2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA — Complaint #2029642
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER filed October 3, 2024
NHTSA complaint #2029642 (ODI reference 11617892) concerns a 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA and was filed on October 3, 2024. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 3, 2024. The vehicle had 489,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Washington based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same VOLKSWAGEN JETTA cohort independently describe similar seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while driving with the front driverâs side seat heater activated, the seat became extremely hot. The contact started smelling a burning odor coming from the seat. The contact felt a hole in the seat, which burned the contact's middle finger. The contact immediately pulled over and turned off the vehicle. The contactâs back started burning due to the extreme heat of the seat back. Upon inspection, the contact discovered a hole in his jacket and approximately four holes that had formed in the front driver seat due to the seat heater failure. The contact was not treated for the burns to his back. The contact stated that two dealers were notified of the failure but neither provided immediate assistance. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 489,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2029642 |
| ODI Number | 11617892 |
| Date Filed | October 3, 2024 |
| Failure Date | October 3, 2024 |
| VIN | 3VWSF29M5YM |
Similar SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER Complaints for 2000 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
FOR TWO DAYS, I SMELLED AN ODOR SUCH AS A STARCHED IRON IN MY CAR. I TURNED THE HEATED SEATS OF FOR A FEW DAYS. TODAY I TURNED IT BACK ON AND THE SMELL CAME BACK. I TOOK MY JACKET OFF AND IN ONE PART
DRIVING CAR, USING SEAT HEATER, STARTED SMELLING BURNING SMELL. WHEN I WAS ABLE TO STOP, THE LEATHER SEAT HAD BURNED. I AM NOT SURE WHAT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED IF I HAD NOT TURNED THE SEAT HEATER OFF WH
(2) THE SEAT WARMER ON THE DRIVER'S SEAT FAILED AND BURNED THROUGH THE SEAT COVERING. THE HEATER LEFT A BURN ON MY PANTS THE SIZE OF A DIME. THIS ALSO CAUSED ME SOME DISCOMFORT. (3) I CONTACTED VW OF
I STARTED NOTICING A BURNING SMELL IN THE CAR WHEN I TURNED ON THE HEATED SEATS AND THE DRIVERS SIDE SEAT WOULD GET VERY HOT, EVEN WHEN SET ON A LOW SETTING. ONE DAY I DECIDED TO TRY IT OUT TO SEE IF
1) I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED, SEE #2 AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY. 2) TODAY I FOUND THAT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF SHORT CIRCUIT IN THE DRIVERS SIDE SEAT. IT LEFT A PEA-SIZED BUR
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.