Within 10 minutes of starting the vehicle activating the seat heater associated to the driver seat a burning smell began to become apparent in the passenger cabin. eventually the smell developed into pain in the legs and there was a hole burned into the driver seat. the seat heater was still operating at full capacity and supplying energy to the system as it was igniting the driver seat. this event occured on 140th in renton, washington. the vehicle was on the roadway traveling with traffic when it occured.
While stationary or in motion, the passenger detection sensor in the passenger seat will regularly (more than 50% of the time) not detect a full-grown adult passenger weighing ~115 pounds and as a result will not turn on the passenger air bag. the car will only turn on the airbag (and disable the 'passenger airbag off' light) after the passenger vigorously bounces several times on the seat. this is a hazard to anyone that does not appreciate the airbag sensor light and subsequently bounce in the seat.