I have a 2005 Dakota with heated seats. My heated seats module caught the seats on fire and the fire department had to put the fire out.

Few days later turns out there is a recall on the heated seats. The bad thing is Fiat Chrysler does not have a solution for the heated seat issue even though they have been dealing with the issue for over 10 years.

Any one else have this problem?

 

I have never heard of anyone with this issue. I do see that there is a recall though, and only for the 2005 Dakota, which seems strange.

Is your truck repairable? I would think by the time the Fire Department arrived, there would be too much damage done to the truck.

 

First I’ve heard about it.

 

Yes my turck is drive able the issue is the burn holes in the seats and the smell of smoke in the truck.

Turns out that the heated seats at times do not turn off and the heat gets so bad it puts burn holes in the seats.

The scary thing is though the front seats the whole set up and the carpet for the floor and pads for the floor under the carpet has been discontinued.

With the recalled truck being a 2005 and its 2018 a 13 year gap really is going to in my opinion turn into a semi huge issue. its my understanding a manufacture of a defective part has to pay to have anything repaired that the defective part damaged then us living in the united states of america there has to be compensation for pain and suffering. Heated seats are selected as a convenience

 

Insurance claim filed?

 

yes i talked to my insurance and they would cover the burn holes however the entire seat and the floor carpet needs to be replaced. plus my insurance would go up.

 

Best bet to replace the seats and carpet is to find them used, check local craigslist for Dakota part outs by junkyards. Also, you can search Car-Part . com, they list parts by grade/condition, and some listings have pictures. And don't forget to check forum classifieds, you might get lucky. I would skip the insurance company altogether, the used parts shouldn't be to costly, hopefully.

How bad was the damage?

 

Insurance may come up with more when you bring up getting the odor out. smoking in the truck lowers the value right? Let em pay, then switch to another insurance co before they raise rates.

I doubt Dodge will cover anything. They probably notified the owner back in the day and they ignored it.

 

Should be able to get it covered by comprehensive which would not raise your rates. Like getting a windshield replaced. At least thats how my insurance works. Depends on your policy. They told you your rates would increase?

 

i was not told the rates would go up i just assumed bottom line fiat Chrysler needs to cover the damage there defective product caused.