2004 Volkswagen Passat: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Nov 6, 2020 · Seats · 132,400 miles · NY · 1 injury

While driving on a highway, the driver seat suddenly overheated (the seat warmer was turned on). It started with a burning smell. Excessive heat burned my leg a bit (some skin redness), before I realized what is happening and turned the seat warmer off. The seat leather now appears stiff and wrinkled (not soft and smooth like the rest of the leather) in the area where I felt the heat.

Filed Oct 20, 2019 · Seats · NJ

My car 2004 vw passat almost gett on fire front passander seat have start to burn but was ok after I shutt off the car after that now I can drive but the seat its demaged

Filed Mar 10, 2015 · Engine · 81,000 miles · VA · fire

March 8 at approximately 10pm: on a trip back from out of town with my 2 young children and puppy, the rpms in the vw passat began escalating yet no additional power was coming into the engine. I tried shifting to a lower gear and also attempted cruise control to minimize the RPM racing. Cruise control did not respond and the change in gear did nothing for the racing rpms. A few more miles down the highway the car began losing momentum -? It was similar to the feeling of running out of gas though I had a full tank. I moved the car into the service lane before the engine shut off. Within seconds of pulling over, the engine began smoking. I felt the need to get out of the vehicle, even though I was on the highway late at night, pregnant, with 2 small children and a puppy. We left everything in the car, got out (I called 911) and were about 8 feet away when flames became visible escaping from the hood of the vehicle. A state trooper was passing through at the time and noticed the strong smell; he quickly circled back and then saw the fire.two fire trucks and 2 more state troopers arrived at the scene -?? But by that point -?? The entire front end of my car was in flames. The tires were so hot from the fire that they had melted to the road. The front end of the car was completely destroyed, the driver'??s side window was blown out, and the dashboard melted. Everything in the car experienced chemical smoke damage and/or water damage from the fire trucks. The insurance company ??totaled?? The car this morning. Sunday night I noticed that the federal safety agency was at one point investigating vw passat engine fires. I would encourage you to continue that investigation. Though my children and puppy were not physically injured (I don't know if they have suffered mental trauma) -?? I am pregnant and do not know if the fumes will be toxic to my unborn child. *tr..updated 06/01/16 *bf updated 9/27/2017

Filed Feb 28, 2013 · Seats · 101,938 miles · CA · fire · 1 injury

While driving my vehicle, the driver's seat caught fire causing a hole to be burnt through the leather seats caused scorching to pants and a minor burn to the buttocks. A moderate amount of smoke was seen coming from the burning seat and filled the interior of the car. I immediately turned off the seat warmer, pulled the vehicle over, and turned off the engine. The seat continued to smoke profusely; I smothered the fire and contacted my local vw dealership immediately. The local dealership advised me to contact vw of america; the entire process has been a complete hassle and I am now without a vehicle while vw of america "investigates" the issue. My two young children and I were in the vehicle at the time; they became extremely upset and scared. Fortunately, this incident happened prior to my getting on the freeway (I commute 45 minutes each way for school). Had my seat caught fire while driving at highway speeds in heavy traffic I don't know that I would be alive to write this complaint. Words cannot describe the surprise and panic I felt when the seat began to burn me; to call this a safety hazard would be a gross understatement. This malfunction/defect is one that has the potential to cause great bodily harm and/or death should it happen under the above stated circumstances (highway driving, highway speeds, and heavy traffic). It is my opinion that a recall should be made to protect additional consumers from this hazard. I am extremely upset with vw and the seemingly casual attitude regarding this issue; as a consumer I feel vw has a duty to ensure the safety of their consumers-a seat that can catch fire at any time is a breach of that duty. I feel that some warning, at the very least, should have been issued to the consumer pertaining to this issue.

Filed Apr 6, 2012 · Engine · 96,000 miles · OR · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen passat. While driving approximately 60 MPH, there was a complete loss of engine power. When the vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road smoke and flames began to emit from under the hood. The contact immediately exited the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire which originated within the engine area. The vehicle was declared as destroyed and towed to savage facility. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 96,000. Updated 05/11/12*lj updated 06/01/12

Filed Mar 17, 2012 · Electrical, Seats · 85,400 miles · IL · fire

I had been driving my car for fewer than 15 minutes with the seat heating element on. I noticed an acute burning heat near my upper left leg, and shortly thereafter noticed a hot/burning/melting smell. I immediately turned off the driver's side seat and pulled into a parking spot. After being turned off for 10 minutes, the burning smell was still hanging in the car and my seat was still extremely hot to the touch. The gray leather near the outer left edge of the seating surface is emblazoned with a singed, brownish burn mark, and a hole was burned completely through the leather. I have not turned on the seat heating element since this incident, but am quite concerned about the failure and fire hazard.

