Burnin' up

One of my very favorite features about our car are its seat warmers. I love to turn on both the driver's side and the passengers (for my passengers) and crank them up high. Especially in this cold, wintry weather.

Rewind to a few weeks ago when on another of these subzero arctic chilling days I was leaving Wal-Mart with William in the backseat and started smelling a smoking, burning smell. It was almost immediate as I started to drive and caused me to freak out and stop for a minute in the parking lot to assess the situation. I did immediately turn off the heat thinking that maybe that was the issue since I cranked it up so fast. When I didn't see any obvious smoke (my brother Dan and I had an experience with something under the hood of our car literally catching fire once, that's another story-a hilarious one- of its own) I proceeded home with caution. Basically thinking that what could I really do anyway. So I just prayed the whole way home that the car wouldn't blow up and that I'd get William to safety. Well, we made it and later that night Patrick took the car out to run an errand. I'd told him about the burning smokish smell and when he got home he just laughed and said he didn't notice anything. I decided that maybe I was just either crazy or that someone else's car had been smoking and the smell had wafted into our car.

A few cold days later, I was again driving this time with both boys and smelled the smell again. Henry confirmed that I wasn't just smelling things. He too, could smell the burning smell. I should also note that as I smelled this smell on different occasions I also got a pinch on the seat of my pants. Not being sure how this all correlated, I sort of just forgot about it.

Then a few days ago when the whole family was out together and Patrick was driving I discovered the burning, butt pincher. Patrick parked the car and ran in to Monicals to pick up a pizza. I casually glanced over at his seat and saw two small holes in the leather, maybe pencil tip size. Suddenly everything became clear. I'm obsessed with using the seat warmers, Patrick's not so much; in fact, he rarely ever turns his on. I realized that our seat warmers must be the culprit because I cranked mine up every time and that's when I'd start to smell that burning smell. Also, the leather had started to burn, HENCE the bottom pinching.

When Patrick got back into the car I told him my revelation and asked him if he thought we should call the dealership. He said that it should be covered under warranty and suggested that I call. When I replied, "ok, what do I say? That the seat warmers are smoking and burnt a hole in my butt." He said, "I'll call".

He did call and the warmers are covered under warranty, so that's good news. We just had to stop by to show them the seat so they could determine what parts to order and then they'll call us when the parts come in and fix it the same day. The guys at the dealership did ask if we got burned. I think they thought it was funny that it took me so long to make the connection.