Volkswagen Golf IV (1998 - 2004) - 02 1.9TDI heated seat fire!

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Fri 26 Sep 2008 20:45
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - DP
Father-in-law was lucky to escape injury the other day when the heated seat started smouldering in his Golf. It was on its lowest setting, and he felt it get uncomfortably hot followed by a burning smell. He turned it off, jumped out of the car, and found a 2p sized burn hole in the seat pad, and singed trousers. Undoubted comedy value of this aside, it's appalling IMO, and surely the system should be protected by some kind of thermal fuse cutout to avoid this happening.

VW dealer is denying all knowledge of this as a known issue. Has anyone heard of this before?

Car is well out of warranty, and has done 130,000 miles, so little chance of recompense from VW, but this is surely a major safety concern.

Any views/experiences gratefully received.

Cheers
DP
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Fri 26 Sep 2008 20:59
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - steveo3002
its mentioned alot on www.vwvortex.com i think there was a recall for some u.s cars
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Sat 27 Sep 2008 00:29
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - astrabob
As VW deny a problem, why not report it to VOSA?

www.vosa.gov.uk/

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Mon 29 Sep 2008 09:40
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - DP
Thanks for the replies chaps.

If he doesn't get any joy with VW (it's still being "looked into"), then I will suggest he report it to VOSA. Having had flat refusal from VW before on items going within a month of the warranty expiring, I don't hold out much hope, but then neither of these were faults that could have potentially hospitalised (or worse had it happened at 70 mph on the motorway) the person driving the car.

Will let you know the outcome.

Cheers
DP
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Mon 29 Sep 2008 22:53
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - Mark S
Take the car to a VW main dealer. Ask the dealer to complete a fire & accident report with you. They are obliged to do this by VW even on a vehicle that is out of warranty.
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Mon 29 Sep 2008 23:04
02 1.9TDI heated seat fire! - Hamsafar
I follow VW forums, and it is definitely a known problem which was only addressed by VWoA (VW of America). The problem is actually caused by the switches not cutting out IIRC. In the UK, we still have pathetic consumer protection laws.
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