Since I have had my jetta the seat warmers have been hot. I contacted the dealership who advised that is how they work. Since then my seat warmer has burned a hole in the cloth seat and has burned me. It also creates sparks when turned on.
2003 Volkswagen Jetta seats complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 100, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driver turned on the seat heater on a cold evening after starting the car. The driver-side seat heater begins to overheat and smoke with three minutes. The driver almost hit a parked car while attempting to avoid being burned by the seat. The drivers no longer use the seat heater on the driver side, at a loss of $300.
While driving driver smelled and could see smoke and realized drivers seat was on fire. Driver managed to pull over and put out fire on seat. Volkswagen of america did nothing - told owner they had nothing to say. Dealer replaced seat.
The heated seat on the driver side of my 2003 volkswagen jetta 4dr sedan burned a hole through the seat and through my wife's jacket.
Dt*: the contact stated the seat warmer overheated and started smoking. Although a small hole formed in the seat cushion there was not visible evidence of a fire other than smoke.
I have had this car since 10/31/02. I purchased it new. I bought it for my teenagers to drive as they begin since it is a safe car. Last weekend, (12/17/05) I was personally driving the car, and the seat warmer on the driver's side got so hot that it actually burned a hole in the seat, and the car smelled terrible for several days after. I think that having to fear an electrical fire in my car is outrageous.
I own a 2003 vw jetta 1.8t with front heated seats. Drivers side seat caught fire due to a short in the seats heater 2 days ago on 12/13/2005 after the heater was on for less than 2 minutes. Burning a small hole trough the seat to the bottom area of my left side (buttock) I have come to find since this happened, my the federal safety agency has been investigating 2002, 2003 vw jettas for seat fires with this exact problem for over a year now. Why, as the original register owner of this model was I not informed of this investigation and the possibility of a fire inside my car, while me, my wife and my 5 year girl are in it! The problem with the above is that it was not a possibility, it just was a matter of time and in my case, the time was december 13th at approximately 7pm at night. This car has been a problem since the first 3,000 miles, with water pumps and door latches, firmware updates, violent shaking of the vehicle in cold weather starts, electrical problems ranging from entirely immobilizing and stranding me to the car partially being immobilized the vw jetta to automatic transmission shifter issues which include the cars shifter being able to be moved when the key is not even in the ignition to a position in the shifter selector because a cable was never connected to prevent that, that should also be a the federal safety agency safety issue too on this car. But first I want you for the love of god contact the owners of these cars before real tragedy happens if that all ready has not happened. I have just talked volkswagen customer care advocate at vw america, they have not warned their customers of this, who will. Again since this has happened I see many people on the internet have experienced the same thing. Please notify the owners first, then contact me second. Please!
The seat on my 2003 vw jetta caught fire today. As a result, there is a nickel-size burn in my seat and my pants.
At approximately 5:15 am this morning I started my car and turned on the driver's side heated seat. After waiting approximately 2 minutes for the rpms to drop below 1000, I placed the vehicle in drive and began heading for work. I immediately smelled something burning. I traveled less than an 1/8 of a mile to a stop sign. After stopping the vehicle and placing it in park, I opened the driver's side door, pulled the hood latch, and quickly stepped out of the vehicle. I left the car running and the driver's side door open while I opened the hood to inspect for the source of the burning smell. After approximately 2 minutes of inspection I determined that there was nothing burning in the engine compartment. I closed the hood and while standing at the front of the vehicle I noticed smoke coming from the driver's seat. I immediately ran to the driver's side door and discovered a small fire in the front seat. I turned the vehicle off, turned the driver's side heated seat off, and managed to extinguish the fire. This has been a very traumatic event. Reflecting on the typical usage of the heated seats by myself, or worse yet my wife, the outcome could have been catastrophic. The seat was literally on fire in less than five minutes. I can not imagine what the outcome might have been if this had occurred during rush hour traffic. If I had not exited the vehicle to inspect the engine compartment, I would have suffered burns. After talking to customer service I was informed that there was a recall on the seats. I have had my vehicle serviced at the volkswagen dealer that I purchase the vehicle from since day one and they never did any recall work on the seats. I searched your sight for recall information on my vehicle and there was no data. I wanted you to be informed. I would hate to find out that someone was burned in there vehicle during normal operation.
I own a 2003 jetta tdi wagon and my front seat heater has burned through the seat.
I was driving my 2003 vw jetta under normal road conditions. I stopped at a red light in an intersection, continued when it turned green. I hit a small sized pothole at the other end of the intersection at speeds below 15mph, which caused the wrongful deployment of the side curtain and seat airbags as well as locking the seatbelt tensioner making it inoperable. I inspected the vehicle after the incident and found no damage whatsoever to all body panels and wheels/tires. The following morning I had a mechanic inspect the car for any suspension or steering problems and none were found. I took the vehicle to the dealer where I purchased it to have it fixed under warranty and the dealer and vw of america have denied warranty repairs and have not yet done anything to fix the problem. I did research on the internet for similar incidents with this make and model and have found that there have been 500 similar incidents of spontaneous airbag deployment in 2002-2004 vw jettas, golfs, gti and new beetles around the country.
On early morning start-up, the seat heater was turned on. Within about 1 minute it began to smolder, melting the seat foam cushion and burning a hole in the upholstery fabric and my trousers. Had I not quickly turned off the heater, it may have started a fire. I contacted vw of america. They took my information and repaired it at their expense through my local vw dealership.
