules, but were unable to solve the transmission problem. Also, heated seats overheated. Consumer wa s furious.
A fire started under the driver side of the vehicle while driving at 40 MPH. Vehicle was taken to the dealer.
While driving our 2002 volkwagen jetta, my wife set the seat warmer to "5" (the highest level). She said that she "smelled something funny," and then received a minor burn on her left leg. Corrective action was to turn the seat heater to "0" (off). No parts have been replaced pending a response for service from volkswagen of america, inc.
Driver seat caught on fire.
Driver's side seat warmer malfunctioned. The driver began to see and smell smoke, pulled over, got out, and noticed a quarter size hole in the driver's side seat that was smoking, and little sparks came out. *ak vehicle was repaired under warranty.
Heated seat malfunction oned a 2002.5 vw jetta. Heating element burned a hole through the fabric on the seat. Also. Burning the pants that I was wearing. Nothing has been done to fix the problem I was told that the parts are on backorder. This also happened march 15, 2003.
My seat warmers burnt me and the leather in my car leaving a clearly visible burn mark in the leather.
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