Filed Nov 28, 2011 · Engine · 105,000 miles · CT · fire

Tl* the contact owns 2004 volkswagen passat. The contact stated that the vehicle caught on fire while parked in the garage. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 105,000.

Filed Feb 9, 2011 · Fuel system · 94,109 miles · TX · fire

1. On the evening of friday october 24, 2008 my check engine light began flashing and the car started running rough. 2. On the morning of saturday october 25, 2008 I brought the car to southpoint volkswagen in baton rouge, la. They diagnosed the problem as a faulty #4 engine coil. They replaced the coil, tested the car and returned it to me. The car seemed to function properly and the check engine light remained off. 3. The next day, sunday october 26, 2008, after driving only 28 miles, the check engine light started flashing and the car began running rough again. I immediately pulled off the road into a gas station. At this time I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I opened the hood to find a fire near the lower part on the passenger side of the engine compartment. We extinguished the fire and had the car towed back to southpoint volkswagen. 4. Southpoint replaced the other 3 coils and other parts that were damaged by the fire. 5. Friday, october 31, 2008 southpoint vw made arrangements to meet in orange, tx, to return my passat and pick up the rental car. After this exchange, and approximately 15 minutes of driving time, the check engine light came on and was steady. 6. I then learned that the check engine light was caused by an issue with the emission system. The coil failure allowed unburned gas to go into the exhaust system damaging the the catalytic converter. Vw has acknowledged that this is what happened but has refused to repair the damage to my emission system. Diagnostic test at the time of the coil replacement show that the exhaust system was functioning properly prior to the fire.

Filed Feb 11, 2010 · Seats · 64,000 miles · CA · fire

I was driving my car, a 2004 vw passat gls, to work in the morning and had the driver's side seat heater on. About 2 miles into my drive I could smell that something was burning. At first I thought it was something burning outside, so I rolled the windows down to see if the outside air smelled of smoke. The outside air did not smell of smoke, so I quickly started thinking of what else could be burning. I also had the cabin air heat on, so I decided to turn that off and also turned my seat heater off, which is when I noticed smoke coming up from the driver's seat. I identified the location as the left part of the seat bottom and saw the burning area, which was clearly being cause by a heating component of the seat heater. I was trying to put out the smoldering and smoke with my hands. I could tell that my leather seats were still smoldering/burning so I put water on my hands from a water bottle that I had nearby to cool the leather and prevent further spread of the smoldering. Note that this was all within approximately 10 seconds, and I was driving. This is a huge hazard for which vw should be held responsible.

Filed Sep 29, 2009 · Electrical, Lights · 78,050 miles · NJ

2004 vw passat 4 sedan rear cigarette lighter and ash tray are not safely and functional installed well. Have the tendency to keep coming apart entirely exposing electrical wires leading to burn and electrical shock or popping or burning of wires. Have had the problem repaired on multiple occasions by dealer as well as by myself to further prevent the mishap since out of warranty. My children bump the cigarette lighter and it caused sparks and burning smell. I was able to repair the enclosure again for the 13th or so time and since it's not under warranty it's not covered. Children sit in the rear more than adults but there has been time where the adults have causd the same issue. It's that my 9 yr old son try to repair or put back in where the entire enclosure fell out again.

Filed Aug 23, 2009 · Electrical · 67,000 miles · PA · fire

On august 22 about 2:45 I was returning home from taking my daughter to work about3-miles away and I noticed smoke coming from my car I get out to look under the hood and I notice flames coming from the front right end under the hood. I panicked grabbed my belongings and called 911 the fire dept arrived and put the fire out.

Filed May 5, 2009 · Seats · 55,000 miles · NY · 1 injury

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen passat. While driving for two minutes with the seat heater activated, the driver's seat caught fire. The contact sustained moderate injuries. Prior to the failure, the vehicle was repaired according to the manufacturer's recall for the seats: heating system. She called the dealer and is in the process of having the vehicle repaired. The federal safety agency campaign id number was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 55,000. Updated 5/26/09 *cn updated 05/28/09.