A Toronto woman was nearly burned when the seat heater in her Volvo became too hot last month.
Harshini Fazl was driving with her kids in the back seat on Dec. 11, 2014 when she smelled smoke, her husband told CTV Toronto's Pat Foran. She quickly realized the smoke was coming from the driver's seat of her 2004 Volvo XC70.
Fazl was wearing a heavy coat, so her skin was spared, but a metal piece of the heater burned through the leather and left a hole in the seat.
Fazl's husband, Sean, showed Foran the jacket she'd been wearing, pointing to a spot where the coat's surface had been burned.
When Fazl contacted Volvo, a representative told her it was a defect. Volvo told CTV Toronto that the company is working with the couple to repair the vehicle in a short period of time.
Though Fazl's warranty has expired, Volvo agreed to replace the seat and give her a $200 credit for the burn to her coat.
"No seat-heater issues have been reported in Canada on vehicles with 2005 Model Year production or later," Volvo representative Margareta Mahlstedt told CTV Toronto.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there have been 1,260 complaints of malfunctioning seat heaters over the past 20 years.
The NHTSA data shows 512 of the complaints involved fires, and 287 people were injured.
Millions of cars have heated seats, but the heaters are generally believed to be safe, Foran reported. Experts advise that users shut them off if they start to get too hot, and inspect the seats often for wear, tear and burn marks.
