Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLKSWAGEN / PASSAT / 2004

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006089977 Incident Date: Dec, 24 2006
Consumer's City: ELMHURST Consumer's State: IL
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Model Name: PASSAT Model Year: 2004
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: WVWPD63B14P Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Dec, 27 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jul, 21 2004
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: Started car, heated seat setting was on 1 (lowest setting). one of the heaters must of shorted, i felt something on the side of my thigh right away but didn't see anything. within one minute, noticed burning smell, smoking. looked down, saw smoke and small flame. immediately turned off seat heater, jumped out of car. seat had burn hole size of silver dollar and was hot in that area only. since it was christmas, i couldn't take it back to the dealership until the next day. when i got into car later, even though seat heater was off, i got a small shock when i started car. car is still under warranty and dealership has been very helpful and was quite concerned, but can't replace parts right away (parts had to be back ordered from germany). they disconnected the heaters for me because i prefer driving my car around instead of the rental they offered. but will not be replacing passenger heating element for me. *nm