The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta. While driving 35 mph, fumes of smoke appeared from the front passenger seat. The contact mentioned that there was a burnt hole in the passenger seat as a result of the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the heating element failed and needed to be replaced. The contact was unable to give the specific name of the part. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 107,000.

- Edgewood, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that the heated seat function on the driver side burned through the seat on the contact's right leg. The vehicle was not inspected and diagnosed. The vehicle was to be taken to an authorized dealer for further inspection. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

- Warsaw, OH, USA

About two months ago I had a dealer replace the switch for the heated seat in my 2004 VW Jetta which had become inoperable. The seat is not used that much, let alone the heated portion. This past Sunday I was driving home with my wife in the passenger seat with the heated seat turned on. After about two minutes my wife noticed what felt like a pinching sensation on her leg. She put her hand under her leg and was quickly burned on her hand, and at that time we could smell something burning. The burning stopped after turning the switch off, but a clear burn mark was left in the seat. I have taken the car to the dealer and was told that they did infact have a recall for the replacement of the switch but not for a short in the seat which is what this was. The total estimate that I have received to repair the seat was about $900.

- Hilliard, OH, USA

Seat warmer on driver's seat in 2004 VW Jetta wagon overheated until it felt like it was going to catch on fire. Velour seats show impression of heating element. I noticed for about a month that it was very hot and the last time I used it I noticed a smell. I turned it off immediately and had it disconnected by a mechanic to prevent a fire.

- Otego, NY, USA

Our 2004 VW Jetta 1.8T has had numerous problems from a clicking/popping noise in the front end at approxmiately 10,000 miles, to the transmission locking up while operating vehicle. The clutch/disc went completely out at 15,000 miles. All the interior and exterior lights went out as my wife was driving in the dark on a non lit back road to work, transmission locked up between 3rd and 4th gears, transmission still slipping, back door locks do not un-lock when remote is activated, service department has re-torqued everything on vehicle but this has not made problems go away. Since May 2005, the service department at local VW dealership has had my car fora total of 62 days for service and it is still not fixed. Problems continue to mount and the dealership for the most part states "that they cannot replicate the problem." The dealership replaced all the wheel bearings in the front of the vehicle and this did not stop the clicking/popping noise, they replaced the clutch disc this did not clear up the problem, the electrical problem could not be replicated per dealership, the engine continues to have a whistling noise, transmission continues to slip. The driver's side leather seat has the seams pooping loose and a part of the frame is pushing through the leather. Trunk latch has been replaced 2 times. Dealership states car is safe to operate, I beg to differ!

- Senoia, GA, USA

My wife just pulled into the garage after a short trip to the store. When she backed in smoke and flames came from the seat heater control (seat heater was off at the time). This could have been very serious if we had been driving at the time!

- Goodyear, AZ, USA

2004 VW Jetta wagon, tdi: Velour heated turned on, after driving less than 1/2 mile, heated seat burned approx 1" hole from the inside out. Smoke, flames observed. Seat turned off to contain fire. Car taken to VW dealer to assess. Parts on back order. Waiting for parts to be available. Should be factory recall because of concern of other heated seat possible malfunction and potentially a life threatening situation if occurred at high speeds.

- Lawrenceburg, KY, USA

While driving my 2003 1.8T Volkswagen Jetta, the seat heater on the driver side malfunctioned. I felt a very small point of pain in my leg, but didn't really notice it until I started to smell smoke. I immediately shut off the seat heater (which was on a setting of 3 out of 5 initially), pulled the car over to a parking lot, got out, and fortunately nothing caught fire. I brought the car in to my dealer (trend motors in rockaway, NJ), who promptly fixed the problem, and have ordered a new seat cover to replace the one damaged by the malfunction. The car was covered under warranty at the time of the problem, which occured on November 4, 2004.

- Denville, NJ, USA