While driving/parking driver's seat heater burned a hole in the seat when in use. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
On march 24,I turned my seat warmer to level 2,all of a sudden I felt a burning sensation. I kept driving thinking maybe I was bit by a bug or something. About a minute later,I saw and smelled alot of smoke. I had to pull over and when I looked down at my seat,it was dark and rainy so I turned on my dome light,there was a dime size hole in my seat. I had turned off the seat warmer when I realized what had happened. I got home and there was a burn on the back of my left leg. We contacted the dealership and they fixed our car in about 10 days. There had been an electrical short and they replalced the seat and fixed the electrical.
This morning, 4/5/05, I turned on my heated leather seats in my 2003 jetta gls and in a matter of about a minute, I felt something extremely hot on my leg. I immediately lifted myself up from the seat but it was too late. I looked down and there was a hole burnt into my leather seat, smoke coming from the seat and a burn in my pants...not to mention my skin. What I find disturbing is not that it happened but the fact that I took my car in last thursday and was not told about the problem even though a recall had already been issued. If vw had been proactive, I would not have had this injury and property damage.
While driving consumer had the heater seat on and it burned through consumer's coat and burned her pants. Consumer did not sustain any injury. Manufacturer was contacted, and the part for repair was on order.
2003 volkswagen jetta gls velour heated seat malfunction. Burned a hole in car seat, through my coat and scorched my pants. Also burned finger. Volkswagen is fixing the problem and has offered to reimburse for coat and pants. All is done at no charge.
Noticed the seat wsa hotter than normal a few days before incident. I was on my way to work and I smelled burning, then noticed my leg was hurting, then noticed smoke. I pulled over and jumped out of the car. I patted out the fire/smoke with my hand. There was a burned hole through the leather in the side of my seat. There was also a small burn in my pants and on my upper leg. I immediatly called the dealer. They could take my car that day, they kept it for a day and a half and replaced the heater and cover. I was not pleased with the look of the seat, it is not tight and does not look like the passenger side. I took the car back and they said I needed to wait for the leather to get tighter. It has been two months and it is not any tighter. I am happy they fixed the seat but I would like it to look like it used to.
While driving the seat caught on fire. Consumer smelled a burnt odor. The seat became very hot; burning completely through the leather. Also, burning through consumer's jeans. The seat burned consumer's legs and her backside. It wasn't until she got out of the vehicle she could see the smoke coming from under the seat.
2003 vw jetta wagon heated seats malfunction. Driver received a strong shock from the seat followed by a strong burning odor.
Seat heater in 2003 volkswagen jetta shorted out causing small hole to burn in leather seat and inflicting minor pinpointed burn to driver while vehicle was in operation. Seat heat turned off returned vehicle to dealer for repair. To date the parts for repair are not available. Condition is still active if switch is turned on.
Failure in the driver side heated seat element resulted in a smoking hole burnt through the seat leather. The incident resulted in a small burn to the passenger.
While driving the consumer's seat caught fire. The consumer contacted the dealer and took the vehicle in for repair. *jb
In december of 04 the drivers seat caught on fire in my 2003 volkswagen jetta glx. I had the heated seat on when I noticed the seat was getting extremly hot and started smoking. I was on a busy four lane road and unable to pull over at the time. Once I did pull over I jumped out of the car to survey the damage. I had managed to burn the tips of my fingers and my "rear end". Vw replaced the seat under warranty after I waited almost a month for the seat to come in. Needless to say I was very irate at the dealership and was told by the service advisor that "I was over reacting". I called vwoa and reported the problem but they too did not seem concerned. I did my own little research and was able to come up with a couple hundred other cases of seats catching on fire in volkswagens. This is a serious problem and volkwagen doesnt seem to care, someone can get seriously injured if not killed by this problem.
Seat heater on driver's side became very hot in one spot, started to smell and smoke and burned through the seat material, my jacket and to my leg (no burn to skin noted).
My jetta's seat heater has shorted out and burned through the cover. Volkswagens reply is that there are no replacements seat covers anywhere in the country, and that they have no idea when they will get some. I have been in contact with them regularly since mid-december, and the hole with exposed electrical wiring has been there since then. The only response that vw gives, when told about smoke and sparks shooting through the hole burned in their seat, is to shut it off; the smoke should stop. They don't know when new seats covers will arrive, but claim that eventually there will be . The vehicle is leased and under warranty.
On monday morning I noticed that my seat warmer was burning the left side of my butt. I didn't notice anything at that time. On tuesday morning, my seat was smoking and it burned a whole in my leather. When I called the dealership, they told me they had seen a couple of these incidents. Said I would need to bring my car in and leave it or wait 45+ minutes for them to take a look at it. I complained that I can't miss work, and I need a car that I can rely on to get me back and forth. I asked for a loaner for the day, to which they responded no. At this time, nothing has been done, and I am still driving with a defective seat warmer.
Drivers side seat heater malfunctioned wile set to level (2) two. Results were burn hole to seat, smoke erupting form seat, burn to driver?s jeans, pain and discomfort to driver this was during normal vehicle operation on public streets.
Passenger side seat heater malfunctioned. Seat heater turned on to level 3. Passenger and driver noticed smell of something burning, then passenger felt pain under left thigh. Turned seat heater off. When stopped, examined seat to discover brown hole in seat where heater had burned through. No repairs have been made yet.
Consumer noticed that driver's side seat heater became extremely hot, burning the plastic of the seat. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the seat needed to be replaced.
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