1) I turned on my heated seats for the first time since last spring. 2) once the seat was on for less than 30 seconds I felt a sharp pain in my buttocks and felt the seat. The seat was very hot and I turned off the heated seat. The heated seat got so hot it melted a piece in the seat. The car smelled like there was a fire in it, like wires burning. I pulled over to make sure the car wasn't on fire. 3) the heated seat had been recalled by VW and was fixed in 2005. This was the "fixed" part that burnt. I took the car to the dealership where the car was purchased and the recall was fixed before. After taking my car to the shop they said that the seat literally flamed up and needed to be replaced as it wasn't safe. They stated that I still needed to pay 25% of the labor and parts because the recall had expired and the "fixed" part was no longer under warranty. VW paid for 65% and the dealership paid 10%.

- Columbus, OH, USA